Pizazz's Myth Drannor

With his mind initially occupied trying to tune out Simmal's ramblings, any mental preparations the Leonine might've made to curb the questions are non-existant. And after all was said and done, Xemnez stayed knelt on the ground well after the hags had finished their work with eyes squeezed shot and body more heavily braced against his axe. Visibly he hadn't been hard, but mentally? Hard to say for most if not all.

Eventually though, Xemnez would rise to his feet and put away his axe in favor of rubbing his forehead. "And do you know nothing of the barrier surrounding the middle tower?" He asked with some hesitance to his voice, as the once self-assured and could barely meet the eyes of the hags. 

From the shadows, Thyrius peeks at the hags. This is the first time he is seeing them. What do they look like?

Mentally "We need to know what the writing is, it could very well be exactly what we were looking for. Granted it would be funny if it was the thing that the library guy already told us about... ok not that funny if we include the hags."

"So either we go back there, and do we make another deal? Or the leonine's mind would once again be sorted through to see if he remembers the writing which frankly considering the hags and their memories scanning I don't know that I would be thrilled to have it done yet again to the leonine and that's before even asking whether you'd be willing to go through it.".

The hags have bluish skin, yellow eyes with cat like slits of black, ribbed horns, and generally horrid looking appearances.  Their fingers end in sharp claw like nails. One is short and rounder than the other two. The tallest of them is a bit lanky. They're adorned with bound, roughly hewn robes, rough rope belts, and have all manner of satchels and pouches hanging about their bodies. 

The proud golden lion seems for the first time, a bit shaken and off his usual confident self as he asks his question. "Of course we know of the shield that surrounds the center. Do you wish to bargain for more information?"  The witch grins a nasty grin and taps her fingers together. 

Toc says out loud, "Xemnez, no more bargains for bits of yourself."  The elf wizard moves forward gracefully out in front of the golden Leonin.

To the group he mentally says, "If we kill them, I can capture one of their souls, and question it. Otherwise, someone else should make the deals. Begging your pardon Xemnez, but I'd not trust you to sell my donkey at market. I say this with the utmost respect for your accomplishments and other skills." 

Out loud to the witches he adds, "We need access to your dimensional space so we can examine it. And we would bargain for more information. But none of the deals will include any more memories, or souls, or anything as such. So, choose a price we would find acceptable. Over play your hand at your peril." 

The witch sneers at him, and all but growls in his direction. The lead witch glances at the other two and waves them back.  They both take that moment to step backwards once again into the ethereal space with Russel, Mirica, and Nuzej.  The witch left says, "What can you possibly offer then for such things?" 

Mentally Simaal pipes up again "I would not trust them and the leonine appears way to weak for them to have just scanned his brain, it looks like they've hurt him far worse than that and to my mind that bargain has been met in bad faith. As one queen put it a bargain betrayed off with their heads. At least that's what I think. Friend of broken leonine, your move."

Xemnez actually seemed to consider the hags offer, if albeit with some trepidation. But with Toc stepping up to answer in his place, the Leonin glared down at the elf. And yet where he might've spoken his piece after admonishing the wizard, instead he chuffs, shakes his head, and looks away with his arms crossed.

Mentally to the group on at least the material plane, 'I am /not/ weak. Ajani chose me and my brother for a reason. I just needed...' He huffed, the timing of which being conveniently in time to follow the witch's response as if in reaction to it. '-needed time to gather my thoughts again. And I must admit, though it greatly shames me to do so, I am not eager to try and slay these wretched women. Not while they can slip away to that other place and plot our demise, if not obstruct our mission.' 

Nuzej sends to Mirica and Russel: “I think we missed something.”

(Assuming Russel is still in the ethereal.)

From his hiding place, mentally, Thyrius adds: "These crones are begging for a fight, but my brother is no fool. If he is against a fight, I shall not initiate one."

Not wanting to give his position away, just in case, Thyrius offers no answer to the lead hag's question.

"Why don't we just ask?" Mirica stepped closer to the hags. "Why is your sister still there? Did not you get what you came for?"

The two hags in the ethereal turn to Mirica. "Your lion man asked for more information, about the shield surrounding the center. Our sister remains to bargain...though your elf seems...aggressive, so myself and Auntie Pillage have come here, we are no fools."  The other one leans forward towards Mirica, "Do you wish to bargain for information? Will you offer a tasty memory perhaps?!" 

Toc mentally responds to Xemnez, "We have forces on both sides of the veil. I am not so concerned about a fight. But...words come first." 

To the witch he steps forward once again, "We will trade information. Until either party is satisfied. You will start, and answer the question about the shield, since...we already know much about it." 

The witch cackles, "Fine creature, though I suspect your knowledge will run dry far before you've quenched your thirst for what we know."  She cackles gleefully and full of spite, "This shield is part of the city of Ythryn, powered by the great Mythallar at its center. Any creature must complete the Right of the Arcane Octad to qualify themselves to pass through the field."   She grins widely, knowing full well that her information only raises more questions.  "Now, tell me, why have you come to Ythryn?"

Toc says mentally to Xemnez, Simaal, and Thyrius, "Prepare your next question...agree on what I should ask next while I give her a taste of what we know." 

Toc with an elven mask on his face that the group rarely sees, says, "Undead liches working for The Warlock, have breached the field and have been siphoning energy from the Mythallar, under the very nose of the Mythallar's self proclaimed ...owner. We are here to stop that." 

The witch narrows her eyes, clearly not knowing this information, and perhaps understanding only a few of the references that Toc's left vague. She waits for the next question to come from the elf, looking a bit uncomfortable now. 

As much as Thyrius tries, he can't cobble together enough of the scene on the wall in their cave to be able to reproduce the words. Perhaps if he knew a language that used the Draconic alphabet, but the symbols were too foreign to him. 

"Don't hope for that." Mirica was not going to give up any of her memories. "But I can give you something for free." She did not hear what Toc was saying but echoed his words. If those creatures knew something and could help - she could try to incentivize them to do so. "The city around you is about to lose its magic. Might as well end up crumbling to dust. If you ever heard the name Lrloch, he is after the Mythallars and already got his access to the one here, in Ythryn. We came to stop him and prevent the destruction he is planning for the world. Help or run - but whatever you do, do it fast. Soon you will lose your home."

"I am not certain why but I feel more ill feelings towards them than the giants who were going to attack the town. I will not be bargaining with them but nor will I interfere with others. I do not care for their knowledge, nor want to give them knowledge for even question are a means to inform them."

Xemnez raised a brow to Toc's initial statement, then furrowed both as his thoughts deepen on the matter. '... May your faith in them be rewarded then if it should come to a fight' He replied mentally only to Toc while looking to wherever those on the ethereal plane happened to be at the moment. Drawing back to the material by the witch's cackling, he folds his hand into a tight fist at his side, but would say nothing to counter the witches claims. Rather he stood back, intending at first only to observe despite Toc's suggestion.

And yet...

'Ask either on the activities of the frost maiden in the area, what can be expected in the other towers, or even the key they possess. Any is fine, so I'll... trust you on which order they should come in, if they should come up at all' He communed communally as he stood by frowning at the Hag.

Mentally and still hidden: "I am the one best positioned to help my brother regain some of his lost memories, even if only giving him a second-hand retelling of what he is now missing. I cannot take away this opportunity from him by also trading in memories."

He continues: "It looks like the hag has met her equal in cunning. May Toc continue to gradually extract information from her. If negotiations turn south, we pounce. I would rather not go against my brother's wishes, but if it gets to the point where we must defend ourselves, then we must."

The witch seems to accept Toc's answer. Toc thinks for a moment and says, "What is the common translation of the words written in Draconic on the wall of your lair?" 

The witch sneers at this question, as if she quite hates it. Her eyes dart back and forth, and then she finally answers, "Second, summon a flame in the palm of your hand."  Then she hops back and forth on her feet with anticipation, "Tell me where I may find another Mythallar." 

Toc's firm and blank negotiation face suddenly breaks into a broad smile, like the sun emerging from the clouds. He even lets out a laugh, and then just as abruptly his face drops back to seriousness, "We are done, I am satisfied."  

The witch's face turns purple with thunderous rage, "What?! No, there is so much more information to be had!!  We only had one question! This is not fair, I demand you answer my question!!" 

Toc stares at her without emotion, "No. Now off you go, scuttle back to your nest. If we see you again, we will slay you on sight. And I know your dream powers witches. I have experienced them before. I also have powers in dreams, and with souls. Test us at your peril." 

The witch look livid....but glances about at the numerous potential enemies, and with a scowl on her face, she steps backwards and through the veil into the ethereal.  The three witches group together away from Mirica, Russel, and Nuzej, and float up and away towards the top of the tower.  Toc looks back to the group, both in Ethereal and in the physical world. "Well, shall we go find another tower?"

(Please indicate which landmark / location you want to head to next..... Reminder, you're at Y7 - Tower of Conjuration/Witches. Y11 - Tower of Divination/Eyeballs. Y9 - Library. Y6 - Gateway )

(The building to the right of Y7 looks promising)

"Seems like they got what they wanted." It was not absolutely clear but angry hags returned while Toc was smiling - not the most common facial expression for him. "Guess we are done with this tower." For Mirica all manipulations with the small copy of the tower remained a mystery but she shrugged it off - everyone was here and aside from scratches from the unexpected flight, in a good enough shape. The priestess pointed at the building nearby "how about this one?"

Simaal sighs from the shadows.... "There weren't that many of us visible.... sounds good, I say we keep the small tower for good measure. Fascinating though, it certainly does seem to follow that the towers hold the key as it were... well with any luck no more hags, but now we have an enemy we know exists while we try to rest."

Thyrius also walks into the light. "Splendid job, Toc. Your wit and poise are to be admired. Nonetheless, I fear we have just created another faction in this race for the Mythallars. I doubt these crones will simply return to their hole and ignore the fact they have learned that other Mythallars exist. It might not be a bad idea to nip that in the bud after all..."

As for next stops, if the group decided to let the hags be, Thyrius looks about and makes his own proposal (I don't think he can hear Mirica's proposal, right?). "The tower enveloped in a twist of fog probably holds another hint." (To the right of Y23)

"Another possibility," he continues, "is to go to the eyeball jar and ask about the other 6 hints we are still missing. It could save us considerable time and resources."

(If the last idea anyhow communicated to Mirica, she would very energetically agree - return and ask eyes!)

Simaal slaps his hand against his face and slowly slides it off then shrugs and follows along seemingly whistling but no sound coming out. He tries to sneak around but since the group is not, he just keeps up with them apparently to the creepy eye place fully expecting what the answer will be.