Realms of Dread [IC] Chapter Three

Rafael's and Skybolt's Online Campaign
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Post by steveflam »

"Very well, lead the way."
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tarlyn wrote:"Very well, lead the way."
The priest leads the elf-maid past the shrine that visitors are allowed to use [a macabre arrangement of human bones atop a stone altar decorated with the figures of dancing skeletons] , down a short few steps, and into what appears to be a cellar. Multiple passageways converge in a long, low-ceilinged room. Narisa sees animated skeletons roaming some of these side passages, their bones bleached so white that they seem almost to glow in the darkness. Furniture fills perhaps a third of the big room, most of this near the center.

Behind one of the heavy wooden desks sits a tall man, stooped over a book he reads by candlelight. He looks up as the elf and the priest enter. The man at the desk is dressed identically to the other priests, but also wears a long, soot-stained beard of dirty gray. He waves Narisa closer.

He points a thin finger at an empty chair standing nearby.

''Take a seat. Tell me your story.''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Narisa sits. And just talks "I am sure you are aware of what is transpiring on Fishgut Rock, the home of one deceased Necromancer Delthrin? This is not my real body, you see. Mine used to be that of a dwarf, one Rardi Silverhelm.

Two of my companions and myself entered his home illegally, trying to find some evidence that he is behind the beheadings going on in the city. We ran into a Kyton which we defeated with some difficulty. After that we ran into some undead which I turned. Then we battled Delthrin, and without giving him a chance to talk or anything, we tied him up after we defeated him.

In his laboratory we found an Illithid. At this time I had no idea what it was, but the state it was in was very sorry. We freed it, unkowingly. It wanted Delthrin and one of our companions, Archedius accompanied it to where it was taking Delthrin. And so they three disappeared.

At this point one gnome, Threan, a new member of our little party, enters and is shocked at what we tell him. Saying he is going to go explore the rest of the home, he actually goes and tells the Rock's Bailliff what we did. I had by now exitted and ran into a woman and some undead child. After some incident I let them go. Anyways to make a longer story short both Inovidil and I were arrested. My trial would have hung me of that I am certain. The day I was supposed to go to trial, I am unsure what day it is, the Illithid returned to me. It helped me escape.

I had learned of my friend Archedius death and soon found out that he was in fact alive. The MindFlayer Okarthu removed Archedius brain and placed it an innocent's body. In the end, I allowed it to do the same for me on an innocent elf, this body you see before you.

I now realise though I have strong feelings versus Necromancers, what I did was wrong. Delthrin actually helped this city with his necromancy. I've a mad-on for them as one vampire necromancer is responsble for the death of most of my clan, you see. Tolerance is something I will have to work on, sir. Now the last part of my tale is quite obvious, if you think about it.

I am now like a sailor on a boat with no port to rest at, so to speak. I seek a port and after having thought about it and done some reading on the subject, came here. That is my story."
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Post by ewancummins »

Fane of Myrkul

''Delthrin paid due homage to our Lord, but like all men, his personal death was inevitable- only a minor question of when and how. Still, it is inconvenient that he is gone at this time. He was a boon to the city, as you have said. The debt you owe for your crimes done out of prejudice and ignorance shall be paid in eternal service to the Lord of the Dead. We are not interested in worldly notions of justice, so we shall not inform the legal authorities of your presence in the city and your true identity. We shall find a place for you among us. You have passed the first tests already. ''


The Undead Master stands. A smile spreads over his ashy face, white teeth showing in sharp contrast with his blackened skin.

''Very ruthless of you, most commendably pragmatic, to have captured and slain the elf girl in order to take her body for your own. I am impressed. You will make a good servant to our god, I think. ''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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She smiles for the first time in days. "Thank you. I presume there will be more than one test to pass. Perhaps you may enlighten me on the next one? I did not capture the elf, the Illithid Okarthu did. Although I did watch while he performed his grisly business."
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Post by ewancummins »

Fane of Myrkul

''Yes, of course, you used the monster for you own ends. Perfectly reasonable. There is nothing for you to feel bad about; after all, everyone has to die sometime. The elf's death served a purpose. Now her spirit has gone to her god's realm, or to eternal torment if she was Faithless or False. The flesh is but a temporary house for the spirit or soul.''
Last edited by ewancummins on Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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the next day , 24 Flamerule, in the great hall of the King's Tower/ Citadel

The hall has been recently cleared of debris, the walls whitewashed to cover scorch-marks from the great fire, the floors scrubbed to lift bloodstains from the battle against the undead. Soldiers line the walls, Purple Dragons on the left and Lord Ildool's greenjacketed personal guard on the right. Ildool, Baron of Marsember, sits on a tall oak seat at the inner end of the hall. Important persons have chairs arranged in the middle of the room, facing the baron's seat. These people are Ino's comrades, Ino herself, various witnesses, concerned notables, officers of the city militia [Rask is here], bailiff Davos, etc.

An officer of the court quickly explains the procedure for the benefit of the accused and others who are perhaps not fully conversant with the law; there are no barristers, no juries, unlike in some barbarous realms. In Cormyr, a single judge [ a tribunal of nobles only in special cases] will decide the fate of the accused based on testimony,evidence,etc. The accused is able to speak in her own defense, of course. She is presumed neither innocent or guilty, but merely 'suspect', at the beginning of the trial. The formal accuser will be the Bailiff of Shamran Isle [Fishgut Rock, to the vulgar]. The final verdict lies solely with the reigning noble, Lord Ildool. An appeal to the Crown is not allowed as a right, for Inovidil is not properly a subject of Cormyr nor of suitably noble origins to warrant an exception[though she is doubly bound by Cormyr's laws as both a resident and a member of the city militia charged with enforcing those laws].

After this prologue, the trial begins immeditatey. Ildool asks the bailiff a few perfunctory questions to confirm certain facts [were Archedius' and Delthrin's corpses found together, did Ino surrender volunatrily, did Rardi? what did you find when you searched them,etc]. The bailiff is honest about all of it, even admiting that there was an ''unfortunate incident in which some of the suspects and witnesses were injured.'' The Baron shrugs off the matter of the ''incident'', pointing out that it has nothing to do with what transpired in Delthrin's home, the real question at hand.

Ildool commands:

''Davos, read both written confessions in full, aloud to the whole court. Then, give us the pertinent parts of the journal. After that, I will hear Inovdil's words on her own behalf.''
Last edited by ewancummins on Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by steveflam »

Narisa seems pensive for a moment "This is true I did use the for my own purposes. I am doing what it takes to survive and live now, for I had no wish to die by a hangman's noose because of some pitiful law. I must say I have strong feeling versus trhis gnome Threan right now, but as you said, vengeance isn't something I should think about right now.

What would you have of me for the time being?"
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Post by ewancummins »

tarlyn wrote:Narisa seems pensive for a moment "This is true I did use the for my own purposes. I am doing what it takes to survive and live now, for I had no wish to die by a hangman's noose because of some pitiful law. I must say I have strong feeling versus trhis gnome Threan right now, but as you said, vengeance isn't something I should think about right now.

What would you have of me for the time being?"
''Because you have served another god before coming to our order, you must undergo a test of loyalty. Your mission will be to steal certain minor relics from Morningmist Hall. Do this without Myrkul's direct aid, and you will have proved yourself. Then there remains the initiation rite, and Myrkul's judgement of you. If the god finds you fit to be his priest and wills it so, you may gain powers like mine. In that case, I will then begin your proper training, teaching you the ways of necromancy. You will learn to master the power you had once feared. You say that you hate vampires? Ha! You may one day be able to make such beings grovel at your feet. ''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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The trial:


The bailiff reads Rardi's confession aloud:


''On the night of the 20th, I, Rardi Silverhelm, broke into Blackpillars in the company of two of my associates, Inovidil and Archedius Tagaris. We encountered Delthrin, and subdued him after freeing a monster that he had kept imprisoned in his laboratory. After Delthrin had been stripped by us, and was bound and gagged securely, I beat the prisoner. At no time did we allow him to speak in his own defense or to answer questions by words or in writing. It was then decided among us, at my strong urging, that we should deliver Delthrin up to the creature we had freed from restraint. We did so, and the monster took both Delthrin and Archedius from my sight.

The actions of my party were undertaken without official sanction. No one ordered us to go to Blackpillars or to attack Delthrin. ''


The bailiff then reads Ino's confession:

'On the night of the 20th, I, Inovidil, broke into Blackpillars in the company of two of my teammates, Rardi Silverhelm and Archedius Targaris. We encountered Delthrin and subdued him after freeing a monster that he had kept imprisoned in his laboratory. After Delthrin had been stripped by us, and was bound and gagged securely, I witnessed Sergeant Silverhelm beat the prisoner. It was then decided by our group, at Rardi’s vehement insistence, that we should deliver Delthrin up to the creature we had freed from restraint. We did so, and the monster took both Delthrin and my leader, Archedius, from my sight.

I have heard Rardi Silverhelm exclaim on multiple occasions that Magus Delthrin was an evil man, who deserved a bad fate, even death. She made it well known to me that she believed him to be responsible for terrible crimes, to whit: murder and kidnapping. She also made it clear by word and deed that she despised him because of his profession of necromancy. I agreed that Delthrin was a suspicious person, and this motivated me to take part in the activities of the night of the 20th. We had no concrete evidence of any wrongdoing on his part, but were moving on suspicions we had about Delthrin and his activities. Our actions were undertaken without official sanction. No one ordered us to go to Blackpillars or to attack Delthrin.'


The bailiff adds that

''Inovidil and her allies discovered two headless bodies in the laboratory, but they didn't know about those before the break in. My men found the bodies and Delthrin's journal tells us why he had them- for his own private investigation of the murders. ''

The Baron nods to himself as he listens.

''Yes, yes, very good. Now let's hear what the dwarf told the priestess, Mistress Gyrglass.'''

Nissa Gyrglass, her long blonde hair bound with silver pins and clad in a blue dress, comes forth to give her testimony.

''My lord, I questioned Rardi Silverhelm at her own request, with a lie-detecting magical filed in effect - also at her own request. Allow me to read the results of that interview:

I began,

''Did you plan and carry out an unauthorized break in of Blackpillars, with Archedius and Inovidil, keeping your activities secret from those above you in the militia chain of command? ''

Her answer was affirmative.


I asked her if she had ever told her friends that she would have liked to kill Delthrin. She answered with a simple 'yes.'

When asked if she hated Delthrin, she gave a longer answer:

''I also hate giants, goblins and orcs. I've een stated afore may times they dun deserve ta be livin either. An I'm sure I's not tha only dwarf 'oo as said that.

I especially hate Necromancers acuz o one Necromancer/Vampire is responsible fer most a me clan's demise. If it weren't fer a kindly Lathander Priest an Archedius, I'd not be 'ere today. So yeah I gots me a special 'atered fer Necromancers.''


I went on to ask if it were true that she had assaulted him after he was a helpess prisoner at her mercy, bound and gagged.
She admitted that she had done just that.

I asked her if there had been disagreement among the trio about how to handle the prisoner and she said that there had been such. Archedius was in favor of giving up Delthrin, while Inovdil protested, at least initially. Rardi told me that she argued in favor of giving him up to the monster.

Next, I asked her if she had questioned Delthrin herself or allowed him any opportunity to speak in his own defense- to which she flatly answered 'no.''

She then became very agitated, and began to speak without prompting. The scribe recorded her words:

''First off, I dinna know what this Illithid was afor that gnome telled us. NOw if ye'd of seen the state it were in, and ye were unkowin about this Illithid, but knowin about Necromancers, ye'd of probably done tha same thing I done.''

I asked her if she had reason to believe that the freed creature might kill her prisoner, to which she answered yes.

When asked if she had, in fact, told Master Threan that Delthrin was evil and had done evil and that she believed that he deserved whatever happened to him, her response was, and I quote:

''Yeah, so what? He be an evil necromancer!''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by kintire »

Shana sits quietly, some way back if possible, and remains expressionless. Still, she seems content with the progress of the trial so far. They can blame Rardi as much as they like, as long as they don't have her!
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Post by ewancummins »

the trial, cont.

The bailiff takes turns with a scribe, reading sections of Delthrin's journal [which the bailiff's men had recovered on the beach, taking from Blaise Redman's bag].

The journal entry readings tell the court that:

Delthrin had nothing to do with the recent undead attacks on the city, the great fire, any criminal conspiracy, etc.

He had conducted his own private invesitgation into the recent spate of beheading murders, which ultimately led to his narrowly-achieved capture of the killer: a brain-eating aberration known as an illithid. This creature , he imprisoned in his lab for further study. He had considered working with the militia on the case, but was put off by the undisguised hostility of one Rardi Silverhelm.

Baron Ildool finally holds up a hand.

'' Enough of that. Let's move on. Have you any witnesses outside the militia, Davos?''

''Yes, my lord: Delthrin's natural daughter, Nell Wynnet. She overheard the murderer and her comrades discussing Dlethrin's fate, after the fact. ''

''Bring her forth, then.''

A petite and pretty young brunette, wearing a dress of black cotton, stands up from her seat among the important persons and adresses the court:

''Delthrin was my father, but my mother never told me who he was before she died. I ended up in a brothel, like my mother before me. I'm not to proud too admit I made my living flat on my back. But my father, he found me and took me away from all that. He was a good man, a kind man. The dwarf and her friends killed him! I heard them talking about it, while I was hiding in the next room with Alys, my father's ward. Father had told us to hide while he dealt with the burglars. The dwarf told the others she didn't care if Father died at the hands of that awful monster- she hated my father and wished him dead. When I took Alys and fled, the dwarf used her magic on me to freeze my feet. I was helpless...she threatened Alys and I couldn't protect her! It was horrible. I thought she was going to kill us both when she raised her mace. She tried to bully me into fleeing the city, and then offered me a bribe. She warned me to flee and never come back to Marsember. I ran away after I was free of her hex, and sought out the good people of the town, who took in Alys and me. Lord Ildool- I beg you, give me justice for my father! ''

Miss Wynnet is in tears halfway through her speech, and doesn't stop weeping softly after she sits down at the baron's command.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by steveflam »

Narisa listens to the undead master intently. She has absolutely no talents for stealing, though she does feel more flexible and agile in her new body.

"I won't be lyin to ye. I never have, um, stolen anything and have no experience doin it, ta be honest. As I have been inside the Temple more n a few times, I prolly know where's them items is. That bein said, I do accept yer first test. I'd like ter know if'n yer know a person
who teaches proper talkin. I dun think I e'er heard an elf talk like meself, if ye get me meanin, sir. An I dun want the other people's I knew afore ta be hearing me talk, they might get suspicous.

I accept yer jusdgement, nonetheless. Lissen I gots me a second chance at livin, so I plan to keep on livin, sir."
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Post by ewancummins »

Fane of Myrkul

''Yes, live to serve our dread master. In death, there will be a place for you in his kindgom. As for your speech...I'm sure we can provide a tutor- after you complete you mission and your initial training.''

The Undead Master sips a little wine from his drinking cup [ a child's skull missing the crown, of course].

''Would you care for some wine?''

An acolyte brings more wine as the Undead Master briefs 'Narisa' on her mission,

''You are to go into Morningmist Hall and steal the Casket of Samos. It is a crystal coffin that contains the mortal remains of one of Lathander's great clerics from the early days of Cormyr. Ah, but you may already know of it. Bring the casket and its full contents back to us, and do not get caught. If you can steal anything else of value, that is well. Indeed, we may decide to let you keep some of any additional loot. I don't care how you manage this task, but you will receive no direct aid from us. You may, of course, wish to recruit outside help. I leave it up to your judgement how best to accomplish this mission. The sooner you complete the job, the better. ''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by ewancummins »

The trial-

Lord Ildool says to Inovidil-

''You will soon have the chance to speak in your own defense, if you can.''
Last edited by ewancummins on Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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