"None of it?" Sam asks, a bit... reluctant? The bodies he's happy to help get rid of and the old used up armor is no great loss but a couple of the weapons and such look decent. Still, unless his guess is wrong, they're surely not better than what he already carries. "I'm sure Muir would hate throwing away a book without examining it first and a couple other things may make good souvenirs. I do like a good souvenir...." Sam kind of just his head to his shoulder to indicate the Hag's Head pauldron.
Still, Sam isn't going to argue with the dragon spirit. If it all goes through the portal it all goes through... And Sam will bend his back to the work while the others chat.
((If Lumithor is insistent on it all going back Sam complies... but will try to palm the pendant since it should be small enough to not be noticed? Sleight of Hand: 6 or 7 +3 for 10. lol, advantage really doesn't help much, does it??))
Muir nods and drops the wall. “Well I wasn’t sure if the Raven Queen would want to reclaim their souls. I’m not entirely sure how that works….Book you say? Oh uh may I Lumithor?”
Vin hops onto his broom and flies down to land amongst the others, close to Neferox.
"Well that went well, mostly", he says looking pretty much pristine having spent the battle mostly out of harms way.
When Lumithor mentions Nectyran's reach, Sam mentions souvenirs and Muir brings up the Raven Queen, he pipes up, "Yeah, not even the Raven Queen wants anything to do with these dead. I haven't seen Dec appear for any of them. Their stuff should be ok though, right?".
Neferox, meanwhile wanders away from the portal and starts to lick the gore off herself.
"Lumithor..."Gewyn says, grabbing the dragon's attention as he notices Sam's attempt at subtlety. "Mind taking a look at these markings?" He pulls at his cloak/scarf to reveal the veins blackened from necrotic magics. "This will fade, right? I'm worried they'll clash terribly with any future hickeys. Actually wait, maybe I should back up. Do you need me to explain what a hickey is first?"
Attempting to give help action to Sam for sleight of hand.
"the decision to keep things owned by favoured fighters of Nectyran could have unknown consequences, but I did mean mostly the bodies." Lumithor suggests,
"I'm dead against it, if you are going to keep things from these monsters you take them straight out of Thaeir!" Serafina snaps as she plucks her sword out of the air after Muir rescinds his thorns. She rubs her shoulder and the group see she is bleeding from a variety of places, worse for wear.
"Is the Raven Queen being smart, not taking the souls of those turned by Nectyran? Surely she is the only one who can be saving their souls from such corruption?" Griff ponders, glad to not be fighting those things any longer.
Sam tosses the bodies, or bits, or big dust clumps, through the portal first and then considers the items. Whether he's successfully palmed the pendant or not he will stand over and consider the warhammer, mace and shield that remain. He'll study the items best he can to decide if they are worth the hassle of bringing home or not. The mace and warhammer MAYBE would fit through the bag to go back to Hog but the shield (I assume) wouldn't. Breaking out some of his smith's tools he does a quick assessment. If they seem more or less ordinary weapons then he'll toss them through the portal. If he has reason to think they may be exception, or magical, however, then he'd bring that up with the others.
Perception (+5) or Investigation (-1): Adv from Fire Rune & using tools: 8 or Nat 20...
"I could identify one of the items for you, Sam. Or that book Muir, in case it is cursed or something", Vin offers as he watches Sam examine the items he found, and sees Muir on the verge of opening the book.
Hearing Griff contemplate the Raven's Queen decision, he shrugs, "I am sure the Raven Queen knows what they are doing. Maybe they have a pact, or they are theirs already or they can't reach so close to the portal. I will ask next chance I get". He gives a cheeky grin at the last statement.
"The weapons are just weapons," Sam says with some surety. "Well made but I'm fairly certain that's it. Best to check the book though, I don't know for books..."
Vin accepts the book from Muir and looks it over, before reporting back his findings.
"It is indeed a spell book, and a little bit more. It is strongly linked to the Shadowfell, and allows someone attuned to it to see into the Shadowfell. It also allows them to use it to avoid danger, as we saw she did", he says, a frown creasing his face. "I sense no curse, but obviously being linked to such a place might be dangerous".
"As for the spells it holds, there seem to be a mixture of magical schools in there".
He hands it back to Muir. "I am not sure it is the sort of book that will grant you knowledge, unless your magic is learnt from books, like a wizards".
Muir snaps his fingers "As shucks well...hmm although it does allow one to see into the Shadowfell. This might be useful for someone here, Lumithor what do you think?"
"Knowledge or not, being able to jump around like that and avoid attacks could be handy to anyone," Sam notes. "Can't see how not getting killed would be dangerous..." Sam, though, shows no actual interest in the book. It's a book. Handy or not, he's not going to be sitting down and ready the thing.
Turning to Lumithor Sam clears his throat and says "You said you found something out? Unfortunately??"
Vin raises a hand, "I guess I should explain. One of the ways to avoid attacks is to shift into the Shadowfell itself. That might be an issue. Although you can also simply teleport, which I am not sure involves the Shadowfell. You can use these effects only 3 times each day total".
Lumithor squints at the book, "if it is a way for someone to enter the Shadowfell then could it be used to transport more than just a person, relics for nectyran and such? I don't like the thought of that being outside of the Shadowfell. Though it may be useful to me if I could see what is happening on the other side of the gate I could be better prepared... Right?" Seeming unsure The crystal face instead turns his attention to the question asked by Sam, it doesn't seem possible but the crystal face seems to pale as Lumithor's powerful voice takes on a hesitant and broken tone.
"Ah um... yes, I was able to see the state of my mother's home and the state of herself...
Little is known about the thundercloud in the sky by the being in this realm these days, Vox tontritor fell silent around the time that she killed me.. her home is a castle, situated atop a flying beast called an Astral Dreadnaught. An antiquity from before the realms were shaped by the giants... Her Dreadnaught is currently infested with undead, specifically kobolds, they crawl over it's body like ripple through the air, there must be hundreds of thousands of then up there. This terrified me and made me hesitate slightly, if that is what had become of her home, of her Dreadnaught then what mist have become of her...
She... She is chained in the grand hall of her home, and she has been turned the same as the kobolds, I don't know how long, I hope it isn't as long as I suspect, but Vox Tontritor is dead." His mannerisms betray a grief, but more the empty realisation of one's worst anxieties and suspicions.
There is a clatter from behind the group, coupled with a soft "no..." as Serafina drops to the floor in anguish and disbelief, she cannot help but to glance at Elthana before burying her face in her hands.
Griff shakes his head stubbornly and averts his gaze trying to look for anything else to take his attention, not wanting to be part of this at all.
Muir shakes his head “I have never wanted to be more wrong in my time. I am sorry my musings were true….somehow serafina and griff you have to convince your sides to come together and prepare for the invasion.”
Elthana pipes up about the items, "I think they should all go back to the shadowfell, including the book. Any link to that place while Nectyran is in charge is not a good idea."
The look from Serafina doesn't go unnoticed as lumithor tells them what has happened. "So she is undead as well? chained up? Is there anything we can do to help her?" She walks over and puts a somewhat shaky hand on Muir's shoulder, knowing he really feels sorry about it, "It's not your fault" she murmurs to him.
"side?" Griff barks back incredulously "what side? I have just been being informed that the the djinni leaders of my isle... Of every isle has been receiving orders from a Vox who is being undead!? Undead and controlled by Nivara since long before I was even being born!... And you are wanting to talk about sides!? No no no no.." A level of panic enters his eyes and his feathers stand on end, "if people are finding out about this there will be panic in the streets, being rioting and uprising, people need a Vox if they are knowing that there is a tyrant with the power to kill the Vox, there would be being a mass exodus put of this plane and into yours..."
Serafina remains seated her arms limp by her side, she stares at the skull if Lumithor, murmuring "it makes sense now, how lumithor was branded a betrayer, how we were ostracized, the isle became off limits... We are isolated, we are used to it... When the whole world goes to hell you'll be alone against it, are we to protect the gate? Without help? Is this the design she had?..."
It takes a little while for the news to sink in for Vin, so focussed on what to do with the book is he.
"So for thousands of years Nivara has been collecting kobolds for her undead army? Hundreds of thousands of them? What is she waiting for? What does she need them for?", he says as he processes the news.
He turns to Griff, "At the very least you need to tell your leaders, so they can stop sending dead kobolds to feed her army", he says, surprised that Griff seemingly wants to bury his head in the sand.
He turns back to Lumithor, "Is Vox Tontritor not a god though? Is she not immortal? Perhaps.....Well, perhaps Nivara can only control her whilst she is undead. If we can reverse that somehow, and she is immortal, might she be restored? Might she be able to fight back?", he asks, looking little doubtful and feeling naive to these things.
He turns to Neferox, hoping she might have some answers too.
Her ears are pricked up, she is certainly listening.
"None of it?" Sam asks, a bit... reluctant? The bodies he's happy to help get rid of and the old used up armor is no great loss but a couple of the weapons and such look decent. Still, unless his guess is wrong, they're surely not better than what he already carries. "I'm sure Muir would hate throwing away a book without examining it first and a couple other things may make good souvenirs. I do like a good souvenir...." Sam kind of just his head to his shoulder to indicate the Hag's Head pauldron.
Still, Sam isn't going to argue with the dragon spirit. If it all goes through the portal it all goes through... And Sam will bend his back to the work while the others chat.
((If Lumithor is insistent on it all going back Sam complies... but will try to palm the pendant since it should be small enough to not be noticed? Sleight of Hand: 6 or 7 +3 for 10. lol, advantage really doesn't help much, does it??))
Muir nods and drops the wall. “Well I wasn’t sure if the Raven Queen would want to reclaim their souls. I’m not entirely sure how that works….Book you say? Oh uh may I Lumithor?”
Vin hops onto his broom and flies down to land amongst the others, close to Neferox.
"Well that went well, mostly", he says looking pretty much pristine having spent the battle mostly out of harms way.
When Lumithor mentions Nectyran's reach, Sam mentions souvenirs and Muir brings up the Raven Queen, he pipes up, "Yeah, not even the Raven Queen wants anything to do with these dead. I haven't seen Dec appear for any of them. Their stuff should be ok though, right?".
Neferox, meanwhile wanders away from the portal and starts to lick the gore off herself.
"Lumithor..." Gewyn says, grabbing the dragon's attention as he notices Sam's attempt at subtlety. "Mind taking a look at these markings?" He pulls at his cloak/scarf to reveal the veins blackened from necrotic magics. "This will fade, right? I'm worried they'll clash terribly with any future hickeys. Actually wait, maybe I should back up. Do you need me to explain what a hickey is first?"
Attempting to give help action to Sam for sleight of hand.
"the decision to keep things owned by favoured fighters of Nectyran could have unknown consequences, but I did mean mostly the bodies." Lumithor suggests,
"I'm dead against it, if you are going to keep things from these monsters you take them straight out of Thaeir!" Serafina snaps as she plucks her sword out of the air after Muir rescinds his thorns. She rubs her shoulder and the group see she is bleeding from a variety of places, worse for wear.
"Is the Raven Queen being smart, not taking the souls of those turned by Nectyran? Surely she is the only one who can be saving their souls from such corruption?" Griff ponders, glad to not be fighting those things any longer.
“Oh well we could send whatever back to our friends home quickly….but just a quick glance at the book wouldn’t hurt I’m sure”
Sam tosses the bodies, or bits, or big dust clumps, through the portal first and then considers the items. Whether he's successfully palmed the pendant or not he will stand over and consider the warhammer, mace and shield that remain. He'll study the items best he can to decide if they are worth the hassle of bringing home or not. The mace and warhammer MAYBE would fit through the bag to go back to Hog but the shield (I assume) wouldn't. Breaking out some of his smith's tools he does a quick assessment. If they seem more or less ordinary weapons then he'll toss them through the portal. If he has reason to think they may be exception, or magical, however, then he'd bring that up with the others.
Perception (+5) or Investigation (-1): Adv from Fire Rune & using tools: 8 or Nat 20...
"I could identify one of the items for you, Sam. Or that book Muir, in case it is cursed or something", Vin offers as he watches Sam examine the items he found, and sees Muir on the verge of opening the book.
Hearing Griff contemplate the Raven's Queen decision, he shrugs, "I am sure the Raven Queen knows what they are doing. Maybe they have a pact, or they are theirs already or they can't reach so close to the portal. I will ask next chance I get". He gives a cheeky grin at the last statement.
Muir stops and nods handing the book over to Vin
"The weapons are just weapons," Sam says with some surety. "Well made but I'm fairly certain that's it. Best to check the book though, I don't know for books..."
Vin accepts the book from Muir and looks it over, before reporting back his findings.
"It is indeed a spell book, and a little bit more. It is strongly linked to the Shadowfell, and allows someone attuned to it to see into the Shadowfell. It also allows them to use it to avoid danger, as we saw she did", he says, a frown creasing his face. "I sense no curse, but obviously being linked to such a place might be dangerous".
"As for the spells it holds, there seem to be a mixture of magical schools in there".
He hands it back to Muir. "I am not sure it is the sort of book that will grant you knowledge, unless your magic is learnt from books, like a wizards".
Muir snaps his fingers "As shucks well...hmm although it does allow one to see into the Shadowfell. This might be useful for someone here, Lumithor what do you think?"
"Knowledge or not, being able to jump around like that and avoid attacks could be handy to anyone," Sam notes. "Can't see how not getting killed would be dangerous..." Sam, though, shows no actual interest in the book. It's a book. Handy or not, he's not going to be sitting down and ready the thing.
Turning to Lumithor Sam clears his throat and says "You said you found something out? Unfortunately??"
Vin raises a hand, "I guess I should explain. One of the ways to avoid attacks is to shift into the Shadowfell itself. That might be an issue. Although you can also simply teleport, which I am not sure involves the Shadowfell. You can use these effects only 3 times each day total".
Lumithor squints at the book, "if it is a way for someone to enter the Shadowfell then could it be used to transport more than just a person, relics for nectyran and such? I don't like the thought of that being outside of the Shadowfell. Though it may be useful to me if I could see what is happening on the other side of the gate I could be better prepared... Right?" Seeming unsure The crystal face instead turns his attention to the question asked by Sam, it doesn't seem possible but the crystal face seems to pale as Lumithor's powerful voice takes on a hesitant and broken tone.
"Ah um... yes, I was able to see the state of my mother's home and the state of herself...
Little is known about the thundercloud in the sky by the being in this realm these days, Vox tontritor fell silent around the time that she killed me.. her home is a castle, situated atop a flying beast called an Astral Dreadnaught. An antiquity from before the realms were shaped by the giants... Her Dreadnaught is currently infested with undead, specifically kobolds, they crawl over it's body like ripple through the air, there must be hundreds of thousands of then up there. This terrified me and made me hesitate slightly, if that is what had become of her home, of her Dreadnaught then what mist have become of her...
She... She is chained in the grand hall of her home, and she has been turned the same as the kobolds, I don't know how long, I hope it isn't as long as I suspect, but Vox Tontritor is dead." His mannerisms betray a grief, but more the empty realisation of one's worst anxieties and suspicions.
There is a clatter from behind the group, coupled with a soft "no..." as Serafina drops to the floor in anguish and disbelief, she cannot help but to glance at Elthana before burying her face in her hands.
Griff shakes his head stubbornly and averts his gaze trying to look for anything else to take his attention, not wanting to be part of this at all.
Muir shakes his head “I have never wanted to be more wrong in my time. I am sorry my musings were true….somehow serafina and griff you have to convince your sides to come together and prepare for the invasion.”
Elthana pipes up about the items, "I think they should all go back to the shadowfell, including the book. Any link to that place while Nectyran is in charge is not a good idea."
The look from Serafina doesn't go unnoticed as lumithor tells them what has happened. "So she is undead as well? chained up? Is there anything we can do to help her?" She walks over and puts a somewhat shaky hand on Muir's shoulder, knowing he really feels sorry about it, "It's not your fault" she murmurs to him.
"side?" Griff barks back incredulously "what side? I have just been being informed that the the djinni leaders of my isle... Of every isle has been receiving orders from a Vox who is being undead!? Undead and controlled by Nivara since long before I was even being born!... And you are wanting to talk about sides!? No no no no.." A level of panic enters his eyes and his feathers stand on end, "if people are finding out about this there will be panic in the streets, being rioting and uprising, people need a Vox if they are knowing that there is a tyrant with the power to kill the Vox, there would be being a mass exodus put of this plane and into yours..."
Serafina remains seated her arms limp by her side, she stares at the skull if Lumithor, murmuring "it makes sense now, how lumithor was branded a betrayer, how we were ostracized, the isle became off limits... We are isolated, we are used to it... When the whole world goes to hell you'll be alone against it, are we to protect the gate? Without help? Is this the design she had?..."
It takes a little while for the news to sink in for Vin, so focussed on what to do with the book is he.
"So for thousands of years Nivara has been collecting kobolds for her undead army? Hundreds of thousands of them? What is she waiting for? What does she need them for?", he says as he processes the news.
He turns to Griff, "At the very least you need to tell your leaders, so they can stop sending dead kobolds to feed her army", he says, surprised that Griff seemingly wants to bury his head in the sand.
He turns back to Lumithor, "Is Vox Tontritor not a god though? Is she not immortal? Perhaps.....Well, perhaps Nivara can only control her whilst she is undead. If we can reverse that somehow, and she is immortal, might she be restored? Might she be able to fight back?", he asks, looking little doubtful and feeling naive to these things.
He turns to Neferox, hoping she might have some answers too.
Her ears are pricked up, she is certainly listening.
"I do not know ... But there is likely one who could answer that question" Lumithor says and nods solemnly over to the shrine to the Raven Queen.