The Summit Road Campaign Thread

"Wait....." Vishal says catching something, "The...the...the Kalashtar had nightmares? But...but that's...that's not possible. We don't dream, well...not really. All we have is memories. Vakri insisted on bombarding me with dreams about fire and passion for the longest time. They've cooled down some on that but still...if....if a Kalashtar had a nightmare, that's...that's bad. We have to talk to the spirit....right away." It is obvious that something that could affect his dreams has shaken the dancer some as he speaks.

Shen nods. "That concerned us as well. As we couldn't ask him questions about it, we were reduced to guessing until yesterday, when another kalashtar reported a nightmare. We talked to her at length. Her nightmare was set in the room she was sleeping in, and it involved waking up surrounded by fire. Her screams woke up those around her, but they didn't see any fire, and the damage was to her mind, not her body, so it seems to be a dream. Which is highly worrying. You can talk to her if you want."

Vishal nods, "I can try to talk to the corpse. We should really try and talk to the Quori as well. This....we need to end this right away if they can target Kalashtar's dreams too. No....there must be something else...." 

"The bodies are being preserved right now, as we cannot perform a sky burial with the monastery on lockdown," Bhimaani says. "If you would like, I will show you while Shen guides Khova, if you have no more questions."

"Wh-Where sh-should w-w-we r-report, t-t-tonight, if th-there are no leads?" Taran asks, "I-I-I w-w-would r-rather n-not disrupt y-your patrol pl-plans."

Kaori snaps her gaze over to Vishal at the mention of talking to a corpse but rather quickly shakes her head and returns to staring off at nothing, standing still as a statue.

"Bhimaani, show them our temporary security central on the way?" Shen asks.

Bhimaani nods. "We've set up a station in one of the meditation rooms, on the principle that if this is a dream creature, that's where we've got the best chance of detecting and stopping it. It's right next to where we're keeping the dead, I'll show you on the way."

 "Th-the pilgrims," Taran asks suddenly, "D-Did an-any of th-them re-report nightmares s-similar to wh-what is h-h-happening on the w-w-way here? O-Or anything e-else odd a-about their j-journey?"

Shen shakes his head. "None of them have reported nightmares at all. Then again, there are nearly ten thousand people here, and only ten have been affected so far, so they're hardly the only group to not have been touched by nightmares. The killer seems to be focusing on leaders or people at least somewhat more involved in the conflict between Riedra and Adar."

" Portal being disturbed the day before the attacks started: no coincidence. The new pilgrims, neither. This... thing is powerful enough to give a Kalashtar nightmares, it can also avoid mind scrying. " Druhdaar mutters to himself.

 He then spits with disdain: " Bloody psionics. A cowards' tool, that is... ! "

The big man seems to be seething with barely supressed fury.

Shen chuckles as he rises, tugging his glaive from his back. "Careful who you say that to around here. Bhimaani could use that 'coward's tool' to walk through the wall of your bedroom and send a lightning punch through your chest." He nods at Khova. "Follow me. I'll explain how the psychic sessions will work." He sheathes his dagger and puts the whetstone into his pocket as he heads for the door.

Khova hesitates, then gives you six a nod. "Thank you all, I'll see you soon." She follows Shen out the door.

Bhimaani smiles faintly as she turns towards the door. "Follow me." The monk leads you through the mostly empty halls of the monastery, passing only a few groups of monks who are speaking quietly or moving at a rapid clip through the halls. She stops outside a door and opens it quietly.

Inside is a simple stone room with three raised platforms of stone along the edge. On each platform is a body dressed in simple white robes. A kalashtar male and two human females, each with the previously described Quori word carved on their forehead (Traitor for the kalashtar, Fool for one of the humans, Blind for the other) and a gash in their chest the size of a large blade, positioned directly over their heart.

While the group is walking, Kaori positions herself beside Vishal and gently tugs on his sleeve to get his attention, avoiding looking up at him.

Vishal looks down at the little armored fighter and quietly says, “Do you need something Kaori?” 

"U-Um, I-I'm n-n-not f-f-fully tr-trained," Taran says to Bhimaani, "B-But I d-d-d-do work in the m-medical w-w-wings, m-might I l-look at th-the d-d-doctor's n-notes, I-I'm s-s-sure I w-w-won't f-f-find an-anything th-they d-d-didn't b-but M-M-Master Lukaan al-always s-s-said to be th-thorough."

"You can talk to ... the dead?" Her voice, despite mimicking others, still manages to sound shy and unsure.

“Oh ummm.....kind of.” Vishal replies a little embarrassed as he tries to explain it, “There are a couple rules that I have to follow to do it. I have to be near the corpse so the spirit can use it to talk which requires that the corpse has a working mouth. I can only ask questions and only up to five. And a spirit can only be asked to do this once every ten days. Of course like a person the spirit only knows what it did while it was alive and may not always tell us exactly what we want.”

"Oh." She slumps down slightly. "Nevermind ... then. Sorry to ... bother."

Bhimaani nods in response to Taran's request. "Those will be at the security station. I'm sure there will be no objection to you looking at them."

Taran will nod, ask directions to the Security Station and head off to look over the medical files.

Next, Bhimaani leads you all a few doors over and opens a door streaked with crystalline veins. Inside is a room that looks like it was originally a large meditation chamber. Now, however, it's full of tables, weapons racks, and cabinets. Monks move back and forth, talking, examining maps, or sharpening weapons. Glancing at Taran, Bhimaani indicates a table with several folders on it. "The medical files are over there, feel free to take a look."