View source for A Stone-Cold Warning

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== Log Info ==
*Title: A Stone-Cold Warning
*Emitter: Paenitia
*Characters: Paenitia, Seldan
*Place: A14: Temple of Eluna
*Time: Tuesday, August 10, 2021, 9:05 PM
*Summary: Paenitia seeks out Seldan at the Temple of Eluna, to pass on the threat made by 'Erik' in the warehouse. She updates the silverguard regarding her experiences with this cult, who have been using a fertility statuette, and turning people into statues. She explains how there were two warehouse locations, as well as some trouble out near the farms, and her frustration with the Alexandrian Guard who seem unwilling to take her, and other adventurer's word that the statues are in fact people. Everyone just 'disappeared' and some person randomly commissioned perfect representatives of them. Seldan cautions her, that 'Erik' is a demon lord, determined to re-create his body and exercise his will, that he should not be faced alone, and that everyone who might should be aware of the dangers. He will assist, but has been betrayed many, many times. Paenitia says this is a better caution, and she will share it with her allies, and that she'll assist. She also advises the silverguard, that her fellow Knight, Faranmidahn, has not left Alexandria but is withdrawn of late, and perhaps he can reach her when she cannot.</div>

<pre>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=
Paenitia     3'0"     34 Lb      Halfling          Female    A Lucht knight, dark skinned in bold feathery finery.
Seldan       5'11"    187 Lb     Human             Male      Ginger-blonde human in armor wearing Eluna's symbol.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=</pre>

==Temple District, Temple of Eluna==

There is a little Red Knight that follows Tarien with a lot on her mind. The things on her back, fortunately, can be delegated to her trusty steed, Ramirez.

Ramirez, is at the moment in the care of a caricature artist that has set up around the Temple Fountain. He has been instructed to serve as a pedestal for anyone who wants a humorous sketch atop him. As this means he will be drawn over and over, the peacock-andalusian, who can be all peacock when it comes to attention, is very pleased about this.

Leaving his rider, Paenitia, to stride on short legs into the temple of Eluna. She approaches the first person she sees, "Hola! I seek the Silverguard Seldan. Do you know where to find?"

That first person would be one of the Sunblades standing guard at the doors. "Seldan? Evensong has completed, so he may be gone home by now. I will inquire." 

"No, Sunblade, I am yet here," comes Seldan's quiet, even, Myrrish-tinted tones. The accent has eased somewhat, taking on more of an Alexandrian flavor, but it's still there. "How might I be of service..." 

And then he looks down. "Sera Paenitia. Her light upon your path. How might I be of aid?"

"Hola Sir Seldan," Paenitia says cheerfully, hands on her hips and leaning back enough to look up and see the man. A posture he might recognize as similar to another Lucht knights'. They must deal with taller folk all the time.

"I bring tidings, that are not good." Her eyes are lively through the eye-holes of her mask. The strange masculine face muffling her, and giving an odd aspect to interactions with her.

"I have no wish to bear threats about, but it concern you, and to not speak of them might bring you harm." Her head turns, she looks from side to side, "it is safe to speak here?"

The easy smile that Seldan had worn fades from his features. He wears full armor, not disguised, and is really an impressive sight, although it is easy to see why he often favors a more toned-down look - he's quite conspicuous in that armor and with that gear. "Come with me, and I shall find us a space that is safe." He pauses to wait for Paenitia to join him, but if she does, he leads her to a small Temple cell, smaller actually than most, tucked away in a corner in a back hall. 

The place, really, has room for an armor rack, a small writing desk, a bed, and a chair, and that is all, carefully organized to fit. "You may speak freely here," he offers, allowing her to precede him inside.

The Red Knight clanks along behind the Silverguard. She's being obvious about it, as if to imply she might run but she would rather not, and isn't she the best pocket knight to grace these halls in a while. So she precedes him into the small cell.

Her head turns towards the chair, a momentary thought. Perhaps she wants to sit, or stand on it. Instead she turns.

"I shall rush to the point. I have been involve in investigating cultists, that turn people to stone and ship them in boxes away." Her eyes smoulder behind her mask, "they capture an Ally. We rescue her, but not without receiving the threat, to you. A man name you, identify two surprises he have for you."

"One, is the Ally returned. I do not know how she is abused. The other, he say you must seek. How much you know already, I am unsure, so is this of a sense to you, or complete surprise?"

"Describe he who made the threat, if you will. This have I not heard of, and yet there are no few among the Dark who would very much enjoy wreaking vengeance upon me, and those close to me." Seldan has automatically seated himself on the bed, after closing the door behind them, and he now watches the lucht attentively.

Once Seldan is seated, Paenitia takes this a permission to use the chair. She climbs up with as much dignity as possible in heavy armour, then thumps into a sitting position.

"There not much to say, I get only the two glimpses. Human, with moderately long black hair and black eyes. He wave his fingers at me, like so." She does a passable remote tickling motion with her gauntletted hand. A few more details about weight, skin tone are added, individually nothing remarkable.

"He make a portal to a beach, is summon by a cultist very easily and quick." The Red Knight adds.

For the space of about half a breath, it would be easy to think that one is about to hear the alabaster paladin swear, for perhaps the only time ever. He lowers his eyes, draws a deep, steadying breath, then another one, then looks up. When he does, the gravity of the world lies behind those ice-blue eyes. His gaze on her is sober, unsmiling, a worried look. He recognizes it all right, whatever it is, and it isn't good. 

"Sera Paenitia, I must offer you warning," he begins, slowly. "It is in my mind that this man is known to me, and if I have the right of it, you tread dangerous waters indeed. Would you have me explain?"

Paenitia nods, "Yes. I would need know more if I am to fight him. There is much afoot." The tone of his voice, his seriousness is not lost on her. However, she is a Lucht, and while not granted protection from fear the way most holy warriors are, she has the inborn insanity of her race.

A blind spot, if one will, regarding threats bigger than she is. Most things are. That which is not 'right-sized' to a halfling oft seems to bundled into one category of 'much too big', where relative threats are not evaluated.

"You will not fight him alone," Seldan cautions, leaning forward seriously, the armor forcing him to retain an upright posture. "Hear me, then. If I have the right of it - his name is Eclavdran. He is among the mightiest of the Dukes of the Hells, a foe far greater than any of us can withstand, and he may hate me more than any other mortal upon Ea. Not without good cause, for precious few stare a Duke of the Hells in the eyes and deny them, and fewer still live to tell of it." This is said evenly and calmly, and even with a ghost of a smile. "I have no regrets, for I did in this as Eluna commanded, and the doing saved the city at least, and possibly much of the world. He yet hunts me, and I might have known he would not stay away for long."

"There are others that I must inform of his presence. It is welcome news to none, but not unexpected. In the meantime - tell me of these cultists and their activities."

Paenitia listens, staring at Seldan as he leans forward. A matching, inflexible lean is done on her part as well. The sun-rusted breastplate keeping her in a posture. Her head bobs, Smiling Man mask moving up and down.

"The cultists seem to be noble, at least the one we meet today was, though she describe others as lowly folk. The important thing to know. They carry a statuette, an ugly fertility symbol. This do two things. It control the mind, or them or others, and may let a magician see and cast spells through it, and it animate the body."

"Twice now, a cultist holding one of these has fought beyond death, and dismemberment. Twice now, I or an ally have been take over." She sits back, making an unhappy grunt.

Her voice is the complete opposite of her grinning mask. "I chase Brave Ramirez around for an hour, try to kill him. I trust you know how much dishonour this bring a Knight like me? The compulsion, she is strong."

"Mariela." Seldan's tone holds no doubt, and his eyes lower again, but this time, sadness floods the defined features. These aren't happy memories. "His consort, a headless demon sometimes looked for as a deity of fertility. "These cultists worship her, and through her, him, all unwitting. The statues ... I had not seen them possess such power. There are items and spells that protect one from evil compulsion, and these are known to me. Who else knows of this, and is your ally in need of aid?"

"Many know, and see this. Today with me was the Friend Dragon, Seyardu, goblin explosives expert Smuldur, goblin trap expert Culix. The mute Mul'niessa, Aryia, a stout warrior." Paenitia names her allies, "Culix, was overcome, she is no longer."

"On previous occasion, we go to a farm, Friend Dragon Rocky, and the ranger Aimarra, on that. She track the cultists into the wood. They capture her." The Red Knight raises her head, "We in the warehouse today, to rescue her, and are successful. She is taken to the Temple of Althea to recover. She has... injuries."

"Aimarra and Aryia, with me the first time we meet them. In another warehouse." The small knight continues, "There is more, the contents of the warehouse. Many people."

Seldan listens carefully, nodding at each name. "Do you continue with this, you cross swords with an archdemon and his consort. It will be dangerous, but he can be stopped, and I will need the aid of all to do so. Many people? Are they living?" Suddenly, his words become much quicker. "Are they in need of aid?"

The Red Knight lowers her head, the wide brim of her hat makes it difficult to see her eyes. She is staring at the floor, or the Silverguard's knees. The voice that comes out of her is nothing like the mirth she wears on her false face.

"Many people. They are turned to stone. Faces of horror. There are children. There are the baby lizard people. Statues to detail to be crafted by hand." Her head raises, "One, I recognize, I buy bread from her. She vanish few week ago. The baker-man say, she run off for love."

She shakes her head, "This no elope."

"We have raise this with the city guard. They say, 'they are property, belong the warehouse owner, there no proof'." The Dark Lucht's eyes meet Seldan's, her are dark an angry. "Perhap you know of the Knights of the Pillar, we are not ones for rules when the Authority is corrupt. I go no further in my explanation but we will go further with plans if the guard do not act. You understand me."

Seldan's expression closes, the open worry that he wears melting away into an expression that is impassive, cool, and unruffled. "Were I you, Sera, I would seek to prove whether they are statues, or nay. You said that they are turned to stone? If that is so, I am capable of providing such proof.  He folds his hands in his lap, watching Paenitia intently. "I am bound to honor Alexandria's laws, but be assured that your quarry has no regard for such things. I shall seek the necessary spell."

"Ha!" The Red Knight laughs, leaning back, "You think I am more magical or have more pull than I do. The thick head guards would not listen to words nor allow the statues to be tested, they 'property'. Must stay in their warehouses."

She tilts her head to the side, "A most effective way to make Alexandria support slavery. When you are ready, I take you to one or bring you one."

"You are sure they can be turn back safe? Friend Dragon Seyardu was not sure."

That just might be why guards are bashed on the knees so much. Small paladins can't reach their heads, and it's about as much brain damage.

"They can," Seldan assures calmly. "The spell is one I have cast before, although I do so seldom enough. As for the guards, I believe I know how they may be swayed. They may be themselves controlled or magically bound in some way. Such is a favored technique with such as they, and it may be needful to break their compulsion. The Alexandrian guards are fools, and some are greedy fools, but your words speak of magic to me. It will well-please me to expose his machinations." 

For just a moment, the impassivity drops, and he closes and lowers his eyes. In that moment, a silent weariness settles over his bearing, his shoulders slump. _Here we go again._

Paenitia has to wiggle, scraping her armour to get to the edge of her seat. Now she can reach out and pat the Silverguard on the knee. She does so, a soft gesture from a hard, metal-clad hand. Familiar and not, resembling the other small knights of Seldan's acquaintance.

Her eyes are bright behind her mask, as she gazes up at him, the grinning visage both absurd and oddly disarming. "You are not alone. It was not one man that stand against the Iron Baron. Your cause is Just, the allies, they will appear."

"The battle will be hard, but that is why we are called."

It's a second before Seldan looks up, and draws a deep, steadying breath. "He will seek to divide us against ourselves. Ware that," he warns, but something within him seems to settle, his thoughts his own behind ice-blue eyes. "Again She calls me, and again shall I answer, to my last breath," he murmurs reverently. "You have my thanks for that. What may I do for you, in thanks for your news?"

"Oh, I have no need of charity, nor needs that I cannot fill." Paenitia scooches herself back fully onto the chair and swings her legs. "Oh, there the detail, two."

"How they change them, Friend Dragon describe the 'Demon Chicken'. I think she mean the basilisk. She see it at a farm, and the farmer was turn also."

"We have to leave him at the road, he may have been forgot." The little Knight sounds uncertain, "We track the cultists to this cabin, where they have control a giant spider-beast to fight us."

"It remind me of Torrent, and it killed by them. So, these cultists are both in the city and the farms, and will also use beasts." She crosses her arms, "That may be of import. You might visit Aimarra, to hear her story. We did not ask what happen while she was prisoner."

Curiously, the name Torrent seems to mean something to Seldan, and his eyebrows lift. "I had not realized that Faranmidahn had remained in Alexandria." He leaves it at that, instead going on once Paenitia is finished. Some of his usual quiet reserve creeps in, but not the impassivity from earlier. "I shall do so. That they use the farms surprises me not at all, I have seen such as they do so before. They may do anything. I have seen this cult co-opt an entire town." A quick shake of his head says that that was unpleasant. "We must uncover more of his minions, and of his operations. I can say to you this much - he seeks power. He desires to create a body on this plane that bears the full power he wields on his home plane. That must be stopped."

Paenitia laughs and slaps at her own armoured knee, metal glove ringing off metal poleyn, "It will not be the first time I turn lance point towards a noble that press his weight too much on the common folk. They are oft the giant tic, suck the people dry. This the first time I plan to pop one Infernal though."

Her cheer seems genuine, "Do not worry, I do not rush in alone." She winks, "Ramirez is always with me. And yes, Sir Faranmidahn remain, she has been busy much in the Chapterhouse, with her own, and the other orders."

The little Lucht is silent for a moment, seemingly contemplative, "Perhap she stay too long, and the Wandering Curse catch up. There a distance to her, though she seem to have family and friends. Suggests deep injury, and not to the body."

After which she stares. She does not add, 'like you'. Perhaps it's implied; perhaps she can't see that deep into the Silverguard.

"Still would I have you be cautious, and not make light of him," Seldan offers, his tone a caution more than a scold. "I have seen too many take this one lightly, and few survived. As for Faranmidahn ... it is not my place to say what befell her." His eyes lower. "It was not kind, and I do not doubt that she yet suffers. Would that I could offer her aid still, but I think her to have wholly turned her back on me."

"I will warn the allies." Paenitia says, a serious tone in her voice, "I nearly do not tell you, as I do not carry threats for others. I think it more import that you know. Remember, he make two surprises for you, the second you are to seek."

"You should not alone either." She waggles a little finger in the air, a pint-sized caution. "I do not make light of him, but I face all things with a laugh, Sir Seldan. Life is too short to be bound up brooding. Tarien is the friend Knight to all who are too serious, I am his little joke." Her mask does all the grinning for her, her voice finally in synch with it. She taps at her leg armour.

"There is more to choosing the weighty armour than protect from blows." She meets his eyes, her own a vibrant and dark brown, soft and suggestive of friendly warmth. The only thing of her that really can be seen that is alive, excluding the soles of her feet. "The easily hurt do not reach out. Do not mistake that as turning away. She has spoke well of you, though little."

Paenitia winks, "then again, she is a Lucht Siuil. All things of ours are little to you."

"She is not small in heart, Sera Paenitia, and does she not turn her back upon her vows, they will carry her through anything." A ghost of a smile tugs at Seldan's lips. "I assure you that I am not so foolish as to chase Eclavdran alone. Truly did I learn the fate of the last to do so." The ghost of a smile vanishes into an expression that says _it wasn't pretty_. "I do not seek his surprises upon his bidding. I shall choose my own path, but there are those who must be warned. To the allies would I say this - the one behind this is a foe beyond any of you, and it will take us all together to stop him. Do you choose to aid, it will be a dangerous road, and yet one well worth the following, for you do not stand alone, and the alternative is worse still."

"This is the good caution. That I will tell to the others." Paenitia says, pressing on the seat to launch herself enough she can stand in front of it. Clank. She's standing, "I think we have share all that need be said, and I must get back to Ramirez before he decide he want to be the artists subject as his whole calling."

Her head tilts back as she looks up. "Sir Faran and I, we are close enough to trade lance points in the joust. We are not close enough to talk on deep things."

"Her vows will keep her warm at night, but she still need the friends." It seems like she might say more, as if there was another sentence coming, but the Red Knight slips into a silence instead. A moment passes, she nods once, speaks again.

"I will be ready with force of arms when you call. I tell the others to be so also." She moves towards the door to leave.

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