The Summit Road Campaign Thread

"O-Our arrival and in-infiltration into the city went sm-smoothly. Th-There w-w-was no pr-problem g-g-getting to Es-Esteemed Khova's r-room. On-once th-there..." Taran trails off, unsure of how to explain what happened next and looking over to the group for support.

" Once there, everything got literally kicked to Khyber. But we dealt with it. Kinda had to ... " Druhdaar says with a discrete but scorching look at Akuma.

Vishal begins to explain what happened in more detail, "When we arrived we didn't know if Khova would be in control or not so we assumed she wouldn't be. We were wrong and in order to convince her I had to show her that I was a Kalashtar. While attempting to escape we got ambushed by Nirdaya and one of his men. We were able to dispatch but not kill them. When we fled the city Nirdaya attacked from Dal Quor itself and Khova dragged us in in order to help. We bested him twice and it's safe to say he's not happy and knows exactly who we are now. As we traveled here there was only one other time where Khova wasn't in control but we quickly took care of that with myself going back in to help her regain control."

Ranari listens gravely to the explanation, then glances at Khova. "Khova, from your end?"

Khova takes a deep breath and nods. "I managed to break free about a week ago. Got 8925 a posting at Dar Mirn and sent the message as soon as it was confirmed. Nirdaya and I...have a history, I'll fill anyone I need to in at a later time, if you want. So he started tracking me and zeroed in on my position about when they got here. He probably jumped into the nearest possible host and headed for the room. He brought a Thousand Eyes agent. After they took down his host, he went through Dal Quor trying to find my bond, then used it to jump through and attack. I ah...accidentally dragged the group through into dreamspace." Khova looks down, looking a little ashamed. "After they stopped him - again - I minimized my connection to Dal Quor to make myself harder to track. It made it a little harder to keep my host under control, and she got out a day and a half ago or so. Vishal entered my mindscape to help me get her back under control."

Ranari nods. "It sounds like you did quite well. Khova, Shen will explain how you'll go to psychic sessions and solidify your control over this body. The Haztaratains here are some of the most skilled psychics in Adar." She glances over her shoulder at something the rest of you can't see. "I need to go. Shen and Bhimaani will answer your questions about the killer here." Her image flickers and vanishes.

Bhimaani looks at the two kalashtar monks, still waiting in the doorway. "Go back to your posts," she orders them. "Stay together and make sure to reseal the exit." They both nod and turn to leave, and Bhimaani crosses her arms and places herself with her back to the wall next to the doorway, waiting for your questions.

Shen glances at Khova. "I'll give you the full explanation of everything once we're done here," he tells her before looking back at the rest of you, whetstone rasping softly on his dagger.

"Why don't you explain exactly what has been happening? How long ago has it started? Are there any victims who have been targeted but survived? Anything at the scene of the crime? Anything connecting the victims?" Vishal says, asking a series of questions that he could think of. 

Bhimaani nods. "Three days ago, we woke up to find one of our monks dead, a kalashtar. His body was in the dining hall on a table, and he'd been killed with a blade to the heart from the front. Carved into his forehead was this sigil." She removes a sheet of paper from her pocket and sets it on the table.

"It's Quori for 'traitor'," Shen supplies.

Bhimaani continues, voice grim. "While investigating, we found that two other of our monks suffered from horrible nightmares that night, and that one of them and the one killed had those nightmares the night before as well. While we looked for the murderer, we closed all exits in and out of the monastery and shut down the psionic portal. We made sure to send word to the other monasteries of what we were doing. However, we couldn't find anyone that day, so we collected the monks into groups so that nobody was sleeping alone and patrolled through the night." She sighs. "It didn't work. Two more monks had nightmares, and another was killed, a human this time. We found her in the primary chapel, killed the same way."

"The sigil on her forehead read 'fool' this time," Shen volunteers.

"We tried to find the killer again, to no avail. Another monk was found this morning, another human. The word was 'blind'. She was one of the lead members of security, worked closely with Shen, and she was left in his room. That was a direct taunt." Bhimaani shakes her head.

"I didn't find anything at the scenes, either the locations or where they were put," Shen says grimly. "They were all clearly killed where they slept and then moved. The only connection we've found is that each victim has had at least one night of nightmares before being killed. We've had several monks targeted by nightmares that haven't been killed - yet."

Caelius raises a finger, indicating he wants to ask a question.

"U-Um, Mis-Mister Caelius wants to kn-know what th-the nightmares a-are ab-about, or i-if there a-are any c-c-common th-themes." Taran translates, before meekly continuing, "U-Um, an-and I-I, uh, w-w-well, th-the m-monk in th-the temple... d-d-do you kn-know why th-they c-called her a f-f-fool? Sh-She s-s-seems to b-be the o-odd one. W-What w-w-were h-h-her d-duties? D-Did sh-she have an-any g-guests st-staying w-with her?"

 "The nightmares vary, based on each monk. They seem to reflect a fear or worry of that monk," Bhimaani explains.

"We've got a guess as to what each word means," Shen explains. "Traitor because he was a kalashtar, and allied with a rebel spirit, et cetera. We're almost completely sure this is Inspired related. Fool we're guessing is because she was allied with the Path of Light, especially, since we found her in the primary chapel. And blind because the victim didn't catch the killer. The second victim was a priestess of the Path, she didn't have any guests with her, although her sister stays in the same set of rooms."

"Was anything strange happening before this all started? Anyone recently return from a mission? Anyone new visiting?" Vishal asks nexts trying to figure out as much information as possible 

"Nothing particularly strange." Shen frowns. "There was some minor fluctuation in the Dal Quor portal, but I examined that myself with a team of extraplanar experts, and we confirmed it was from something powerful popping out elsewhere, not here. We don't have many missions come here, unless they specifically need advanced psychic help, but we did had several pilgrims come in the days before the killing began. Three of them came because they want to be Haztaratains, we already put them through enough psychic checks and scans that we're pretty sure they aren't the killers. The other four are just pilgrims, or at least appear to be. They were the first ones we put through psychic interrogation, but we could have missed something."

"D-Doesn't m-make sense," Taran says to himself, nervously fiddling with a dagger, "Wh-why le-leave messages? K-Killing with n-no e-evidence is safer, ob-obfuscating t-target? B-But, ev-everyone im-important w-would in-increase se-security. St-stupid pl-plan, c-could be s-s-sister, but they w-would have ch-checked her. B-Besides, c-can't be personal, n-no need to k-kill guard... i-it w-was a t-taunt, t-taunting is st-stupid, w-waste of effort, un-unless it is th-the p-point, t-taunt them, sh-show it c-could be an-anyone," Taran unconsciously starts flipping and catching the dagger, "B-But it isn-isn't anyone, only those wh-who got th-the nightmare, on-only... Fear? I-If g-goal is f-fear, wh-why? F-Fear is a m-mind killer, b-but th-that w-won't st-stop the m-monks, th-they c-can f-f-focus past f-fear... B-But th-they c-can't st-stop it, th-they are bl-blind, th-the people are sc-scared, g-get e-everyone sc-scared, even th-though th-this is..."

Taran blinks, looking down at the dagger in his hand, "Wh-What c-could c-come th-through the p-portal, i-if ev-everyone in the c-city is af-afraid? Is c-connected to the Dr-Dreaming Dark? I-Is th-there a dr-dream creature that c-could even do that? Or on-one th-that f-feeds on f-fear?"

"We're pretty sure the goal is fear," Shen says bluntly. "Don't know if the killer's doing this because it feeds directly off fear or because it was on orders, but fear and terror definitely seem to be the goal, between the nightmares and the placed killings. Fear is a lot more powerful than you'd think, even for people who are trained to focus past it. Knowing that the killer could be anywhere, around whatever corner, has some seriously debilitating effects on the mind. As for whether there's something in Dal Quor that feeds off fear, tsucora quori manipulate and feed off fear, but I don't know if people being afraid would help them get through the portal. But being able to turn the monks of the Haztaratain monastery into prey sends a pretty damn strong message to Adar. The monastery is a holy site of the Path of Light, a lot of people would argue that it's the beating heart of the Path. And the Inspired like to play with what they consider their food. So I absolutely think that fear could be the goal here. A kind of 'look what we could do here, imagine if we'd wanted to do some real damage'. Other creatures that feed on fear...there are a couple minor dream spirits that relate to fear, nothing that would be worth this kind of operation to bring through. We've also got the portal locked down, nothing can get through it."

Caelius pauses before signing,

Akuma crosses her arms, her eyes remaining on Shen, studying him. "So it's only occurred here? No word of any strange deaths outside of here recently. Do you think, perhaps, if we were to stay here we would also be affected? Despite our lack of direct correlation to the monks here?"

"Fear is probably the most powerful tool the enemies wield Taran and they wield it well." Vishal says adding, "I've undergone some special training with Daranikashtai to push past it. It's doable but not easy as fear isn't something that ever goes away. It's a weapon you have to turn into fuel and that's not something that can always be done. Especially since fear plagues you everywhere you are and at all times of the day. I'd agree that their goal is to strike fear in all of Adar. If they can infiltrate here then people will start to worry about them infiltrating everywhere. Even if it's not possible, just the hysteria and thought alone can cause enough chaos to tip the scales in their favor. We have to find out what this is, where it is, and stop it. Before the fear gets out of hand." Vishal thinks for a couple more minutes before asking, "What day was that portal disturbance?" Wondering if it corresponds with Nidaya's attack. 

"M-Mister Caelius is asking if the t-two v-victims, are fr-from the s-same gr-group?" Taran turns to Caelius, hoping to get a nod of confirmation, "D-Do y-you m-mean the K-Kalashatar and th-the Pr-Priestess, M0Mister C-Caelius? O-Or the f-first N-Nightmare v-victims?"

Caelius nods, 

"Th-The m-m-murder v-victims," Taran cl-clarifies.

"We haven't heard of any deaths anywhere else. You absolutely might be affected, we don't know if it's targeting monks, specifically, has a list, or is just targeting people here. The portal disturbance was three days ago, the day before the first death. And they were from different groups, sort of. The second victim was sleeping in the library, the third was on patrol near the dining hall." Shen scowls, hand tightening around his whetstone for a moment.