Gnome's OOTA Story Thread [CLOSED]

(Fine)

"You are such a dear angel, Horkas!" Khessa is delighted by the fellow adventurer's words "But you are too kind - and you know it! Without the help of all of you, I certainly wouldn't have been able to accomplish much!"

"I can still call you Horkas, right?" the tall adventuress is struck by a doubt "I mean... it's your real name... you use that name even in Celestial form... It's not a name you use only when you take on Gnome-like, right? I'm really curious to see you in your winged form..."

"Although never as curious as I am to see Traydark's angelic form!" the blonde arcane warrior admits "What a brilliant idea! Who would suspect that an angel lurks beneath those drow guises? Suspicion might arise after knowing his good heart, but first..."

Meanwhile the noble drow tries to make sense of all that happens around him. The simple answer was of course that the demonic madness caught everyone in Mantol-Derith, but he had hoped to at least find a reliable ally in the zhent Ghazrim DuLoc. He is about to interfere when Horkas takes the ring from DuLoc but stops as the artificer explains the ring will find them the location of Gravenhollow. This new information leaves the drow even more confused. They where trying to find their way to Gravenhollow and his zhent contact just happened to walk around with a ring that would take them there. And then Khessa turns weird, or weirder at least. He nods in agreement with the others, the gem must have been the cause for the madness spreading in Mantol-Derith. As the gem has been dealt with, Traydark asks the gentle Firbolg to stand ready with more of her sophoric magic as he wakes up Ghazrim DuLoc to hopefully get some sensible answers for once.

"But what about that other thing?" Katryl asks, pointing at the Beholder. "That thing was just shooting its eye beams at us!  Are we just going to let it wake up too?  Can we ties it up?" She doesn't really see much of a way to do that.  "Maybe cover it with something? If someone has something?"

((If everything above is okay with the DM and nothing happened during the transfer of the gem:))

Lulu tucks the alms box beneath her vestments then bestows her Goddess' blessing as requested. As the proverbial alarm clock is about to ring, the cleric nods in understanding and moves behind the beholder and Ghazrim. Looking at Katryl over their sleeping forms, she tries to reassure the genasi, "We've no' much time left for restraints and the like, but if there's funny eye business, they'll be back a'snoozin' faster than their nan can gie 'em a skelpit lug!" The idiom probably makes more sense in Sylvan. The firbolg holds another Sleep spell at the ready.


((Lulu will cast Bless with Fey Touched on Khessa, Traydark, and Katryl. She'll hold a Sleep spell in case of any moves to attack.))

(I was waiting for Khessa to make her reroll but we can keep going and see what she does whenever)

Ghazrim and the beholder wake up and look around sleepily. "I wasn't planning on taking a nap today." He looks at Traydark and flashes a grin, "Well I didn't know they were sending you back here! You need the map, right? Well it isn't really a map but you're welcome to it anyway." He holds out the ring, "I wasn't planning on going there anytime soon anyway." The beholder mumbles something grumbly and incoherent but stays put.

[[ OOC: ...and I was waiting if Lunaria cast Bless or not... given how challenging this Saving Throw is for Kherssa, even 1d4 can make a difference - given that she must be very lucky anyway ]]

Khessa's new charisma Saving Throw (with advantage + bless): 22

Quote from Painted_Beyond >>

[[ OOC: ...and I was waiting if Lunaria cast Bless or not... given how challenging this Saving Throw is for Kherssa, even 1d4 can make a difference - given that she must be very lucky anyway ]]

Khessa's new charisma Saving Throw (with advantage + bless): 22

[[ OOC: Well... it was not easy for Khessa to roll better than 18, but somehow she managed to do it. Thanks to all for the help provided. Is 22 enough? ]]

(I'm not sure you should have rolled with advantage this time since you already rolled once, a second roll would be the advantage roll, but either way I'm sorry to say it's not quite enough still.)

[[ OOC: Oh, sorry, rolled with Advantage because of what Rhanloi assumed - anyway, it seems it does not matter. Lol! Pretty high DC; I wonder if it is an artifact... Well, I really hope not, or destroying it will not be easy. Oh, well, we shall see how this develops ]]

Khessa expected the worst, seeing Traydark wake up the Zhentarim contact and the beholder... They had (inexplicably) attacked them until recently... Yet, the decision turns out to be right (after all, angels are always right, aren't them?): Ghazrim DuLoc finally considers them as allies and also the beholder seems not to be so eager to attack them anymore.

All this makes very little sense to the blonde arcane warrior, so she asks for advice (whispering) from the angel closest to her, who by pure chance, turns out to be Lunaria: "I really don't understand, Lulu... Apparently, the maddening influence that had everyone blindly fighting against everyone else has subsided or reduced. Yet, the only thing that has changed is that we have taken custody of the gem and placed it in a closed container. Yet we know that the gem is absolutely not responsible for the maddening influence... After all, when I touched it by mistake, it didn't make me crazy, but it opened my mind to the truth. You, who are an angel, can find an explanation?"

Worried the truth about the gem might agitate her friend who is gripped by its influence, Lulu speaks another truth. “Being in a state of fight or flight is its own kind of madness, lass. Hard to trust friend from foe when one’s life may well be the cost of trusting wrong,” the cleric whispers back. She smiles haplessly at the human then at their Zhentarim allies. “I cannae blame them for seeing clearer now the dust has settled.” 

Her gaze lowers to the dead drow and she thinks of the duergar and svirfneblin. The dust will not settle on this day for decades to come. All the hands that changed possession of the gem—it was a tidal wave that left Madness in its wake.

And Mantol-Derith drowned. 

"What map? Going where?" The noble Drow asks his zhent contact, accepting the offered ring with some hesitation. "Are you okay? Perhaps you can fill us in on what has happened here since I left." He continues, motioning for Ghazrim DuLoc to return back inside where they can all sit around a table and finally sort things out.

Ghazrim hands the ring over to whomever wants it and heads toward the Zhentarim building. "To Gravenhollow of course. Where else? And I'm just fine! Well, I will be after...a rest." He laughed a little. "Funny since I just slept! Not sure what that was all about. But things have been fine until the last couple of days when the duergar and svirfniblen started acting strange. I don't know exactly what happened, but I was going to meet with the drow to discuss possible fallout solutions. And be solutions I mean splitting up what remained if the other factions eradicated each other. But as you can see, that didn't exactly happen either."

"This is not a good idea at all, believe me Ghazrim!" Khessa intervenes, horrified by the plan to conquer and divide the city - a plan whose not-so-distant consequences are clear to her as if she were now seeing them unfold before her blue eyes "What struck Mantol-Derith during 'the last couple of days' is the maddening influence of the Demon Lords! Don't you remember how the city has always prospered by maintaining its balance between factions? Upsetting the balance is the Demon Lords' sneaky way of destroying the city without even needing to conquer it!"

"They're letting you self-destruct - after which," the blonde arcane warrior's blue eyes have a piercing intensity as she tries to make the Zhentarim understand the obvious "if there are any survivors, they'll be like just a morsel for the demons of the Abyss! The crazy chaos that is spreading (and I'm relieved that you tell me that this has only been happening for days) is not an opportunity to be seized or a current to go along with! It is the enemy to be defeated! The only hope, Ghazrim , not only for the Zhentarim, but for Mantol-Derith as a whole, is to find the vessel through which the Demon Lords are spreading madness and destroy it! And quickly, before it's too late!"

"To be honest, just a moment ago I thought I had identified the vessel... but I was wrong!" the tall adventuress slams her right fist into the palm of her left hand. If she thinks about how sure she was that it was all the gem's fault... Yet no, it is as inexplicable as it is certain, that the gem has nothing to do with it. Poor gem unjustly suspected. Luckily it is now in the hands of the angels... so it is safe! Now, only they could destroy it easily and whenever they want - but obviously they won't... Why would they destroy an innocent object? "However, the fact remains that we must find it and destroy it as soon as possible! It is the only hope for Mantol-Derith (and for the people to inhabit it) to survive!"

 [[ OOC: @DM: The beholder... is he still present? And is he keeping us in his anti-magic cone or not? ]]

(The beholder is there, and yes the zone is up as it comes along with them)

"Nonsense, less competition means our stronghold here is more secure. I've neverminded having the other factions here, but I'm not going to let unused space go to waste either. It's not personal against their kind, it's business. If you had the chance to expand your operations, you'd take it too. But I don't see how that's really your concern anyway. We're not kicking them out, just preparing in case. If there is some madness of the demon lords then really the better everyone else goes so better it is for us. Now, do you want the ring or not?" He speaks to the point in a practical manner.

"Gravenhollow, why do you think we would want to go there?" The noble drow asks, trying to make sense of the situation when Khessa is finished.

"I was told a party would be coming, that seems to be you, and would probably be seeking more help or answers. It was suggested I offer my ring since Gravenhollow is one of the best places to learn things down here. So I put the proverbial two and two together and assumed you all were going to head that way. Of course if I'm wrong then think nothing of it." Ghazrim shrugs and sits back in his chair.

"I see..." The noble drow says, still processing this new information. "...and this ring, how did you come upon it if I may ask?" He continues as he studies the ring.

Insight: 18

"I've had this ring for years. Found it in a pile of junk someone left behind while I was out traveling the Underdark. I didn't know what it was until some time later, and never needed to go to Gravenhollow myself. It is a pretty ring though and still worth a fair bit on its own, so I kept it."

(Insight: He seems pretty honest about the story, and from what you have seen of him before, he isn't the kind to lie intentionally to a fellow Zhentarim without a really good reason)

“We are grateful to have it, Mr. DuLoc. A route to follow saves we expeditioners wandering in the figurative and literal dark in search of it.” In an aside, Lulu offers to heal either the beholder or Ghazrim himself if needed.