Crystal
SUMMARY: Erakirak, Kestrel, Bhavrad, and Darius are hired to investigate a disturbance at a monastery. (Whirl GM)
You've been called to the monastery that sits high in Alexandria city. Near to the eagle run Aerie, there has been an unusual amount of activity there tonight. You're just arriving along the road there now, a robed acolyte standing at its gate to meet you.
Erakirak doesn't get into the city proper very often, and so doesn't check the Guild's job boards too regularly. But he lives in the aforementioned Aerie (which, contrary to rumor, is not run by eagles), and he pays attention to events in the vicinity. So he heard about this request and made a point of participating. He met the rest of the group on the road, accompanied by a not-incredibly-tame-seeming griffon who refuses to let him out of her sight, and keeps her distance from everyone else.
Kestrel joins the robed acolyte. "Evening, sapient one." The short half-sil beams, her posture changing as she shifts her weight from her heels to her toes. "I hear the call."
A very tall and muscular human warrior wearing heavy banded mail and carrying a huge greatsword on his back, covered partially by an oversized black hooded cloak steps into view behind Kestrel. His gait is unhurried and unconcerned and has spent his time in companionable silence unless directly spoken to. He allows her to do the talking, being fairly taciturn and generally not choosing to speak unless he has something important to say. He glances around unconcerned, noting the entrance and the acolyte and the surroundings.
Erakirak regards Darius skeptically and stands closer to the silver-winged griffon, silently but clearly protectively.
Bhavrad has arrived.
"So glad you all could make it," says the robed acolyte, "It's been happening all night and I'm not sure what we're going to do about it. COme on, then."
He leads the gathered adventurers beyond the gates of the monastary proper and onto the grounds.
"Now, hold on a moment. I want you all to listen..."
"So glad you all could make it," says the robed acolyte, "It's been happening all night and I'm not sure what we're going to do about it. COme on, then."
He leads the gathered adventurers beyond the gates of the monastary proper and onto the grounds.
"Now, hold on a moment. I want you all to listen..."
GAME: Darius rolls perception: (5)+0: 5
GAME: Kestrel rolls perception: (14)+6: 20
GAME: Erakirak rolls perception: (6)+12: 18
Clop clop clop. A creature of beauty strides up to the Aerie gate, its brilliant white coat poofed and tamed. Its long graceful net arcs to an oval head. Large lips spread open as the majestic beast breathes the air... and then hauwks a massive lougie on the pathway. The llama glares at the acolyte as it lips rotate and chew on some food stuck in its teeth.
Bhavrad, its rider, similar spits, though his countenance is one of friendliness, rather than aloof disdain. They trot after the acolyte, and then turn an ear the air as they wait for what he spoke of.
GAME: Bhavrad rolls perception: (18)+6: 24
The griffon regards the dire llama with some skepticism, but truthfully no more than she regards everyone but Erakirak with. He soothes her skillfully as they enter the monastery grounds.
Kestrel raises an eyebrow at the sound she hear, her almost pointy ears twitching. "Something weird is afoot."
Erakirak tilts his head to one side, as though hearing a distant noise. "Is someone playing an instrument?"
The huge human warrior simply walks sedately beside the others tilting his head to listen as well, a eyebrow raised in cynical curiousity.
Bhavrad turns his head slowly, his plaited beard swishing across his stomach. "Don't the wind blow through the buildings or some such nonsense?" He pats his mount's neck as if to get its attention, a thick finger pointing to where he thinks the sound is coming from. The llama momentarily looks like it knows what he is asking, but then looks like it doesn't care.
"Sure, but not and make that kinda noise," replies the acolyte.
"They're hoping maybe you can track it. Folks starting to think things are haunted. People getting their nerves on edge, you know?" He nods is his head towards Bhavrad, apparently relieved that they can hear it. Or at least one of them can.
"Not /everyone/ can hear it, though."
Erakirak nods. It's not an easy sound to track, but he begins to walk around the grounds, trying to get a sense of where the noise might be coming from by where it is louder or quieter.
Darius simply raises a heavily mailed shoulder in a shrug and leaves the tracking to those better suited for it. He glances around, unable to hear whatever it is that it is they are supposed to hear, and reaches back to loosen the huge greatsword in it's scabbard in case he needs to draw it fast.
Bhavrad dismounts his llama, and a with a flourish of his half-cape stands proudly afoot. Instead of coping Erakirak, he lends him aid. He steps about, finding any cloth in the air that is flapping, and securing it. Shooing children away. And step by step removing extra noise, so that the Egalrin could hunt in peace.
GAME: Erakirak rolls perception: (10)+12: 22
GAME: Bhavrad rolls perception: (11)+6: 17
GAME: Darius rolls perception: (19)+0: 19
GAME: Kestrel rolls perception: (3)+6: 9
With your acolyte escort -- he's a half-elven man by the name of Shnorm, you have free run of the monastary in an effort to trace the source of the hum.
... this is not easy.
...not easy at all. Every time you think you're getting close, it seems to fade away from you. Every time you think you're about to zero in on it, it comes from somewhere else, apparently.
Finally, though, you REALLY ARE SURE that you're getting it this time as you wander the cells. Even Darius can hear it now.
You make your way to one particular cell and it's at its loudest yet in the back corner of a room not in use at the moment. The last acolyte to stay here, says Shnorm, moved out well before the humming started. Still, by the back wall of the room, you can definitely almost /feel/ it. A faint, almost musical buzzing.
Erakirak walks up to the back wall and begins pounding on it, looking for the echoes that would indicate a false panel.
The griffon begins clawing at the wall. Apparently it wants to help. Or maybe it's a fun game? Hard to say.
The huge warrior can hear it now, and simply raises an eyebrow further, once they reach the cell where the sound is the loudest and come before the wall. He says in a low bass rumble, "Perhaps we should find a sledgehammer... unless we have someone in our group that knows how to open secret passages."
The llama... gets left outside. At this rate the egalrin seems pretty good at finding this thing, so Bhavrad gives him his space. The khazad's eyes wander the cell, giving it a thorough once over from his spot near the door.
Kestrel hmms as she eyes the large men doing the grunt work in the cell. She eyes the monk and asks. "Do older tunnels or fundations exist under the monastery? This could be something in the area under it." She shrugs. "Not the first time things from below come to visit us."
"No, nothing like that. I mean, the city's been built over a hundred times, so I can't say that with certainty, but... no, I don't think anything like that." He pokes at the wall a few times.
GAME: Erakirak rolls will: (9)+2: 11
Erakirakdraws back a fist to smash it against the wall, and stumbles as his hand goes through the wall with no resistance at all, followed by his arm and all the rest of him... he wasn't expecting that! He squawks and loses his balance, disappearing from view.
Darius blinks and then says ironically, "Or not..." He shrugs and attempts to step through the wall himself, calling out, "Are you alright?" to Erakirak.
Kestrel laughs! "An illusory wall."
"...well, I'll be," says Shnorm.
He reaches out to touch the wall, and indeed, with a moment of concentration, his hand goes through.
"...this is where the rest of you come in, I think," he gives a nod to Kestrel and Darius.
He glances back at Shnorm and says drily, "Really? I thought our job was to find it so that you can take care of it yourself?" before he steps into the wall and into whatever room/corridor is behind it.
Kestrel draws her rapier and steps inside, steady paces with her blade hight. Hope she doesn't poke anyone standing at the other side of the wall.
..passing through the wall feels strange. Like the wall passes through /you/ in a sense.
You emerge on the other side to find Erakirak having toppled down a few steps and managed to slam into the wall. He's fairly dazed.
In the meantimne, the path ahead continues, the buzzing growing steadily louder. Feathers and hairs will start to poof up or stand on end.
Darius kneels down beside Erakirak and checks him and glances over at Kestrel, "He will be unable to continue, I believe it's safe enough here to leave him while we continue on." Pragmatic as always, he draws his greatsword and starts to walk slowly and carefully through the corridor. The noise is irritating him now, the only sign is a crinkle of his eyes, and he isn't too keen to find out what it is now.
Kestrel hmms. "So.. do we continue? People are poofing and leaving us, not the most positive tactical change." The teenager looking half-sil isn't afraid, just checking the situation. "I fence and sling a spell or two. What is our schtick?"
His shoulder lifts once more in a shrug as he says, "I will stay in front, at the very least, whatever IT is will have to get by me to you." He glances down the corridor once more and says, "I was hired to find out and stop whatever is causing this... sound, I intend to fulfill the contract, if you wish to leave then I will not hold it against you." He glances behind him and lifts a lip up in a small smile, "Besides, who would see you anyways with me in front." Another bit of dry humor from the huge warrior as he continues, "If I live, then you owe me an ale for being your... meat shield as it were."
Kestrel shakes her had. "Seven Hells! I'm not running back to my mother's arms. I'll forge ahead with you." She even grins a ittle wider. "Fewer people to share any reward."
...and forge ahead they do! Down the short tunnel and deeper into the cliffside where this section was dug out.
You arrive at what appears to be a small altar, of sorts, carved out of the stone and raised up. Hovering above it is a single mana crystal. IT appears to be the source of the energy and the humming. THere's no clear indication why this is here. No religious iconography or anything erlse for that matter. Just a single, clear crystal suffused with the energy of the sea of mana.
He smiles then, "I thought that might appeal to you... you still owe me an ale though..." He walks forwards until they come to the altar and Darius squints, "A crystal?" He frowns, "Of magic I assume?" He asks Kestrel being the spell slinger here and would probably know.
Bolide has arrived.
GAME: Kestrel refreshes spells.
Kestrel shrugs. "Detect magic seems kind of moot. It this crystal isn't magic, I'm a fat orc. Touching it sounds dangerous and stupid, but I can move it without touching it. Sounds like a plan?"
Darius raises a shoulder once more in a shrug, "Go ahead, I will ensure you are not attacked while you do so."
GAME: Kestrel casts Mage Hand. Caster Level: 1 DC: 12
Kestrel focus and makes her Jedi Master movements with her hand tense in the air. Closing it, guiding the mage hand (a cantrip!) into nudging the crytal and float it in her direction. Let's hope the mineral in question agrees with her plan.
Darius watches and sweeps the room with his sword, expecting something to happen once the crystal is moved from its spot and wanting to be ready to attack instantly.
There is some resistance, initially, to Kestrel's pull of the crystal, but it does idneed come floating to her after a little pressure is applied. The humming abruptly stops.
Kestrel guides the crytal to a leather pouch, never touching it with her bare skin. "Got it!" She eyes the large man standing as her Yojimbo. "So.. ale it is?" The teen swirls on her heels and faces the monk. "Anything else you need doing? Humming is gone, altar of weirdness is officially off."
Darius is silent, still looking around as he says, "Make your way back... slowly, I have a bad feeling..." To the ale comment, he says, "We'll talk about it once we return to the city... never count your money before it's in hand." Maybe it's just experience talking to him, but he's not convinced that they're just going to be able to walk out of here unmolested.
Kestrel steps backwards, cautiously. She's pretty nimble and follows the instructions of the veteran adventurer. "Ok. I try to hide my greeness with banter and bravado. Hope you don't mind."
With this done, you're able to depart from the minor cavern and return to the cell, where Shnorm is waiting for you.
"The humming stopped. What was it?" It's not like he followed. And with the crystal in Kestrel's bag, he canb't see it either.
Kestrel shrugs. "Weird altar at the end of a cave... We did perform a basic exorcism, and whatever planar thing that was haunting it just left. I'm an Abominations student, and there was some planar shenanigans back there."
Darius steps backwards himself and calls back, "It is fine, there is nothing wrong with being green, we all were once, once we are safe and if you like, I will take you under my wing and mentor you." When they arrive back at the cell and Kestrel speaks, he simply allows her to say what she likes, he does say, "I suggest that you block the entrance through the wall and post guards to make sure no one attempts to use it again."
"I... see? Well, the elders will want to take a look. That's just profoundly odd." He peers at the illusory wall spot, glancing back towards the pair of adventurers.
Kestrel nods. "This is wizardry. To keep an illusion like this for so long requires a certain specialty with it. Talk to the elders, and block this passage." She sighs. "Check your books and ledgers. See if any mage stood in this cells and when."
Darius continues to watch the wall and says, "Kestrel, let us leave, the acolytes can take it from here."
Kestrel nods. "After you, big guy." She sidesteps, letting Darius lead the way.
With that done, all that's left is to tell the Guild what happened, or not, as you choose.
...and collect your pay, of course, which is easy enough to do.
GAME: Kestrel rolls bluff: (13)+7: 20
Arriving at the guild, Kestrel (accompained by Darius) tells a daring tale of delving into the bowels of the monastery, as other members of the group starting falling ill or dazzled until they reached what appeared to be the cell of DOOOOOM. How after trying and passing through an illusory wall, they both found a humming altar. How she simply touched the altar, and the humming stopped. She sounds aprehensive, not sure if touching it was thesmartest move... Yet, here they are. Darius and her. Ready to receive the payment.
Darius, for his part, backs up Kestrel's story. The Guild doesn't need to know about any potential items of a magical nature or otherwise that they might decide to confiscate for 'the betterment of society'. He simply stands there, looking appropriately intimidating.
GAME: Darius rolls intimidate: (9)+7: 16
There is nodding. "Exactly how did you exercise the magical.."
The clerks are all nodding along. They seem like they've bought it for now abd, perhaps, aren't too interested in spending time on what appears to be a minor matter.