As Dimitri says they are here for business to the guard Hadi adds, "And hopefully a bit of pleasure as well. As always! "All work and no play'... as they say."
After arriving at Ozemon's house Hadi with a skip in his step greets Cedric with a mock salute and heads in, looking for a drink as he pulls the other urn from his pack to set near the first.
Khessa is happy to see the silver haired older human gentleman who greeted her with such kindness on the occasion of her first visit: "Hi Cedric!" she quickly approaches and hugs him warmly "What a pleasure to see you again! Dealing with traps and monsters for several weeks, believe me, always helps to remember how precious peaceful and kind people like you are! At least, as you see, we're back safe and sound ... How are you?"
The blonde arcane warrior, if Cedric has the time and desire, talks to him for some time while waiting for Ozemon. He also asks him if he would like to have a drink with her, at a time when he is free... She would like to have a chat with him, who knows this big city so much better than she does (she had already talked to him about this possibility the first time, before leaving for the mission).
Obviously, as soon as Ozemon arrives, the tall warrior-mage focuses her attention on him, to see if he is satisfied with the result... and if he has any other tasks in store.
As Dimitri says they are here for business to the guard Hadi adds, "And hopefully a bit of pleasure as well. As always! "All work and no play'... as they say."
"We are going to get paid." Dimitri says with a mocking grin, "that's pleasure enough for me."
He enters the mansion with the others and waits for Ozemon, keeping an eye on their urns.
Tristan waits patiently, not saying much. I wonder if Ozemon will know the difference between the two urns. It is one thing to fool a treasure hunter that is fighting for his life against deadly traps, but quite another to fool an expert historian. Then again, who knows what my people were capable of. Certainly not me, and I am one of them.
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
"Ozemon is in the study-" Cedric accepts the hug from you, Khessa, but seems to be playing the stoic butler, not quite reacting to it. "Let's speak later, mistress Khessa. Very well, follow me." Cedric leads you all under the stairs where you originally saw T'bitha standing as you all entered for the first time. "I'm glad to hear you all made it out safely and that no one drowned" You continue through a short hall to a set of closed doors. Cedric pokes his head into the room "Sir. They've returned." Before opening the door fully, gesturing for each of you to enter.
The study is a large, well, study. One section of the room has your traditional scene, a lit fireplace with a a few posh chairs, a bear rug laying at the foot of the fireplace. Though, Ozemon is on the opposite side of the room. He is standing near a corner desk covered in paper, journals, various writing utensils, and strange knickknacks. As you enter, he turns around "Ah, T'bitha you're back and in one piece! What did I tell you? You were fine. I take it you've returned with good news?" Seeing that two of you are holding urns he gestures to the desk "please! You can set those down here." He looks inquisitively to T'bitha "two?" A few moments later Cedric returns with drinks and lunch.
"Yes Ozemon, two" Khessa confirms, too excited to care too much about the drinks and the lunch. "There were two of them, in the crypt. Virtually identical, at least as far as we could judge. Failing to figure out which one was the real one, we took them both. We thought you'd be able to eventually detect the right one. I personally suspect this is it," the blonde arcane warrior indicates the one that Hadi brought "because, you see, this was the second one we took out of the crypt and the crypt, when this one came out, had a... reaction, unlike when the first came out" (Khessa refers to the fact that the exit of the second urn unleashed the final jet of water - she explains this to Ozemon in detail, if asked). "But you... I guess that you, with all your means, experience and knowledge, can find a way to verify with certainty... or am I wrong?"
"Oh, anyway" she adds "T'bitha also recovered something that seemed to be referred to as 'the Spear of Ambriel'. I'm telling youjust in case you are interested to take a look at it also".
T’bitha looks to Khessa as she sums up everything succinctly and nods silently. Upon hearing about the “Spear of Ambriel” T’bitha reaches into her pack and pulls out the wooden stake. She approaches Ozemon and places it gingerly on his desk, next to the two urns and steps back. ”Khessa is correct. I tried to discern which one we needed; however, I couldn’t. I felt it best to take both and hope that you had some insight to determine which you required.”
"Honestly. From first glance they look identical, but I'm sure with some proper time studying them, I'll be able to find a difference or two." As you point out your suspicions, Khessa, on the one Hadi was carrying he speaks up again "you very well may be right. I'll keep that in mind, thank you." He pauses to take a sip of his drink "say, did any of you do any experimenting with them I should know about?"
"Well, we very well may need both. What is known about the urns is so little. We only thought there was one in the crypt, but seeing as there were two, perhaps the contents have been split or there is more than we know." Ozemon looks over the spear of ambriel as you place it down on the desk "However, I did learn something about this while you were gone" he begins muttering to himself while searching the desk and nearby bookshelf until he finds an old worn out journal "ah here we are. How did you find this and are you sure it's Ambriel's spear?" He begins reciting a line from the journal "... with the spear jammed in the heart of her most trusted, she nor her trusted shall rise again ..." he closes the journal "was there a body in the crypt where you found this? What else was in the crypt?"
”About that…I may have been naive. There was a body on an altar. It was staked in place with that.” T’bitha points to the stake lying next to the urns. ”He spoke to me. Asked me to help. I approached the body and it tried to attack me when I pulled the stake out. When I did…well, the body disappeared. There was also a sarcophagus that the other urn was placed inside. It was an awful ordeal after we pulled the urn, the place began flooding and we were locked in. We managed to get out, but Khessa saw something, didn’t you, Khessa? A person or something?”
He pauses to take a sip of his drink "say, did any of you do any experimenting with them I should know about?"
"Well, we very well may need both. What is known about the urns is so little. We only thought there was one in the crypt, but seeing as there were two, perhaps the contents have been split or there is more than we know." Ozemon looks over the spear of ambriel as you place it down on the desk "However, I did learn something about this while you were gone" he begins muttering to himself while searching the desk and nearby bookshelf until he finds an old worn out journal "ah here we are. How did you find this and are you sure it's Ambriel's spear?" He begins reciting a line from the journal "... with the spear jammed in the heart of her most trusted, she nor her trusted shall rise again ..." he closes the journal "was there a body in the crypt where you found this? What else was in the crypt?"
"I did try to detect any arcane on them, but they appeared the same from that as well," Hadi says, and then asks, "What contents did you expect them to hold?"
”About that…I may have been naive. There was a body on an altar. It was staked in place with that.” T’bitha points to the stake lying next to the urns. ”He spoke to me. Asked me to help. I approached the body and it tried to attack me when I pulled the stake out. When I did…well, the body disappeared. There was also a sarcophagus that the other urn was placed inside. It was an awful ordeal after we pulled the urn, the place began flooding and we were locked in. We managed to get out, but Khessa saw something, didn’t you, Khessa? A person or something?”
T’bitha looks at Khessa and then back to Ozemon.
"In case the detail matters" corrects Khessa "the 'body' had all intentions to feed on poor T'bitha... it 'disappeared' only after I perasuaded it not to do so - by severing its head. Maybe it was 'the trusted', but for sure it was not to trust! Anyway, yes, while we were trying to escape the crypt I had the impression to see a small shady creature get out. But I can not say much more about it. It went away before I could see it well and as I tried to speak to it it did not respond. Oh, and we found this sword displaced" she shows the ornated sword. "We found it outside the crypt at te start. But as we came out it wasn't there anymore. And we found it again after we camped for the night. So maybe the creature moved it. But that's really all about this creature, I could not say anything more".
Tristan exhales sharply "Did you just say as long as that stake is in place, Ambriel cannot rise? I may not be a scholar, but even I can tell that that spear is not inside Ambriel's most trusted. What is in those Urns, Ozemon? What have we released?"
Tristan grips the hilt of his sword with his off hand tightly, causing the blood to leave his hands. "I cannot shake the feeling that we are doing something terribly wrong. Or maybe we already have."
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
”This is completely my fault. I shouldn’t have been so naive about the whole thing.” T’bitha looks at Tristan first and then to Ozemon. “What did I do, Ozemon? Did I unwittingly release a hell upon this world? Did I just become the tool to release Ambriel into this plane of existence?”
T’bitha takes a step back from the party feeling that she betrayed the group and indeed, this world. She looks back to Ozemon, the man who took her in, provided her refuge. She looks to hear words of assurance that “all is well” or that this can be corrected.
Ozemon listens to you as you speak, T'bitha. "Interesting." He then riddles off another saying "... to be starved for eternity." he ponders for a moment "I think Ambriel's trusted was a vampire. Ambriel's spear was jammed into its chest." Ozemon points to the spear, which does in fact resemble a stake. "A stake to the chest is enough to put a vampire into eternal slumber, but the fact that it was awake enough to speak to you? I find that interesting. That is a new one." He looks at you, Khessa "you say the body disappeared after you decapitated it? Did it perhaps turn into a swirl of fog or mist?"
"It's good to know they display the same magical signs. Thank you for that. Well, I was hoping that the urn contained the ashes of Ambriel, but with this new information, I don't think that's the case. Perhaps she can reform herself from scratch and the urns contain the ashes of her first form?" Ozemon seems to be asking himself the question, as if he's creating a new hypothesis. "She was originally a celestial, so it is possible. I truly do not know what's in the urns, but I plan to find out."
You're use to the way Ozemon has reacted to most of the news, T'bitha. He's hired many a adventurer while you were staying in his estate. He treats them a dime a dozen, and doesn't care much for near death stories-- he'll just hire more if they die. His 'you're back and in one piece' is the most welcoming he's ever been to hired help returning to his estate, and you're pretty sure it's because you're more than a hired adventurer to him.
"I don't happen to know much of the inhabitants of the Veiled Forest, Khessa, so I'm unable to help on identifying any sort of small shady creature. It sounds like you believe it escaped from the crypt? So it could have something to do with Ambriel?" Ozemon listens to you as you speak, Tristan. "If what I've read in my new journal is true, you may have released Ambriel from her prison by removing the spear from the corpse of her most trusted." He looks at you, T'bitha"don't be so hard on yourself. This was new information I acquired after you all had already left. You had no way of knowing. She was a very powerful celestial, and an even more powerful devil. She would eventually find a way to return, with or without our help."
"We have more we need to learn. Why was she imprisoned? It was thousands of years ago, and she was imprisoned by a civilization that doesn't exist anymore. Perhaps that is payment enough for her imprisonment." Ozemon takes another sip of his drink before turning back to all of you "We'll figure this out T'bitha. It's not to worry."
"Well, the sword is of no interest to me. I truly only care for the urns. You may keep the sword, or sell it if you wish. Consider it a bonus on payment" he pauses for a moment "speaking of which I do believe payment is in order for the safe return of the urn." He calls for Cedric then sends him to retrieve payment. A few moments later Cedric returns with a small wooden coin chest. "500 gold as promised. 100 for each of you." Looking inside the coin chest, you all see 5 small coin pouches. Each one containing 100 gold coins. "The Spear of Ambriel is said to be a very powerful weapon. I would surely love to study it, but our contract was for the return of the urn. If whichever of you found it would like to keep it-- it is yours, though I would be interested in purchasing it."
(OOC: The other urn wasn't actually in the sarcophagus, it was behind a wall that was behind the sarcophagus. You all never messed with the sarcophagus itself; you avoided it. You all may add 100 gold to your character sheets!)
Dimitri reaches out with a gloved hand and scoops up the little gold coin purse. He slid the purse inside his inner pocket and gives a smile. "Pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Ozemon."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, priestess." Dimitri says to T'bitha, after pocketing his share. He turns to face her, so he could look at her with his good eye, dark blue like deep pool of glacier. "You got conned, that's all. True, you were a easy target. But it was ultimately up to the man who used it against you. Everyone conman knows that. Plus." He says with a teasing smile, a quirk of the mouth, "Create your own opportunities, as people say. Now there's a vampire on the loose, we might get paid to put it back. If not us, then others. I'm sure someone will appreciate that."
T’bitha nods understandingly to Ozemon. “I appreciate the comforting words, Ozemon. It means a lot. If you’d like to look over the stake, you may do so. I don’t think it is necessary to purchase it though. If you think you might glean information after studying it, I think that would be valuable.”
T’bitha accepts her pouch of gold and tucks it away on her person. ”Oh! There is one more thing we forgot to mention. We stopped off at Wakefield where we heard some stories about a woman with glowing tattoos over her body. The citizens apparently chased her off only to realize that maybe they should have captured her. They put a bounty on her. I know Dimitri was interested in that. I remember reading about these types of tattoos. There may or may not be a relationship between a demon or devil with the tattoo’d girl; however, I do recall that there is a correlation between the two.”
T’bitha allows a smile to peek through the corners of her lips. “I should like to know how not to be conned in the future, if that is a skill to learn. I appreciate knowing that the events are not being held against me by you or anyone else. Thank you, Dimitri.”
During the conversation, Khessa tries to answer Ozemon the best she can: "Indeed! The 'most trusted' did exactly that; it turned into a swirl of mist, instead of getting killed by the deadly blow. A vampire, you say?" the blonde arcane warrior shivers for a moment. "I've heard of them as terrible creatures. I have to imagine that its long (and unpleasant) imprisonment left it weakened then, or I don't understand how we are all alive here. Or maybe many of the rumors I've heard are exaggerated. However, certainly a creature that can survive beheading is not a creature that I would fight with lightly".
As Ozemon speaks about Mr Small Shady, the tall warrior-mage replies: "If you'd wish to broaden your knowledge of the inhabitants of the Veiled Forest, Ozemon, we have met a very weird creature in there - sort of a eye of monstrous size able to command huge tentacles and, when needed, to form a big mouth out of nowhere! We could report about that, if of interest, But sticking to the small shady creature, yes, I had the impression to see it escape from Ambriel's crypt - so it could definitely have something to do with Ambriel. It might have been even a weak form of Ambriel herself, given what you are telling us now. Maybe the imprisonment had been hard for her too, leaving her in such a state".
She also joins Ozemone in his 'conforting words': "Yes, T'bitha, stop blaming yourself. And you too, Tristan. I agree with all Ozemon just said, this time: we had no way of knowing the consequences of removing the spear, Ambriel was very powerful and might have eventually found a way to return all the same, sooner or later, plus maybe she had been punished enough already. I know so few about her... but I can say that if she was once an angel and she was able to choose to turn to evil and become a devil... nothing prevents her from choosing to try to amend (especially if her turning to evil ultimately brought her nothing but a long and painful imprisonment) - and maybe one day become an angel or a force of good again. People are free to live, to make mistakes and to redeem themselves. Maybe even angels or devils are".
As the reward is finally provided, Khessa also takes the pouch with her share: "Thank you Ozemon" she smiles. "Should you have further needs, I'd be glad to work for you again. Speaking of that, there is also a mater I'd like to discuss with you later, when you have the time... You might know (or able to get) information that are important to me and I might buy them for you - either with gold or with other dangerous services like we just did".
Finally, as T'bitha speaks of the tattoed woman, the blonde adventurer pays particular attention to the speech: "If those tattoos are usually connected with the liberation of a devil and if we have somehow helped to free Ambriel - which apparently is, maybe the poor woman was accidentally hit by this magical affliction. I would have liked to help her, because I think she is just a poor innocent victim, but we did not meet her on our journey. We only found that she had headed north".
Hadi, happily listening and enjoying a drink of his own nods at Khessa's explanation of the horror from the mist, adding, "Whatever was in the mist had been watching us, but only decided to attack on our way out. We also didn't mention the blood fruit tree. That mist is hiding more than I think anyone knows. Have you any idea if the mist is connected with the crypt? Or the ancient city?"
"The Veiled Forest has stumped us all. It's just been like that as far back as most history can tell. The very few sources I've managed to get my hands on that date back to the first and second age don't speak of it, but anything after the third era does. This ancient city you're speaking of is A'yeth Taersi." He pauses for a moment "the city of the first elves. There isn't a whole lot of actual records on it that I know of. They city very well could be the reason the forest is the way it is now. And many refuse to enter it due to the sounds that can be heard at night."Hadi, as you talk about the blood fruit tree Ozemon begins searching around on his desk before he retrieves a red stained leather journal and flips to a page, showing you a sketch "is this what you're referring to?" seeing that it is in fact the same tree, he continues on "oh my. That's an elder blood tree. They're thought to be extinct. The tree has extremely potent arcane energy flowing through it. They were harvested for their power until none thought to remain."
"If it turned into a swirl of mist, it most definitely was a vampire. If it was awake like you say --even with the stake in its chest, I fear it's no ordinary vampire. It was likely very weak. It shouldn't have even been awake with the stake in its chest." As both T'bitha and Khessa speak of the tattooed lady, Ozemon speaks up again "I'm not sure I believe in those suspicions myself; they're based on the religious ramblings of a second age king. A king that believed the fiends would make us pay for their exile. It has always seemed like a witch hunt to me. But, if you say she went north from where you were, that means she was headed this direction. I'll reach out to the guard and see if anyone with her description has been sighted recently."
"As some of you may already know, my name will get you almost anywhere within these city walls." Ozemon looks at you Khessa"I do believe I offered you unlimited access to the city, so there you are" he then quickly looks at you Dimitri"it will not however, get you out of most troubles. For the others of you, my offers are a little harder to give you at the moment. Tristan, I'm still working on figuring out what is afflicting you. I have some friends, but I'm still waiting to hear back. And as for you, Hadi. I may have made a mistake. I reached out to your family, because they were once excellent bladesingers. They know you're here and I believe your father is on his way as we speak."
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As Dimitri says they are here for business to the guard Hadi adds, "And hopefully a bit of pleasure as well. As always! "All work and no play'... as they say."
After arriving at Ozemon's house Hadi with a skip in his step greets Cedric with a mock salute and heads in, looking for a drink as he pulls the other urn from his pack to set near the first.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Khessa is happy to see the silver haired older human gentleman who greeted her with such kindness on the occasion of her first visit: "Hi Cedric!" she quickly approaches and hugs him warmly "What a pleasure to see you again! Dealing with traps and monsters for several weeks, believe me, always helps to remember how precious peaceful and kind people like you are! At least, as you see, we're back safe and sound ... How are you?"
The blonde arcane warrior, if Cedric has the time and desire, talks to him for some time while waiting for Ozemon. He also asks him if he would like to have a drink with her, at a time when he is free... She would like to have a chat with him, who knows this big city so much better than she does (she had already talked to him about this possibility the first time, before leaving for the mission).
Obviously, as soon as Ozemon arrives, the tall warrior-mage focuses her attention on him, to see if he is satisfied with the result... and if he has any other tasks in store.
"We are going to get paid." Dimitri says with a mocking grin, "that's pleasure enough for me."
He enters the mansion with the others and waits for Ozemon, keeping an eye on their urns.
Tristan waits patiently, not saying much. I wonder if Ozemon will know the difference between the two urns. It is one thing to fool a treasure hunter that is fighting for his life against deadly traps, but quite another to fool an expert historian. Then again, who knows what my people were capable of. Certainly not me, and I am one of them.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
"Ozemon is in the study-" Cedric accepts the hug from you, Khessa, but seems to be playing the stoic butler, not quite reacting to it. "Let's speak later, mistress Khessa. Very well, follow me." Cedric leads you all under the stairs where you originally saw T'bitha standing as you all entered for the first time. "I'm glad to hear you all made it out safely and that no one drowned" You continue through a short hall to a set of closed doors. Cedric pokes his head into the room "Sir. They've returned." Before opening the door fully, gesturing for each of you to enter.
The study is a large, well, study. One section of the room has your traditional scene, a lit fireplace with a a few posh chairs, a bear rug laying at the foot of the fireplace. Though, Ozemon is on the opposite side of the room. He is standing near a corner desk covered in paper, journals, various writing utensils, and strange knickknacks. As you enter, he turns around "Ah, T'bitha you're back and in one piece! What did I tell you? You were fine. I take it you've returned with good news?" Seeing that two of you are holding urns he gestures to the desk "please! You can set those down here." He looks inquisitively to T'bitha "two?" A few moments later Cedric returns with drinks and lunch.
"Yes Ozemon, two" Khessa confirms, too excited to care too much about the drinks and the lunch. "There were two of them, in the crypt. Virtually identical, at least as far as we could judge. Failing to figure out which one was the real one, we took them both. We thought you'd be able to eventually detect the right one. I personally suspect this is it," the blonde arcane warrior indicates the one that Hadi brought "because, you see, this was the second one we took out of the crypt and the crypt, when this one came out, had a... reaction, unlike when the first came out" (Khessa refers to the fact that the exit of the second urn unleashed the final jet of water - she explains this to Ozemon in detail, if asked). "But you... I guess that you, with all your means, experience and knowledge, can find a way to verify with certainty... or am I wrong?"
"Oh, anyway" she adds "T'bitha also recovered something that seemed to be referred to as 'the Spear of Ambriel'. I'm telling you just in case you are interested to take a look at it also".
T’bitha looks to Khessa as she sums up everything succinctly and nods silently. Upon hearing about the “Spear of Ambriel” T’bitha reaches into her pack and pulls out the wooden stake. She approaches Ozemon and places it gingerly on his desk, next to the two urns and steps back. ”Khessa is correct. I tried to discern which one we needed; however, I couldn’t. I felt it best to take both and hope that you had some insight to determine which you required.”
"Honestly. From first glance they look identical, but I'm sure with some proper time studying them, I'll be able to find a difference or two." As you point out your suspicions, Khessa, on the one Hadi was carrying he speaks up again "you very well may be right. I'll keep that in mind, thank you." He pauses to take a sip of his drink "say, did any of you do any experimenting with them I should know about?"
"Well, we very well may need both. What is known about the urns is so little. We only thought there was one in the crypt, but seeing as there were two, perhaps the contents have been split or there is more than we know." Ozemon looks over the spear of ambriel as you place it down on the desk "However, I did learn something about this while you were gone" he begins muttering to himself while searching the desk and nearby bookshelf until he finds an old worn out journal "ah here we are. How did you find this and are you sure it's Ambriel's spear?" He begins reciting a line from the journal "... with the spear jammed in the heart of her most trusted, she nor her trusted shall rise again ..." he closes the journal "was there a body in the crypt where you found this? What else was in the crypt?"
”About that…I may have been naive. There was a body on an altar. It was staked in place with that.” T’bitha points to the stake lying next to the urns. ”He spoke to me. Asked me to help. I approached the body and it tried to attack me when I pulled the stake out. When I did…well, the body disappeared. There was also a sarcophagus that the other urn was placed inside. It was an awful ordeal after we pulled the urn, the place began flooding and we were locked in. We managed to get out, but Khessa saw something, didn’t you, Khessa? A person or something?”
T’bitha looks at Khessa and then back to Ozemon.
"I did try to detect any arcane on them, but they appeared the same from that as well," Hadi says, and then asks, "What contents did you expect them to hold?"
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
"In case the detail matters" corrects Khessa "the 'body' had all intentions to feed on poor T'bitha... it 'disappeared' only after I perasuaded it not to do so - by severing its head. Maybe it was 'the trusted', but for sure it was not to trust! Anyway, yes, while we were trying to escape the crypt I had the impression to see a small shady creature get out. But I can not say much more about it. It went away before I could see it well and as I tried to speak to it it did not respond. Oh, and we found this sword displaced" she shows the ornated sword. "We found it outside the crypt at te start. But as we came out it wasn't there anymore. And we found it again after we camped for the night. So maybe the creature moved it. But that's really all about this creature, I could not say anything more".
Tristan exhales sharply "Did you just say as long as that stake is in place, Ambriel cannot rise? I may not be a scholar, but even I can tell that that spear is not inside Ambriel's most trusted. What is in those Urns, Ozemon? What have we released?"
Tristan grips the hilt of his sword with his off hand tightly, causing the blood to leave his hands. "I cannot shake the feeling that we are doing something terribly wrong. Or maybe we already have."
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
”This is completely my fault. I shouldn’t have been so naive about the whole thing.” T’bitha looks at Tristan first and then to Ozemon. “What did I do, Ozemon? Did I unwittingly release a hell upon this world? Did I just become the tool to release Ambriel into this plane of existence?”
T’bitha takes a step back from the party feeling that she betrayed the group and indeed, this world. She looks back to Ozemon, the man who took her in, provided her refuge. She looks to hear words of assurance that “all is well” or that this can be corrected.
Ozemon listens to you as you speak, T'bitha. "Interesting." He then riddles off another saying "... to be starved for eternity." he ponders for a moment "I think Ambriel's trusted was a vampire. Ambriel's spear was jammed into its chest." Ozemon points to the spear, which does in fact resemble a stake. "A stake to the chest is enough to put a vampire into eternal slumber, but the fact that it was awake enough to speak to you? I find that interesting. That is a new one." He looks at you, Khessa "you say the body disappeared after you decapitated it? Did it perhaps turn into a swirl of fog or mist?"
"It's good to know they display the same magical signs. Thank you for that. Well, I was hoping that the urn contained the ashes of Ambriel, but with this new information, I don't think that's the case. Perhaps she can reform herself from scratch and the urns contain the ashes of her first form?" Ozemon seems to be asking himself the question, as if he's creating a new hypothesis. "She was originally a celestial, so it is possible. I truly do not know what's in the urns, but I plan to find out."
You're use to the way Ozemon has reacted to most of the news, T'bitha. He's hired many a adventurer while you were staying in his estate. He treats them a dime a dozen, and doesn't care much for near death stories-- he'll just hire more if they die. His 'you're back and in one piece' is the most welcoming he's ever been to hired help returning to his estate, and you're pretty sure it's because you're more than a hired adventurer to him.
"I don't happen to know much of the inhabitants of the Veiled Forest, Khessa, so I'm unable to help on identifying any sort of small shady creature. It sounds like you believe it escaped from the crypt? So it could have something to do with Ambriel?" Ozemon listens to you as you speak, Tristan. "If what I've read in my new journal is true, you may have released Ambriel from her prison by removing the spear from the corpse of her most trusted." He looks at you, T'bitha "don't be so hard on yourself. This was new information I acquired after you all had already left. You had no way of knowing. She was a very powerful celestial, and an even more powerful devil. She would eventually find a way to return, with or without our help."
"We have more we need to learn. Why was she imprisoned? It was thousands of years ago, and she was imprisoned by a civilization that doesn't exist anymore. Perhaps that is payment enough for her imprisonment." Ozemon takes another sip of his drink before turning back to all of you "We'll figure this out T'bitha. It's not to worry."
"Well, the sword is of no interest to me. I truly only care for the urns. You may keep the sword, or sell it if you wish. Consider it a bonus on payment" he pauses for a moment "speaking of which I do believe payment is in order for the safe return of the urn." He calls for Cedric then sends him to retrieve payment. A few moments later Cedric returns with a small wooden coin chest. "500 gold as promised. 100 for each of you." Looking inside the coin chest, you all see 5 small coin pouches. Each one containing 100 gold coins. "The Spear of Ambriel is said to be a very powerful weapon. I would surely love to study it, but our contract was for the return of the urn. If whichever of you found it would like to keep it-- it is yours, though I would be interested in purchasing it."
(OOC: The other urn wasn't actually in the sarcophagus, it was behind a wall that was behind the sarcophagus. You all never messed with the sarcophagus itself; you avoided it. You all may add 100 gold to your character sheets!)
Dimitri reaches out with a gloved hand and scoops up the little gold coin purse. He slid the purse inside his inner pocket and gives a smile. "Pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Ozemon."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, priestess." Dimitri says to T'bitha, after pocketing his share. He turns to face her, so he could look at her with his good eye, dark blue like deep pool of glacier. "You got conned, that's all. True, you were a easy target. But it was ultimately up to the man who used it against you. Everyone conman knows that. Plus." He says with a teasing smile, a quirk of the mouth, "Create your own opportunities, as people say. Now there's a vampire on the loose, we might get paid to put it back. If not us, then others. I'm sure someone will appreciate that."
(OOC- Thank you for the clarification. Sorry!)
T’bitha nods understandingly to Ozemon. “I appreciate the comforting words, Ozemon. It means a lot. If you’d like to look over the stake, you may do so. I don’t think it is necessary to purchase it though. If you think you might glean information after studying it, I think that would be valuable.”
T’bitha accepts her pouch of gold and tucks it away on her person. ”Oh! There is one more thing we forgot to mention. We stopped off at Wakefield where we heard some stories about a woman with glowing tattoos over her body. The citizens apparently chased her off only to realize that maybe they should have captured her. They put a bounty on her. I know Dimitri was interested in that. I remember reading about these types of tattoos. There may or may not be a relationship between a demon or devil with the tattoo’d girl; however, I do recall that there is a correlation between the two.”
T’bitha allows a smile to peek through the corners of her lips. “I should like to know how not to be conned in the future, if that is a skill to learn. I appreciate knowing that the events are not being held against me by you or anyone else. Thank you, Dimitri.”
During the conversation, Khessa tries to answer Ozemon the best she can: "Indeed! The 'most trusted' did exactly that; it turned into a swirl of mist, instead of getting killed by the deadly blow. A vampire, you say?" the blonde arcane warrior shivers for a moment. "I've heard of them as terrible creatures. I have to imagine that its long (and unpleasant) imprisonment left it weakened then, or I don't understand how we are all alive here. Or maybe many of the rumors I've heard are exaggerated. However, certainly a creature that can survive beheading is not a creature that I would fight with lightly".
As Ozemon speaks about Mr Small Shady, the tall warrior-mage replies: "If you'd wish to broaden your knowledge of the inhabitants of the Veiled Forest, Ozemon, we have met a very weird creature in there - sort of a eye of monstrous size able to command huge tentacles and, when needed, to form a big mouth out of nowhere! We could report about that, if of interest, But sticking to the small shady creature, yes, I had the impression to see it escape from Ambriel's crypt - so it could definitely have something to do with Ambriel. It might have been even a weak form of Ambriel herself, given what you are telling us now. Maybe the imprisonment had been hard for her too, leaving her in such a state".
She also joins Ozemone in his 'conforting words': "Yes, T'bitha, stop blaming yourself. And you too, Tristan. I agree with all Ozemon just said, this time: we had no way of knowing the consequences of removing the spear, Ambriel was very powerful and might have eventually found a way to return all the same, sooner or later, plus maybe she had been punished enough already. I know so few about her... but I can say that if she was once an angel and she was able to choose to turn to evil and become a devil... nothing prevents her from choosing to try to amend (especially if her turning to evil ultimately brought her nothing but a long and painful imprisonment) - and maybe one day become an angel or a force of good again. People are free to live, to make mistakes and to redeem themselves. Maybe even angels or devils are".
As the reward is finally provided, Khessa also takes the pouch with her share: "Thank you Ozemon" she smiles. "Should you have further needs, I'd be glad to work for you again. Speaking of that, there is also a mater I'd like to discuss with you later, when you have the time... You might know (or able to get) information that are important to me and I might buy them for you - either with gold or with other dangerous services like we just did".
Finally, as T'bitha speaks of the tattoed woman, the blonde adventurer pays particular attention to the speech: "If those tattoos are usually connected with the liberation of a devil and if we have somehow helped to free Ambriel - which apparently is, maybe the poor woman was accidentally hit by this magical affliction. I would have liked to help her, because I think she is just a poor innocent victim, but we did not meet her on our journey. We only found that she had headed north".
Hadi, happily listening and enjoying a drink of his own nods at Khessa's explanation of the horror from the mist, adding, "Whatever was in the mist had been watching us, but only decided to attack on our way out. We also didn't mention the blood fruit tree. That mist is hiding more than I think anyone knows. Have you any idea if the mist is connected with the crypt? Or the ancient city?"
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
"The Veiled Forest has stumped us all. It's just been like that as far back as most history can tell. The very few sources I've managed to get my hands on that date back to the first and second age don't speak of it, but anything after the third era does. This ancient city you're speaking of is A'yeth Taersi." He pauses for a moment "the city of the first elves. There isn't a whole lot of actual records on it that I know of. They city very well could be the reason the forest is the way it is now. And many refuse to enter it due to the sounds that can be heard at night." Hadi, as you talk about the blood fruit tree Ozemon begins searching around on his desk before he retrieves a red stained leather journal and flips to a page, showing you a sketch "is this what you're referring to?" seeing that it is in fact the same tree, he continues on "oh my. That's an elder blood tree. They're thought to be extinct. The tree has extremely potent arcane energy flowing through it. They were harvested for their power until none thought to remain."
"If it turned into a swirl of mist, it most definitely was a vampire. If it was awake like you say --even with the stake in its chest, I fear it's no ordinary vampire. It was likely very weak. It shouldn't have even been awake with the stake in its chest." As both T'bitha and Khessa speak of the tattooed lady, Ozemon speaks up again "I'm not sure I believe in those suspicions myself; they're based on the religious ramblings of a second age king. A king that believed the fiends would make us pay for their exile. It has always seemed like a witch hunt to me. But, if you say she went north from where you were, that means she was headed this direction. I'll reach out to the guard and see if anyone with her description has been sighted recently."
"As some of you may already know, my name will get you almost anywhere within these city walls." Ozemon looks at you Khessa "I do believe I offered you unlimited access to the city, so there you are" he then quickly looks at you Dimitri "it will not however, get you out of most troubles. For the others of you, my offers are a little harder to give you at the moment. Tristan, I'm still working on figuring out what is afflicting you. I have some friends, but I'm still waiting to hear back. And as for you, Hadi. I may have made a mistake. I reached out to your family, because they were once excellent bladesingers. They know you're here and I believe your father is on his way as we speak."