** Part I: Fire and Ash **

[spike]

Document #1:

Portal use:

Scarn, do not bungle this, if you do so you may be torn in half if you blunder the command words. Hold the gem and speak these words to access their binding points. You can create a new binding as well in differing locations, just ensure that you are fully familiar with the areas you wish to bind to using the gem.

I: Castle Gray - ‘Isovoray’
II:Salt Bogs - ‘Telenersia’
III: our secret safe house in Stoink - ‘Gwaydan’

The last one is to your slave dungeon, I thought you might like a quick shortcut there

You can create new bindings to any place, so long as you erase current bindings established.

-Karnak


Document #2:

Orders from the architect,

Round up batches of more slaves and have them sent to castle gray using agreed upon back roads, or disguised caravans. The immortal council requires these doomed sheep to prolong their lifespans, so step up efforts with fanatic zeal.

The engineer’s apprentice has crafted a new series of traps in all our holdings that require added security, especially in castle impregnable. Recall all surplus auxiliary units to your base, they are not required any longer.

We continue in our efforts to apprehend those who must be found. Some external force aids them, guides and counsels them, and also slows us considerably. We have an entire batallion of black cloaks as our lickspittles and they give chase, and these are guided by the metal sphere insects of Dezloz,


Document #3:

Karnak,

All slaves accounted for:

• 20 girls, mostly Nyrian, 5 were from Jez’zur, another 2 from the Stormlands.
  
  5 male prisoners.
  
  35 orphans, none which bear this fanciful birthmark you described
  
  2 orcs

Document #4

I have captured a mage my scouts discovered wandering in the woods like a drunkard, yet they smelled no booze on him, and he was pretty like one of those rich houselords. Caught some worthless wench who was with him as well, she was in a right mind unlike him. He is Lord Altradeaus, might suit my purposes as a possible vessel. He is young and tolerably fair, yet I smell the potentiality of his magic use, he has mage’s blood. If I inhabit his form, I will kill this one or impair it beyond healing magic’s ability to restore it. Although he looks and talks like a damned idiot, I will teach him some respect before long. I will hold off until I sense his soul’s power increase then I will put myself in his form, and his in my current body.

I discovered some hidden dweomers contained within the lesser stargem, after having stolen a book from the Lorian temple archives in Corealus.

Once a week, it can heal if allowed to absorb the power of the sun for five hours.
I discerned that fire and cold magicks are only half as effective against me as they would be ordinarily
When fitted within a blunt weapon, it will imbue said weapon with an aura of heavenly flame. It is like white fire, and those beings classified as infernal fear it.

Document #5:

The safehouse in Stoink is strictly for use of all operatives in the area to rest, train, and deliberate. Due to the lack of sentries and guards it has been fortified with well designed traps as a deterrent for any would be heroes.

Current prisoner roster being held here:

• Jor - monk who was the teacher of the whelps we seek. We have been trying to break him, he seems impervious to torture.
  
  Garosh - a fighter from Lor, one of the duke’s lackey’s. He killed several of our tridents effortlessly. It required Karnak to subdue him. He may be a touch mad, and fierce willed.
  
  Zor - a rogue drow elf, tried recruiting him, but he snubbed our offer.

Though none of them will admit to it, they are agents of the watchers, their denial of under torture proves my theory is correct. Any fool would easily betray the name watchers if subject to their suffering. The safehouse may not be so safe, recommend transferring to Mountain keep. It only makes sense, yet we need a new binding established with a stargem. The way is only accessible by wyvern, or hippogriff.

current issues: the elves have given us a great deal of headaches, and a ranger who is terrible with his yew longbow. Our increase in brigands is keeping them preoccupied, fortunately so we are free to operate as we ought unabated.

[Chris1234]

Having tucked away the gems for later distribution, Karlane asks, "Anyone know of Jor, Garosh or Zor?" as she heads towards the fallen woman.

"I mean you no harm; just the opposite," the priestess tells her with a smile. "Hold still a moment, this should help." She casts CLW on the girl. "Tell me, how do you feel now?" as she examines the girl for further wounds (damage). Enquiring further, "So what is your story? Your name? Where are you from and how do you come to be here?" She sends the girl, again with a smile into the care of the charmed Trident in the other room. WHat follows is not for here ears, unless her story is exceptional.

After hearing out the girl's replies, Karlane says, "Right folds, tomorrow we're doing something else. Today we're free." She checks the approximate time and continues, "Jor, Garosh or Zor are held prisoner elsewhere but somewhere within reach. We will need to have the prisoners here released before that and a plan to keep them safe as we can from retribution. Resources, that is to say, money, will go a long way there. Hence, before we release the prisoners here, we need to release the leader's money. So, ignoring the wardrobe, bed and the pile of cash on the desk, what remains to be examined in this room? The ceiling tile showed what?"

Plan is to give the remainder of the room the once over, dealing with any traps or locks on the fly and examining beyond, and then go treasure hunting. Unless another exit is found, Karlane will start with the door in the snake pit, climb {OOC: Thief skill}down, then pop up Find traps and scan for the same, heading for the door below.

[spike]

Sarancen spoke: "I've heard of the dark elf, the empire was after him for some time. He's a drow lord, a houseless renegade. The drow put a bounty on his head, apparently for regicide he killed some important black elves in their fell world'

The girl calmed quickly and gathered her composure, answering Karlene's question: "My thanks, priestess. I am Babette, they these vile masked men brought me here in secret from a far worse place, if such a thing can be imagined. They call it the farm, where a man who is a devil in disguise keeps prisoners there and torments them, then he eats them. He likes to have the pretty ones' she shivers in genuine terror.

Sarancen tossed a bag onto the bed for Karlene to examine. Inside was a small sized chest, which Karlene detected a cleverly concealed gas trap in the keyhole. Idrys can see the contents of this container are seven vials filled with a milky white liquid.

The soldier extracted a leather drawstring purse with his sword from the ceiling tiled opening and placed it carefully on the bed, opening it with his sword to reveal platinum pieces, some wedding rings, and some papers with drawings on them that look to be some type of mechanical automaton.

'Those look like dwemer artiface' Sarancen noted when he saw the sketches. When Karlene examined them she noted some Lorian clerical markings on the diagrams that mark them as being highly classified, and that they are originals which were stolen from somewhere highly guarded and restricted within the ancient library vaults of the underground temple.'

DOOR BELOW: easily circumnavigating the protruding impaler spikes embedded in the ground here, Karlene gained the door quickly and found it untrapped and unlocked, however right before she was about to place her hand on the handle of the door (vs. INT) she stopped as she noticed a thick syrupy resin covering it and realized it was contact poison. You use a discarded cloak to wipe it down and open the door, revealing a long dungeon corridor full of cells. There were ten in all, each full of broken, tortured and dispirited men, women, and children, but mostly women who appear to have been brow beaten, raped, or maligned in some fashion. You counted about 35 prisoners. Karlene immediately detects a binding she see's as a white light hovering in a shadowy corner. She would be able to use this lesser stargem to bring herself to it, or to purge the binding so that it could be established elsewhere.

One prisoner, a blind man stirred up and spoke 'Lor be praised, deliver us in our darkest hour, you are the light that comes when men lose heart and souls turn to darkness!'

It was there that you sensed a presence within this dungeon, when out of the shadows emerged a masked man clad in gray robes. He removed the mask, revealing the face of a older man yet full of some hidden vitality, and calculating eyes. He dragged along a girl, saying 'be silent, child. Your body is blessed with considerable fruits of ecstasy, and will satisfy one far greater than yourself' he tore her filthy rags off of her body until she was completely naked 'no need to hide such beauty' he said, then laughed 'you are blessed, child to appease me as one of your insignificance could not truly appreciate'.He appears oblivious to your presence.

[SARRMATT]

where are the other 2 player characters and ? Number of npc characters while the Karlane character is off by themselves discovering the above? Sorry for asking but it is not clear to me where or what my character may be up to.

[spike]

Idrys, Whisper, Sarancen, slave-girl are in the bed chamber.

Karlene, Azonia and Lucien are in this other place which is down below the main level floor.

[TristenC]

[Ooc: I'm lost too. I feel like things are jumping around again when we as a group haven't decised or even discussed a course of action]

[SARRMATT]

"Someone had said that folks were in need of money. If they put their back into it they could probably get that cabinet out of this complex and cart it to some magical trinket seller. Enchantments like whatever it has on it must have been costly. Say, where are we? What sort of complex is this? Where is this complex even located?" Whisper asked of the two people(no idea if they are people or whatever creatures) who were in the room with him and the other former prisoner.

[spike]

Karlene ventured off to release the prisoners. The rest of you are remaining in the room and awaiting her return, she went along with Lucien and Azonia.

Whisper: there's a black guardsman soldier here, and a slave-girl. You also see a dignified, elderly man who introduces himself as Erodan. He smiles and greets you saying 'Tis a pleasure, good to meet one of the intelligentsia. This place previously was an assassins guild, which the Trident's were utilizing as their base of operations. I brought Idrys and Karlene here to rest and regain their wits, ignorant that the tridents were using it as a base'

Idrys, standing adjacent to the wardrobe notices the white light again flickered on. He hears the following through the wardrobe: 'That arch-fool architect got himself killed, someone ordered his assassination. Someone with incredible timing and foresight' another voice chimed in (elderly female voice): 'The Watcher's, none other could have achieved such precision this fast. His perversions got the better of him. Pity, he was a useful asset' and a third: 'matters little, as long as we have a steady supply of fresh slaves our immortality will remain intact. We do not need to destroy our enemies, time will do that for us!'

[SARRMATT]

Whisper blinks his eyes a few times and looks about the room when Erodan introduces himself to him. Much of what the man had just told him made no sense to the confused young man so he asked Erodan the questions that came to his mind. "What is the intelligentsia sir? Do I bear some marking that I can not plainly see that would identify me as such? I have found no papers, patches, tatoos, symbols, or markings upon myself or the few items that I have in my possession stating such a thing." Whisper looks down at his shirt while pulling it out to see if there is something on the front besides a few tears and stains that he knew to be there. He then turns his head and cranes his neck to see over either shoulder at the back of his cloak. Assured that he has not missed some sort of sign bearing the name 'intelligentsia' Whisper then asks of the talkative man named Erodan. "What are the Trident's good sir? Who are they affilliated with? Would their dwelling in this building violate the laws of these lands and thus allow the authorities to confiscate these grounds?"

[Ooc:] Does Erodan indicate that the black guardsman is Idrys? Sorry but the PC and the player are confused. Don't let that stop play progression though, I can walk and ask stupid questions just as well as I can stand around and ask them. Afterall, I do have 4 levels in village idiot. Also can I use my non weapon prof of either Appraisal or Trade/Barter to get a sense of what the cabinet may be worth? While the PC is smart enough to know he can't lift that piece of furniture he is far from wise enough to maybe not give it the old college try. Feel free to let me know if he gets a hernia or something trying to "show em how its done".

[spike]

Erodan: "Just another word for the erudite, quite clever language wouldn't you concur? Young master of many questions! You have been identified as being the young houselord Altradeaus, lad. You've an arcane lineage that dates back to the earliest dynasties of Scarlor, when the world was in its infancy and the dreaded Drenai dominated the planet. The masked tridents are nothing more than an elite gang of brigand-assassins, they've terrorized these outskirts in the periphery for some time. This was, previously as stated the former assassins guild hall of the Black Scorpions guild, until the watcher's destroyed them. Apparently they assassinated a king in the Stormlands, not the smartest move there. It was abandoned and none in their right minds would be here. However I was rotting in jail when these two broke me out, in want of my profound artistry skills of forgery' he puffed his chest and

Idrys is not the black cloak. The black guadsman is an npc.

The slave girl says to Idrys 'sir, your sister is there below, she comes' and then to Whisper 'Altradeaus? There was a girl in the dungeon with that same name. They sold her to the madam of a brothel house, for a pittance of two hundred gold. I believe they took her to Stoink, or was it Sterich? I always get those two cities mixed up'

(str: 12 failure) the wardrobe just won't budge. It doesn't look to be valuable.

After evacuating the dungeon holding cells properly, Karlene appears via the lift and stode into the bed chambers, a fresh coat of blood on her (from her latest victim) which then, from Whisper's vantage point hesaw Idrys's mouth sprout a pair of fangs and his eyes briefly flashed a vibrant golden hue color. A moment later he seemed to regain his composure and the eye-teeth visibly retracted.

Sarancen shivered at first, not having witnessed dhampir's hungry for blood before, but shrugged it off.

[Chris1234]

Karlane approaches the others in the bedroom and says to the freed prisoner, "Do you have somewhere safe to go from here?"
If she says yes, then, she moves close to the girl and whispers, "Is it near the temple of Lor?"

In any event, she next sends the girl to get some food from the store and to then return to see her.

When the girl has departed, Karlane says to the others, "Not only can that," as she points at the wardrobe,"be used for telelporting through, it can aslo be used to eavesdrop through. Does anyone here know how to deactivate a password that identifies the destination?"

She wracks her brains in case she's even heard of it. {OOC: Obscure Knowledge?}

[spike]

Babette (slave girl) shakes her head at Karlene 'Nay, I've no place to go. Lor temple? I am not one of the learned, priestess nor do I pay homage to him I fear.'

The inner workings of the stargem will not be absolutely known until a full fledged Identify spell is cast upon it to gain this knowledge.

obscure knowledge: Karlene has only heard thatthese stargems are being extremely rare and thought to be extinct, the few ones known in the world dwelling in highly secured secret locations (deep within castles, dungeons, vaults, mountains) guarded by kings, queens, emperors, and viceroys.

Sarancen: 'we ought rest and get some sleep here while we may, that bed looks too tempting to pass up on such a chance. The mage can study his tomes and study his spells perhaps be less useless than his current predicament. I can fall dead asleep on this floor in my full armor right about now, and stand something delicious to eat fore heading out'

Erodan: 'splendid recommendation, especially me and my bad back. Too much excitement for one of my ilk, heh heh. Reminds me of the olden days of my glorious youth'

[SARRMATT]

[Ooc:] Does the PC know of "Stoink, or was it Sterich"? Does the PC know of"these outskirts in the periphery " and what it may be? Does the PC harbor any bias or feelings one way or the other on "neck biters"? Does the PC know about whatever magical thingy mc-doo-dad that was just asked about?

"Hey, I'm useful. Look at how far I budged this here piece of furniture." Whisper flexed his feeble arm in a show of might while squinting his face. Giving up on the awe inspiring display of might and testosterone he suggests: " If we are going to rest in here could one of you strong types turn this thing to face the wall so that no one can come through?"

[Chris1234]

Karlane beckons then all away from wardrobe, then says quietly, "It can be used to eavesdrop to some degree apparently. We need to be able to change th activation words, but can't do that until the morning. You're right though, we need to be wary of what comes through and will need to guard it at night. Anyone got any caltrops to put on its floor?"

{OOC: @Spike - Roughly What time of day is it? How long have the (main party) been on the go?}

"We'll need to sometime use the teleporting capability to get to other places. But for now, we'll need to be thinking about resting tonight and regaining spells. When it's time for that, I'm thinking of asking Lucien if he can stop arrivals into the basement and you, Idrys, if you can keep watch over the teleport site up here. Depending on how much daylight is left will determine if we send the prisoners back to safety. Unless anyone else can heal their wounds, I'm shortly going to check them out and see what I can do for them. The Tridents can help get the prisoners, or ex-prisoners, to safety. We cannot do everything personally. I was thinking of using most of the pile of gold to assist in getting the people to safety. Anyone have any strong objections to all this? Or any improvements? Or decent alternatives?"

[spike]

Stoink: an independent city-state, full of brigands, thieves, cutthroats, mercenaries, hired killers. North and east of Nyr.

The periphery is eastern Nyr, it's hilly and full of patches of forested terrain, meadows and vineyards. Where the bulk of the kingdoms produce is harvested, thus also one of the more well patrolled districts in the kingdom.

as for Whisper's perception on dhampir, up to you to decide on that one. You heard about them but never met any during your travels, you hear they are excellent vampire slayers and slayers of undead in general, and that they have a leaning toward neutral or good. Some guilds use them as assassins, bodyguards, or spies.

Sarancen and Azonia turned the wardrobe in reverse so its facing the wall.