Above & Below

You approach the ruins, muddy sand squishing under you. It's windy here, with gusts coming off of the ocean. You get a whiff of salty air with each gust, until things grow slightly more calm behind the ruined walls. You pick your way through a half-collapsed entrance, up and around huge fallen stone bricks until you enter what was at some point a large central room. The walls stretch up a bit more, but the ceiling is missing here as well - a strange sensation being indoor and out all at once. The Sister sits, relaxed, ten feet back from the table. She's a bit younger looking than you expected - not that you were sure what to expect - perhaps in her forties if she were actually a human. The subtlest bit of crow's feet extend from the corner of her dark eyes. The white hair now seems mismatched, but it sits nonetheless flowing over her shoulders and down her sides. She has a thin smile, which she only upturns in a casual, somewhat lazy way. 

The raven sits on a ledge over her left shoulder. It quorks and looks down at you. The Sister slowly stands up. 

"Welcome." She turns for a moment, as if she had heard something. Then she looks back. "I'm sure your journey here was not easy, and so, I must ask...why have you come all this way? I am asking you for a reason." She points directly at Brask and holds her finger out to be sure she's understood.

Hey there, says Brask.  He looks around; if there's a chair his size, he'll sit, and if not he'll find a wall to lean against. Pleasure to be meeting you, ma'am.

Well, as to your question, you'll get a better answer from Effort over there, he nods towards Effort, but since you're asking me, I reckon we came here to save the world.  More than one world, in fact.  Now, that's not the whole truth, of course.  When is one sentence ever the whole truth, eh?  I'm here to get rich, make myself a big and powerful hero back home.  Live the good life, you know?  Now, since I've been here, someone's been messing with my dreams.  That you?  I'm not making any accusations, but you look the type to mess with a fellow's dreams.  Be that as it may, the dreams are all about how if I keep chasing riches, my family will get killed, and yeah, sure, if it's a straight choice, I'll choose my family over money any day.  But who's to say I can't have everything I want.  Family and money and friends and save the world, right? 

He realises he might have overshared and looks a little embarrassed.  Yeah, well, anyway, Effort can tell you all about Yeenoghu the dumb dog god and his best buddy Doresain, and how they want to screw everything up.

"Ha!" She responds to your mention of dreams. "I look like the type...well, I don't now whether to be flattered or offended."

The raven flies down to table, perching between you and the Sister. She steps forward, pulling something out of her pocket and offers it to the bird. It happily accepts. "I'm not in your head, minotaur. I simply allow your dreams to happen here without any...mm, outside interference. Your dreams are now pure - your truest desires and worries are represented without the false pretenses of society. Now, I do believe you are mistaken about that last bit you mentioned. Nobody gets to have it all. We all have to decide, at one time or another, what is more important to us. What is most important to us."

"Saving the world sounds righteous," she continues. "At least to a layperson. But that doesn't exactly answer why you're here, as in, here at my doorstep."

Effort inclines her head at Brask's rather lengthy speech - at least for him - but remains silent, waiting to be actually addressed.  She can sense the enormous power in the woman before her, and has little inclination to speak out of turn and incur the woman's wrath, particularly when they require her assistance.

One thing she does say catches Effort's attention, though -- that this world allowed dreams to represent true desires and worries without the false pretenses of society.  She thinks about her restful nights, and her lack of trouble navigating through what both Kurama and Brask seem to have admitted were the troubling psychic waters of this domain.  Perhaps her conscious decision to cast off the trappings of polite society and devote herself to her mission of vengeance and justice were acting as some sort of a shield.  Or perhaps her soul was as damaged as Kurama had claimed this domain to be.  The thought left her uneasy, but only for a moment.  As Cadmael landed and settled on her shoulder, his comforting weight and the sharp prick of his claws into her shoulder reminded her:  This life, or death.

Her choice was as clear to her now as it was then, and her doubts evaporated.   I walk my path with no regrets.  If it takes a fiendish strength to fight off a fiend, then I embrace my heritage.  If my soul is to be the apotropaic vessel necessary to preserve the three worlds, then I will use it and every other weapon at my disposal to succeed.  None other should ever have to be effort.  The burden of this name belongs solely to me.

Her thoughts clear, and she focuses on the Sister once again, studying her and waiting patiently.

Quote from Billtacular >>

"Ha!" She responds to your mention of dreams. "I look like the type...well, I don't now whether to be flattered or offended."

The raven flies down to table, perching between you and the Sister. She steps forward, pulling something out of her pocket and offers it to the bird. It happily accepts. "I'm not in your head, minotaur. I simply allow your dreams to happen here without any...mm, outside interference. Your dreams are now pure - your truest desires and worries are represented without the false pretenses of society. Now, I do believe you are mistaken about that last bit you mentioned. Nobody gets to have it all. We all have to decide, at one time or another, what is more important to us. What is most important to us."

"Saving the world sounds righteous," she continues. "At least to a layperson. But that doesn't exactly answer why you're here, as in, here at my doorstep."

"Hello there, my name is Kurama, formerly from the House of Truth in... whatever realm I originally came from.  I apologize for interrupting but I am a bit confused.  If you 'allow' for 'pure' dreams and desires to occur without interference, doesn't that inherently meant that you are manipulating us in some form and 'messing with our dreams' as my friend just mentioned?"  Kurama had a host of questions he wanted to ask the mysterious woman (creature?, deity?) but knew his best chance of getting any headway with her was to take it slow and ask things one at a time.

As Kurama begins, the Sister doesn't even take her eyes off Brask. She stares at him intently as Kurama continues, but then slowly turns toward the monk. She inhales deeply, and finally scowls. As Kurama finishes his question, she shouts "Enough!" which seems to bring forth another crack of thunder. "You presume to interrupt me and ask me questions when I have received no answers from you or any of your friends?" 

Kurama, give me a persuasion check with your reply.

Effort reaches out and touches Kurama's shoulder.  "Be strong, and honest," she murmurs to him.  "And for heaven's sake, tell her directly why we are here, which is to ask for her aid."

(Effort is giving Kurama guidance and help.)

Surprised by the woman's forceful response, Kurama hesitated a moment before responding.  "I'm apologize if I offended you, I meant no offense.  We traveled here from the land of Oshait in another realm seeking aid in our search for something here that may help protect not only the world we originate from but this world as well."  

Persuasion Roll: 1 + 2 = 3 (LOL!!)

(help action means advantage XD)

(Oh I missed that, but can you do both if they're both actions?)

• Persuasion with Advantage in case it can be used: 15

(I really, really hope we're not in combat XD)

Haha, you might have been without that help.

Her face takes a few moments to return to its former state, but she seems to calm a little. "Hmph," she considers Kurama's response. "We have felt something strange recently. Perhaps it is connected to whatever it is you think you are protecting yourselves from."

"If that is the case, and this world is in danger as well, what do you plan on doing about it? And what do you seek from me?" She turns to Effort now. "Speak, girl! I can tell you're bursting at the seams!"

Effort clasps her hands together, giving herself guidance before she begins to speak.

"Your assistance," Effort answers succinctly.  "You have heard threads of the truth from each of my companions, colored by their own comprehension and personal experience. I can only offer you the same, though I hope my vision to be clearer than theirs for reasons of my own.

We have come from Osthait, a plane very different from your Gredica, traversing worlds in our hunt after the demon prince Yeenoghu.  He has wreaked havoc upon our domain in his attempt to control it, and in his greed has managed something unprecedented in the long history of his kind: he has forged an alliance with his old enemy, Doresain, ruler of ghouls and the undead.  As I understand it, they are both parts of the Greater Demon Satan, who was torn asunder in ages past.  The remnant of Satan's heart has formed the central core of three planes: Gredica below, Osthait at the center, and yet another world unknown to us above.  These demons, Yeenoghu and Doresain, are attempting to recover and claim the heart for themselves in order to harness its power and gain control over all three of these worlds; they wish to be reborn as Satan himself, I suspect, and have for the moment put aside their differences in their race to be the first to do so.

I have been tasked by my patron to prevent these two demons from cooperating and ascending to supremacy.  I do not know why, nor do I care; I do as I must.  A perhaps fortuitous side-effect of my resolve is to prevent the destruction of all three planes of mortal existence.  But make no mistake, I am not here to save your world.  I am no wide-eyed innocent or humble hero, bowing and scraping before you to beseech your aide for the good of the people.  Humility is not one of my traits.  I am here because I have been tasked with this burden.  And I am here because I have been told that you have the power to help us complete this task."

She pauses, and meets the woman's eyes squarely, back straight and proud.  "We are but mere mortals, with only a fraction of the power you and your Sisters wield.  But nonetheless, we have set ourselves on this journey to challenge our fate.  In life, one either gains the strength to impose one's own terms on it, or one must accept the terms it offers to you.  I strive to be the former.  I believe you do as well.  And I believe you will not settle to become beholden to the will of two power-hungry demons either.  So, it is my hope that you will assist us."

(IDK if you want a roll or not for that speech, but it's not deception. :P  Effort will also be insighting the witch's reaction to her words as she speaks:  20)

The Sister listens intently. She leans against the stone table in a casual manner, nodding during Effort's final statements. 

"Mm, this does not surprise me, unfortunately," she stands straight up again, looking up at the gray sky above. "We have felt a pull from the darkness of the demon world. We have for a long time utilized it for our own powers and purposes, but lately it has all felt...unstable. My sisters and I have our place here, and while our methods may seem cruel to those we must deal with, it is all to keep a tenuous balance. We cannot have these demon lords upset that."

She looks around at the four of you, raising a slight eyebrow at Pip before returning her gaze to Effort. "A strange assemblage of humanoids tasked with this feat. So be it. What you ask is no small favor, girl. The pieces of this heart, as it may exist in Oshait, are many fragments of a whole here. And each fragment's power ebbs and flows with the state of this plane, and the balance of its inhabitants. Being so close to the demon world leaves us in a constant struggle with sin. Not the silly kind that every religion assigns its own values to. The pure kind. The kind that corrupts all. And that sin must not go unpunished. The fragments aid us in this endeavor."

The Sister turns toward Brask, and walks up to the minotaur. She looks up at him confidently. "This one, for example, has been consumed by his quest for material wealth." She cocks her head to the side, sighs, and turns again. She walks back to the table. "I see now there is more to you, buried and hidden deep inside. But that is no concern of mine. You are the one digging, and digging, and burying. And so you must repent. Throw your gold into the sea there." She gestures toward the direction of the ocean. "Do not hesitate. And do not attempt to hide from me what you have. Do it not because I command it now, but because you know you must free that part of you that has long been hidden away."

Effort, this woman - whatever she is - seems supremely confident in what she is saying. She is matter-of-fact and seems to be truthful. You could guess that she had her own motivations, and they seem to be at least partially revealed when she asks Brask to sacrifice his gold. While it remains mysterious to you, she is doing what she believes she must.

A look of pure fury comes over Brask's face, and he stares at the strange woman.  Insight 8

She stares back, but there is no emotion in it. You're still not entirely sure why you've been singled out by this Sister, but she seems very serious. She seems to be truthful in everything she's said, and you sense that she really does have - or believes she has - some strange tie to this world and feels a responsibility in this situation. 

Brask glances at Pip; what's he doing, and what's the expression on his face?

Pip is standing behind you and off to the side a bit. He hasn't moved much and looks like he dare not say anything aloud, but he's looking up at you with a bit of worry and what looks like attempted comfort. 

Brask somehow manages to calm his expression, and he walks towards the ocean at a normal pace.  When he reaches a suitable spot for throwing, he throws into the water 146 gold, 11 silver, 14 copper, as well as a substantial amount of valuable goods, jewellery and gems (total value 220 gold). 

He returns silently to the group and stands before the Sister, without uttering a word.

Pip nods with a look of solidarity as Brask returns.

"I will not patronize you and pretend that was an easy thing," the Sister returns to her stone chair. "I typically deal with this kind of thing in a less amicable way, however I do feel something unique and of great import in this meeting."

She looks at the rest of you. "This is beginning of a new path for your minotaur friend, should he allow it. If he does not, it will mean a tragic ending for him, and perhaps us all. Do not lead him astray." She relaxes her hands, stretching them outward, and then brings them together to form a ball. When she reopens them, tiny bits of light emanate from floating shards. They seem to float between her open hands, until one slowly makes its way over to you. It stops a few inches in front of Brask. "This is what you seek from me. My sisters shall have the other fragments. When the energies of these disparate parts are once again combined, you will be able to neutralize their powers in your home world. What this above heart offers, or how it plays into this story, I do not know. We will do what we can from here to combat these forces, although I fear even our powers are no match for the demon lords you speak of."

The raven flies over to the arm of the stone chair, and she strokes its head gently. It quorks. "If you have need of anything else, now is the time to ask it."