Forlorn Moon (Part 2)

Log Info

• Title: Forlorn Moon (Part 2)

• GM: Aftershock

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Simony, Telamon

• Place: Temple District, Alexandria

All that remains of the fiend is a completely deflated kickball, robes, a pair of nice boots, and tons of people half panicked. Thankfully Telamon is on that last part. Soothing fear into action to get the injured and sick into the care of the temples.

GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (2)+33: 35

The fiend is now dust in the wind. Literally. Of course, Telamon is putting his charm and good looks to use. "Please, ladies and gentlepeoples, calm yourselves. A terrible evil has been routed, but many of your fellow disciples of the gods need your help!" His voice rolls out over the crowd, calm and steady. "Those who can, bear your brothers and sisters to the temples so they may be tended to. While we are devotees of many, we are all one under the Light, and so let us tend to each other as though they were our own blood."

Telamon's eyes flick briefly to the pile of robes, the boots, and the... kickball. His head tilts slightly, as it often does, but he says nothing more save to gently chivvy the various onlookers to help their fallen friends.

GAME: Telamon rolls talky: aliased to diplomacy+5: (5)+36+5: 46
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perception: (7)+24: 31
GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/local: (18)+13: 31
GAME: Simony rolls perception: (19)+24: 43

Some people wouldn't be caught dead rifling through the pockets of their recently-deceased... love-rival (even if Iei was never actually a love-rival of any sort). But the Temptress of Alexandria already has a certain reputation. So Cor'lana goes looking in Iei's belongings, and her brows furrow as she pulls out...

"A wrapper for a croissant?" Cor'lana blinks. "Oh, I think I know this bakery. This is one of Auranar's favorites; it's actually not that far from here in the Temple District. It's convenient for her. And Pothy rather likes their shortbread cookies." Mmm. Shortbread cookies--hey, wait a minute, they're working here!

Cor'lana frowns. "We should go check that place out and see if... maybe there's a mirror that got left behind there by accident?"

With an annoyed huff, the Goblin brushes the dust away, before she begins to assist those in need of aid. But her eyes see the ball again, and she squints at it, before handing off the unwell priest to another person. The ball is fetched.

"And the ball is .. well loved and probably missed. Judging from the tearing, it's only recently damaged. And the initials... it's home made. S M is probably looking for their toy."

Directed by Telamon, the clerics and citizens motivate one another to clean up those who were made sick by the fiend. The temples are filled to the bursting with those needing aid but that's the best that can be done about it for the moment.

With that taken care of you head to the nearby bakery which is called "The Three Doughnuts" the 'doughnut' being their specialty alongside croissants. The owner of the bakery is an older woman named Marge who is happy to give you her attention since the unexpected show drew away her usual lunch crowd. She's hoping for big sales when the show is over though.

"Aren't you that Temptress woman? Isn't it your show they're having in the Temple District today? Something about calling out a fiend? Sounds like dangerous business to me. Not for us god-fearing folk!" Marge dusts her hands off on her apron. "Now, what'll it be for you?"

"A couple things, actually." Telamon smiles broadly, laying on the charm. "First... actually, three things. First off, was there a fellow in here earlier? A bit on the short side -- well, relatively speaking -- black spiky hair, robes? He might've left a mirror behind? We're trying to find it."

His eyes sparkle merrily. "Also, you wouldn't happen to know a boy or girl with a green-and-black kickball, would you? We ran across it, and we'd like to return it to its rightful owner."

Tel considers, then continues, "Ah, lastly, I'd like a half-dozen croissants, please."

The ball is offered up by the Goblin. "It's been a day, hasn't it? And that is good, leave the fiend busting work to those paid to do it. And uhm.. I would like a dozen of something apple. Apple tarts or apple fritters?"

Cor'lana still doesn't know how to react when people ask if she's 'that woman'. "Ah--well, I just finished, actually, so hopefully you'll get your lunch crowd soon?" She smiles politely. Maybe a bit too widely. "Yeah, we found this croissant wrapper from your bakery in the fiend's pocket? He apparently liked coming here. You don't have anyone who's been sleeping a lot or feeling sick, right?"

She eyes the menu and quietly wonders if she should order some shortbread cookies. Pothy might be cross if they don't bring any home. "A dozen shortbread cookies for me, please?" she asks.

Telamon gets a wide smile. "A man who knows how to buy his information is one after my own heart." She quickly sets to pulling croissants out for him. "The short man I know yes. He's been my best customer the last day and a half. By here every hour to buy a croissant! As for the ball... Mmmmm I'm not so sure. I don't pay much mind to the toys of the children in the area."

She shrugs and smiles. "You might ask Shuichi though. Right good lad he is. He knows everyone it seems like. Always willing to lend a helping hand." Here she hands Telamon his pastries and smiles at Simony. "I'll pack half and half for you dear."

Marge gives Cor'lana bit of a look, but her order makes her alright in Marge's book so she continues. "Don't know anything about any fiends. But yes, my husband poor dear has been out like a light. Say's that he hasn't been feeling well. I've been taking off a bit early when I can to tend him." It's not long before both Simony and Cor'lana have their treats as well.

Telamon's eyebrows rise up. "Every hour? Goodness. That's a fair number of croissants." Telamon politely pours some coins out for Marge, plus a little extra. "For the information -- and the prospect of more business."

Tel reaches over to take the deflated ball from Simony, hmming. He runs a fingertip over it, especially where it's damaged, and murmurs something. The ball knits itself up abruptly, and inflates again, no longer a sad floppy mass but a proper kickball. "So where can we find Shuichi?" He pauses, looking at the 'S M' stitched into the ball. "Wonder if it's his."

Then he offers Marge a charming smile. "Well, there are some nasty colds and suchlike going around. I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time."

Cor'lana frowns when Telamon says there's colds and such going around, but she gives a small nod. "Who is Shuichi, if I might ask?" she says, although she realizes later that the optics of the Temptress of Alexandria asking such a question might not be crystal-clear. (That being said, she gets by fine in life; people seem to realize that she's not the man-eating succubus some people seem to believe her to be when she walks in and isn't immediately trying to reenact a Crimson Pen scene.)

"I hope your husband will recover soon," she offers as well. "I appreciate your pastries." _Thank you_ are dangerous words to say at times, of course, especially for her.

"Shuichi is probably home now the dear. I hope he is. Boy's mother is quite sick. Sick enough that the temple of Althea stepped in and took her in. I don't know much more than that. His mother Shiori is a seamstress, or was before she caught ill." Marge dusts her hands off again and smiles. "You are all dears to wish my husband well. I appreciate it."

When pressed Marge knows the way to the boy Shuichi's house, and she'll give them so that he can help you figure out who the ball belongs to. (Some nice child needs their toy back!) And then she gets back to work making pastries and selling them.

You head quickly from there to the house of Shiori and Shuichi, but when you arrive (the directions were good but not the best) it is ticking along to the evening and there's no sign of life in the small home at all. In fact it doesn't look like anyone has been there for some time indeed.

Cor'lana frowns at the empty-seeming house and she looks at Telamon. (So, we have a slight problem,) she thinks through the telepathic bond. (We can't... just let ourselves in.)

And then she supplies the mental image of her using magic to disguise herself and Telamon as Alexandrian guards. (But what if we are not ourselves? What if you're a grizzled guard who's been on the Guard for twenty years, and I'm your nice new junior protege who's learning from the very best? Names? We need names.)

Okay. Maybe she's taking it too far, but it is a good idea... at its core.

Telamon doesn't like this. The house feels... dull. Uninhabited. And so he looks to Lana in turn, nodding slightly. (I can open the lock -- I've a chime of opening. But you're right, we'll need to go in disguise initially.) Casually, the half-elf gestures for his wife to follow him down the street, and around another building.

(Well, if you insist on names... I am called Aramis, and you are Constance.) Out of sight, he murmurs his spell, laying the illusion over the two of them of a guardsman-sergeant and a young recruit. (Last time I did this I was disguised as a sith-makar. I thought I looked rather fetching with glossy black scales.)

GAME: Telamon casts Veil. Caster Level: 20 DC: 28

There's good news and bad news in the investigation of the house. The good news is that no one questions two guards entering a house in this area of town. The bad news is that the house is every bit as abandoned on the inside as it had seemed from the exterior. There's no food in the cupboards, dust and dirt is on nearly every surface from neglect. Yet everything is neatly in order. Clearly when the people who lived here left they knew that they were going to be gone for a while. There's only two bedrooms, a living space, and a kitchen. Not even a dinning room. Just a few dusty mannequins. The boy's room is so neat as to suggest that he's not actually that young, and though there are some toys in his small space it's clear that they've gone a long time since being played with.

A chill creeps up Telamon's spine as the pair sweep through the small house. But he firmly represses it. (Marge said his mother had been taken to the temple of Althea. I wonder if he's there with her?) He shakes himself, his illusory chain armor jingling a bit.

(Gods, though. How long have they been away? Marge insisted he'd been around. Surely there was someone looking out for their home...) The disguised sorcerer takes a deep breath. (Let's head to the Althean temple. That's our last lead -- or I try to use my dream ritual to track down the ball's owner.)

Cor'lana frowns as she walks around as 'Constance', looking over rooms that are empty and abandoned. (It's odd,) she says. (This level of dust suggests that his mother's been sick for a long time, and it doesn't have to do with the situation at hand. Or... At least, it doesn't have to do with what Iei was putting people into.)

She nods at Telamon's idea. (Temple of Althea, then dream ritual,) she notes. (We have tomorrow left. We got lucky finding and routing the fiend today.)

GAME: Telamon rolls talky: aliased to diplomacy+5: (17)+36+5: 58

The temple of Althea is a veritable madhouse with the clerics all busy trying to help those injured and/or drained earlier in the day. No one really seems to have time to help you locate one sick woman and her son. At least until Telamon opens his mouth and an hour later you're standing in a hallway.

Shuichi is easy to spot even down the hall. It's his bright red hair as he leans against the wall outside his mother's room. He's about sixteen or so, a young man more than a boy, his green eyes vibrant with worry as he holds himself still. His clothes are fashionable in shades of pink; but the length of sleeve and cuff tell that its been a while since his mother made him clothes. As does the worn state of what he's wearing.

The priest leads you to him and introduces you to him. "This Shiori's son Shuichi. Shuichi, these are the Archmagi Cor'lana and Telamon. They wished to have a word with you."

Shuichi turns his bright green eyes on the pair of you and his worry is evident in every line of him. "I have no time for company nor condolences. Please. My mother is in a critical state."

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perception: (20)+24: 44
GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (16)+33: 49
GAME: Telamon rolls sense motive: (18)+29: 47
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Sense Motive: (10)+25: 35

Telamon's eyes are starry, bright, and... kind. Compassion radiates off the sorcerer, more than anything else. His gaze takes in Shuichi, and there's no reproach, no anger there. Instead, he walks towards the boy, stopping an arm's length away. "It is that serious, then? I know you have not been to your house in some time. You must've been spending every spare moment here."

"Marge mentioned you were the helpful sort. And you also strike me as a clever lad." Tel rubs his chin, before producing the kickball, balancing it in one hand. "Would you mind telling us how you pulled it off? I'm not even annoyed. I'm impressed. And frankly... if you have what we're looking for, we'd be willing to help you in turn."

Cor'lana smiles tenderly at Shuichi. Oh, does she know what this boy's been through. Her whole world was, at one point, just her, her mother, and Pothy... And then her mother was gone. A Nadina-shaped hole, aided by the complicated magic that Nadina wove so that Cor'lana could be safe from a monster that never existed.

It's why when she speaks, she, too, speaks with compassion. "We're here to help, Shuichi," she says softly. "The mirror does belong to someone who would like it back, but we can be of assistance. You're not the only one here with a mother that is loved very much." Because Nadina might be gone, but she is still loved, and she would have wanted Cor'lana to help.

The boy's eyes fall a little. "Yes, she may not survive the night." He sounds like someone who has in the end, almost accepted the inevitable, save that there's hope in his green eyes. Determination. "I do odd jobs to pay for the room here, but yes, I spend what time I can here." He glances at the door and then back to Telamon.

It's clear that Telamon's words are something that embarrass him. "I am not proud of it, but I have skillful hands. I dropped some water on him and exchanged the ball for the mirror. He never suspected that a child could steal it from him in such a common way. But..." Here Shuichi's gaze hardens. "I can not give it to you. It is the only chance that my mother has. I only need one more night. I'll give it back then; I swear."

He looks then at Cor'lana. "You look like a good daughter, I wish I could say that I had been a good son to my mother, but the truth is that I was always too smart for my own good. I was a genius, accepted early admission to the mages school in Rune. I was set to leave when she got sick and she told me to go. Now three years have taught me that she was the wiser one. I treated her terribly, and there's a price to pay for that; I must make her well... whatever the cost. Please; if you have such feelings let me do this."

An arched eyebrow, and a smile, are Telamon's response. "You canny, clever lad. Do you have the talent, or are you of a wizardly bent? Because I'd happily sponsor you to the Academy here for that kind of quick thinking." He considers Shuichi's words. "You say you were not a good son. Perhaps, but I would argue that you are now a good son, striving to save your mother, even at this juncture."

Tel turns to Lana. "The servitor's words were to reclaim the mirror from Iei." He frowns. "He spoke of it having great power, during a time of the Dark Moon -- to sway the balance of good and evil." His eyes flick back to Shuichi, boring in. "Tell me exactly what you seek to do, Shuichi. That mirror you bear is no minor magical item, but the tool of Ni'essa Sky-Singer. I have known the weight of Her tools before and they are not easy to bear."

Cor'lana nods softly to Telamon. "We are not seeking to take the mirror from you--not yet, at least," she explains to Shuichi, "but rather to help you. It is not something that should be handled lightly at all. We both are archmages who are capable of handling it."

Her hand curls around her husband's as she says, "It is not right for a child to bear the brunt of high magic all alone, especially when it could be well above what you're capable of handling. If is to be used to save your mother... Then let Telamon and I be the safeguards that ensure that all is well."

She smiles at Shuichi. "My mother would have wanted me to help you," she says. "Even if it might make a celestial a bit cross with us in the process. Ni'essa is not above a bit of mischief for good intent from time to time." So the chaotic heart of a feytouched woman beats.

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Fortitude: (4)+16: 20
GAME: Telamon rolls Fortitude: (12)+15: 27
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Fortitude: (18)+16: 34
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20: (18): 18

"I was admitted for natural talent and skill in magic." Shuichi admits, seemingly surprised that Telamon doesn't seem swayed by his insistence. "The mirror explained to me, that it can be used to restore my mother's health; her life even should she pass before tomorrow. That is the purpose that I intend to put it to. No other."

It's clear that this boy doesn't have the money to pay for a wish, a miracle, or some other powerful magic to restore his mother. Much less the kind of power to do it himself yet. "However difficult to bear it might be; I am ready."

Yet... Cor'lana's offer sets him at ease, a burden flowing from his shoulders. One far too heavy for a boy his age and yet thrust upon him all the same. "You will aid me? I... I... really?" His eyes soften. "When I saw you I thought that my hope might be at an end, but now... I am grateful. So, very grateful."

The ritual the following night happens in the middle of the temple district, beneath the light of the moons. The alignment of power pulses through the city from the mirror called Eluna's Hope. The boy speaks his wish into being, and the power is such that later, later you will all learn that not only his own mother is healed.

Of course, every power comes at a price, and the price of life is life, but all three of you stand unified in purpose, pouring magic and power into the mirror of hope and the mirror responds to the need of the moment by stealing a sliver of life that will slowly restore over time. Something that is easily enough paid. At the end of the ritual, the celestial appears, drawn by the magic used, walking out of the temple of Eluna with a stern expression and taking back the mirror almost wordlessly.

In the end though, it feels worth it. Worth it all the more to see the smile on a mother's face when she sees her son, and the smile on his when he sees his mother well again. More than worth the price paid.

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perform/Oratory: (2)+39: 41

At the end, when Cor'lana and Telamon are done with the ritual, and they witness Shuichi's joy upon seeing his mother well, the couple leave the Temple.

People are awake. People are _alive_. People are marveling at the little miracle that has been performed. And Cor'lana decides then not to tell a single soul, not to take credit for it at all. Instead, when she gets home, Cor'lana decides to write.

The words don't come very fast at first. Exhaustion makes for slow writing, but eventually she finds her stride.

I see a million and one stars,

A million stars to light the sky,

And one star to guide them.

I see a million and one stars,

A million stars writhing in pain,

And one star who wishes tenderly

To save them all.

I look at you, Little Star,

And I see the sorrow in your eyes.

So I reach out for the Lunar Lady

With my own grief written on my heart

And I say, "Give us all peace,

Give them all peace,

I'll pay you any price."

And Ni'essa, she smiles so softly,

And she gives us all the light of hope.

For hers is a magic unending, ringing

Far into the night, into past and future

Into present and always,

The light that shines into darkness.

I see millions of mortals unnumbered,

Millions of mortals to live in peace,

And may they, for once, for a day, for a while,

Be healed of all their sorrows.

Cor'lana then adds one line that is not part of the poem:

In memory of Nadina Branfeax.

Then Pothy comes looking for her, and they eat dinner together as a family. Cor'lana puts the poem somewhere in her desk, not intending to ever publish it, but maybe, one day, it might be. Or maybe, one day, it'll be given to Shuichi.

The future is a bright star.