Gnome's OOTA Story Thread [CLOSED]

The basilisk is easy enough to recruit to the cause and casts Greater Restoration on Khessa releasing her from her madness affliction.

Not sure how the human would react to being confronted about her ailment, the noble drow suggests the Basilisk simply uses it's power without explaining why. He would then approach her with an unsure smile, hoping she has indeed been freed of her delusion.

Khessa is once again thinking that what everyone (including the Angels) calls 'reality' must all be a stupid, meaningless game. Why else would Gromph summon Demon Lords to the Underdark? And if, as the Angel in drow form surmises, Gromph bungled the ritual, what was the original purpose of it? Did he want to summon Lolth? And anyway... how could he make a mistake with such catastrophic consequences if he was an Archmage?

While the blonde arcane warrior is lost in these thoughts, the Basilisk approaches and simply uses it's power without explaining why. 'What the hell am I thinking?' she startles 'Reality... a game?! Have I gone crazy, perhaps, for having such an idea? The Angels must have laughed so much at hearing me say something stupid like that... Angels?!' In the space of a few moments, she suddenly realizes how absurd and twisted her thoughts had been lately since she had touched the gem... 'Demon Lord madness! That cursed gem must have been an Artifact created by the Demon Lords... and it had transmitted their madness to me! Luckily I'm healed now...'

The tall adventuress then sees the Basilisk nearby... she sees the noble drow approaching with an unsure smile... "What a beautiful smile!" she smiles back "I bet you found out more about Gromph and his ritual, thanks to your Angel powers!" she tries to remain serious as much as possible... but soon bursts out laughing "Oh, Sorry Traydark, but after being affected by Demon Lord Madness for so long, now that I'm healed I couldn't help but joke about it!" she runs towards him and hugs him "Now I am myself again... and I know that you are not an Angel - but you are much more - you are the person who first saved my family and now saved my sanity. Because the way you looked at me right after the Basilisk passed by me and... and it did what it had to do to heal me, it's clear that you were the one who asked it". She fixes her blue eyes on his purple ones "You're Traydark. There's no Angel that can compare to a person like you".

"Well, my friends!" Khessa then turns to everyone "So, how do we want to proceed to deepen our investigation? Might it be a good idea to try talking to that other drow wizard that Traydark met here? If we convince him that it would be better for him to help us steal Gromph's secrets, Vizeran might be able to uncover the details of the ritual... maybe even help us to undo it... Though there's always the risk" she sighs "that he might betray us instead. I think that's a risk we can take - since the threat of the Demon Lords must not be much more pleasing to him than it is to us. But you? What do you think?"

"I suppose we can split up again and each try to find either one of the wizards we saw yesterday, or perhaps an area of the library where we would gain more information about summoning spells..."

Hearing what Khessa has to say, Katryl frowns a bit. "So the library only lets us see things. But we can't see things if there are witnesses? Gromph wasn't a witness to his actions? Does it have to be two witnesses? Or more? This seems ridiculous! I can't imagine learning anything this way." The orange tendrils in her hair start to flare a bit. 

Hearing Horkas' suggestion, she nods. "Guess we might try to find something. We've got a whole day to kill now before trying that useless crystal again. I'd feel better if we didn't split up though." She looks around. "Maybe we could do a few smaller groups? I could go with Lunaria," she suggests. "Perhaps out best bet would be to find others that can help us." 

"The way the crystal interacts with Gravenhollow also disappointed me..." Khessa admits "Many of the limitations I'm experiencing don't seem to make much sense to me. But magic doesn't always make sense - although logical thinking helps to learning and memorizing spells, incantations and even more so unique and not very standardized magical effects often have peculiarities that seem arbitrary and inexplicable. But this is what we have".

"Here in Gravenhollow we shouldn't be in danger even wandering around alone!" the blonde arcane warrior observes "Yesterday I even met..." she stops for a moment "...a creature which, in other contexts, would certainly have proved very dangerous, but evidently all visitors here take the ban on violent actions very seriously. However, if we prefer to move in groups, I will try to accompany Horkas. Traydark? You'll be with us?"

The noble Drow accepts the hug with some hestitation, awkwardly patting the human on her back but seeming quite relieved she is back to her relative sane self, at the very least henceforth they would be spared the incessant mentioning of how they were angels. "Once again you are much too generous with your praise human, but I am glad you see things clear again." He says with a sincere smile as he releases himself from her hold.

Traydark lets out a frustrated sigh, seeming to agree with the genasi about how hard it seemed to gather any relevant information in Gravenhollow if what the explained was true. "I don't mind joining you and Horkas..." The noble drow answers the blonde arcane warrior. "...but you should know that talking again to Vizeran DeVir again now might prove fruitless. He explicitly asked me to find him once we were finished here. That being said, I have nothing better to do with my time here until we can use the Stnespeaker crystal again." He adds with a small sigh.

"I guess we can peruse the stacks for demon summoning and banishment spells and rituals. Perhaps we will learn more about the actual things Gromph may have been up to and then we determine how to undo it..." Horkas suggests to his small group.

Lulu nods at Katryl's suggestion and steps closer, likewise preferring everyone doesn't split up again, but preemptively [Tooltip Not Found] her abilities just in case. "I've a mind to check the Present's archives--well, that's a bit of an oxymoron," she softly chuckles, "--about the Slime Lord's whereabouts. And for anything current regarding that spider Goddess as well. Would no' hurt to ken what they're up to. Could seek out the Present's Keeper as well."

(depending on the answer in the OOC chat)
Lulu's rubs at her chin in thought before blinking and turning her gaze to Khessa, ears tilting slightly forward. "Ye said a creature?" she asks, suddenly realizing much went unsaid. "What creature, lass?"

"Yes..." Khessa summarizes, convinced "demon summoning and banishment spells and rituals... what Jubilex is doing (and maybe also the other Demon Lords are doing)... what Lolth is doing... All things that make sense to focus on and try to find out more about".

"Indeed," the blonde arcane warrior reflects on the last mentioned, Lolth "that evil vermin who fancies herself a goddess is suspiciously absent... It's not like her, to let everyone else cause destruction, chaos and havoc... I wonder if she has a longer-term plan, to strike later..."

To Lunaria's last question, the tall adventuress downplays it with a gesture of her hand "It's not important, it was a black dragon... I was scared to see it at first, and I was surprised that even a creature that powerful respected the truce of Gravenhollow... but thinking back about it later, it must have been only an image left by the creature, from a past visit... Like the 'Elminster' encountered by Horkas".

(So you all are heading to the archives of the Present to see what the demon lords are up to at the moment?)

Katryl nods to Lulu. "Yea, maybe there's information about banishing demons. That would be good. I'm sure with your goddess behind you such a ritual would be a natural for you Lunaria. Let's go see what we can find."  When the firbolg is ready to go she heads off at her side. 

Khessa's Decrption roll asked by Lulu: 18

Lulu's keen eyes track the microexpressions on Khessa's face--the little tells that give away her deception (Insight: 17+7 24). The cleric's disappointment comes out in a soft sigh and sad smile.

"I'm afraid dishonesty among us is far more worrisome than the prospect of a black dragon, Miss Cabbagefield," she says, searching Khessa's blue eyes for truth or reason. Or even a persistent sort of Madness that may have taken her after the encounter. "I will no' push, but I do hope ye've a reason for keeping the truth from us. Circumstances as dire as they are." Attention lingering a moment more, she then turns with Katryl, ready to head to the Archives of the Present.

"Dishonesty?" Khessa takes on a wounded expression, hearing herself accused of so much by the usually mild giantess "Even if you are not an Angel... And even if you have known me for less time than my other adventure companions... I still thought that you knew me enough not to think that about me, Lulu".

“What reason would I have, to lie to you about a… picture from the past?” the blonde arcane warrior tries to reason "Well, ok, I guess this adventure, as we knew from the start, tests our minds no less than our bodies... and that's probably why you are now harboring unfounded suspicions".

"Anyway, fine" the tall adventuress forces a smile. "Since we'll be together for a long time to come, if you don't know me yet enough, I guess you will soon".

And with this Khessa seems to consider the matter closed... and she too is ready to set out, with her team, in search of knowledge on demon summoning and banishment spells and rituals.

Katryl and Lulu:

Heading for the archives of the Present, what exactly are you hoping to find?

Traydark, Horkas, Khessa:

Using the crystal in the archives of the past Khessa has a vision...

Khessa has a disgusted expression as she explains the vision she had to Traydark and Horkas: "Gromph! It really must have been Gromph's fault! And he didn't even do it on purpose... He made a mistake because, due to his arrogance, he tried a ritual so powerful that he lost control of it!"

"I saw a powerful, arrogant-looking drow wizard, dressed in shimmering spider silk, attempting a complex magic ritual" the blonde arcane warrior recounts. "From what we know at the moment, I suppose it was Gromph. As he was nears completion, an intricate web of faerzress energy crackled around him. Following this, he panicked and, as his movements became frantic, he lost control of the spell!"

"Suddenly, the web ripped open in multiple places, like tears in a dark tapestry" the features of the tall adventuress become dark and angry, as she relives the scene that marked the beginning of the invasion by the Demon Lords. "Monstrous fiends, shrieking and howling in fury, come bursting through the rifts, pulled from the Abyss and dumped into the Underdark. And there was a chilling, deep laugh of a woman that resonated, while the terrified drow fled like hell from the very demons he accidentally summoned".

"Now that I was able to think about it better, while I was telling you about it..." Khessa becomes thoughtful. "Gromph may as well have been helped to make a mistake, to lose control of his ritual... The woman's laugh I heard last... Combined with the fact that Lolth hasn't come to the Underdark yet... Maybe that's all a machination of hers! Maybe that oversized vermin who thinks she's a goddess managed to make that idiot Gromph mess up his powerful ritual - and summon the Demon Lords here by mistake. The Demon Lords will sow death, madness and destruction... but, as we know, they are also enemies of each other. Perhaps Lolth expects them to eventually fight each other and weaken themselves. So she can then arrive at last, get rid of the few surviving Demon Lords, and dominate the dimension of mortals, moreover already corrupted in a way probably pleasing to her".

(Horkas Arcana check: 18)

The artificer listens intently to the vision and asks some key clarifying information about what exactly Khessa saw or sensed about the casting of the spell in an attempt to determine what the actual spell was.

Khessa responds with all the accuracy that the vision she has had allows her and tries to think through her thoughts together with the artificer to understand which spell or ritual it could be, possibly evaluating the options out aloud with him.

[[ OOC: Khessa is trying to help @Horkas ]]

The noble Drow ponders what the human divulges about her vision, nodding in agreement with her conclusions and suspicions. "But no details about the ritual as such then. What a pity." He says with a hint of disappointment in his tone. "I suspect we will eventually have to visit the City of Spiders and find out those details." He adds grimly. "We have still things to investigate here though." He finishes, ready to continue with the investigation into the present.