RP: Time For A Little Eggsposition

Game Master	By the time the party reaches the outskirts of the city, Al has caught up with the group. It is late evening as the Silverwalkers approach the Swamp Gate. Almost immediately, Germain senses a problem.
Germain	Hold up. Up on the tower. Those are not our people.
LE	How can you tell?
Germain	Because I know our people. All the important ones, at least.
Quinalin	He's Right. Look at the armor they're wearing. Chain and steel lamellar. None of our people have armor that nice.
LE	The Odessans?
Germain	I don't think so. If the city had fallen, we'd know. The Wraiths, then? Damn. Why would they be wasting manpower guarding the swamp gate? For that matter - why aren't *our* people guarding the swamp gate?
Kimika	So.. What's the big deal? The Wraiths are our friends, too, aren't they?
Germain	Allies, maybe. I'm not sure we have many "friends" anymore, at least not in an institutional sense. Damn it! I should never have left the city again.
Mose	So, what's the big problem here, Germain?
Germain	Hopefully nothing. Still, I think we should probably not announce our presence just yet. Quinalin, you still have that magic rope?
Quinalin	nods.
Germain	Well, there you go. If it's good enough for the Odessans, it's good enough for us. I suggest we wait until nightfall, then scale the walls of the Magus' Tower and check in with Egg. He'll know what's going on.
Quinalin	And if Wraiths are also on those walls?
Germain	Well, then we'll know, won't we? We'll still climb the walls, of course. If there is a garrison there, as well, it will be much easier to deal with than the one here, especially if our goal is to get in without raising alarms.
Kimika	One day I won't have to sneak into my own city anymore.
Germain	One day. So, what do you all think?
Mose	Climb over the wall, eh? This plan sounds farrrr too simple to be a Silverwalker plan! snort laugh Why, we'd normally get Al to badger up a tunnel under the wall, or cause a big distraction with herds of wild animals, or have LE sneak in invisibly first, or disguise ourselves somehow. And here we're simply just going to scale a wall and sneak over. Maybe it's been our problem all along that we haven't tried simple plans. I like those best-- I'm all for it. We should climb, but can't Kimika and Al fly now? At the risk of making this more complicated, perhaps they should float over and see what's up as we start climbing.
Germain	We actually have a magical climbing rope, but if Al and Kimi want to fly instead of climb, they're welcome to it. I mean, if the place is crawling with Wraiths, we obviously reevaluate, but we've got to get to Egg one way or another. You said so yourself. We're as concerned about simply being seen as we are getting apprehended, moreso honestly. I want us to know what's going on before we're thrust into the middle of it, for once. Oh, speaking of Al, you find out anything hopeful from the Lizardmanlanders?
Kaleesarynn	Now that we're back to stuff Kaylee's been trained for, she seems to forget her earlier discomfiture and raises her hand a bit Don't forget that I can also pop into whatever spot I want without having to travel the distance between. Within reason, of course, and certainly not mid-air. Just thinking that it might be helpful for me to pop up to the top of the rope as you all start climbing just in case anyone's up there. Humans are easy for me to deal with. That is all we'd be facing here, right? No more liches?
Mose	::involuntarily looks over at LE, catches himself, and looks guiltily away:: Right, just humans most likely. Though the Thieves Guild here likes to use undead to do its bidding lately-- lets hope they're lying low, though.
Germain	That's a great point, Kaylee. In fact, however it is you and your sister pull that gimmick off, it seems to be totally unaffected by magical teleport wards, no matter what their strength. That's a good trump to keep in the hole. Hells, if things really look suspicious, I suppose you could just blink us across the walls. Although that might be too taxing an effort, I know even magic has its limits.
Al	In eagle form Looks pointedly at Kaleesarynn and tweets a bit.
Kaleesarynn	When Al arrived and wasn't changing forms, Kaylee mindlinked with him. She begins to relay what Al is telling her Ok, so he says that he went to see the "lizard dude" and said that the lizard dude was (tries and fails spectacularly to pronounce the lizarmanlander word Al said in her mind)? What the hell is that? Anyway, he told the guy about the lich and about what happened to LE. stares at Al for a moment, looking confused Now he's saying something about some turtles and how the lizard guy is going to try binding them again? And that it'll take a bit. He won't let them out of the swamp, which Al seems bummed about for some weird reason. Back to the topic though, the lizard guy was really surprised that there even was a lich down there and freaked out that it was a druid-lich. Said that druids don't like undead and wouldn't want to become one, so it must have been forced to become a lich somehow, but they don't know how. Al says that he thinks there's a lot about "lizard-dude past" that they've forgotten or lost. stares at Al, and her look becomes fearful again as she quickly glances at LE and back again at Al for confirmation of what he just said Um, Al thinks that what happened to LE may have something to do with how that druid was forced to become a lich, which makes it even more important to help LE and prevent that from happening.
Game Master	Feel free to send me Knowledge: Religion or Knowledge: Arcana rolls via that spiffy website Mattie dredged up. Or, both, if you're able! (Edit by Mattie: Click on the following link, enter in your own "To" email address and change "Subject". Then click Roll the Dice: Secure Dice Roller (prepared for d20))
LE	shudders. We have to get in there. Why are we waiting? Let's use the rope. (Feel free to put any religion-roll-related banter that won't derail the plot in here.)

Camp Chatter

Game Master	The group nods and retreats to the swamp to wait for nightfall. (Feel free to put any passing the time, expository RP in here. Character to character bonding, background revealing, bucket pooping, or whatever else you adventurer sorts do the 23 hours a day you're not murdering things.)
Kaleesarynn	Wait, didn't you guys say something about wraiths guarding the Swamp Gate? Mose, I thought you said we'd likely just be dealing with living, breathing people. Why would there be wraiths in a city like this? I thought those only existed in dungeons and places like that.
Mose	Oh! Not undead wraiths, not like those. These are the Bog Wraiths-- the mercenaries who are pretty much Wydmoor's last line of defense. I don't know much about what they do around here politically before the War, but in one of Germain's boring talks, I think he said something about them being paid by the Church and Wydmoor to defend the city. wheels seem to be turning slowly in Mose's head If Wydmoor is broke, though-- I wonder if they might be worrying who'll be putting half their dinner on the table going forward... So far they've been the only sturdy thing Wydmoor has aside from the Silverwalkers, given the Church won't intervene. Hopefully this situation hasn't gotten the Wraiths a'scheming. Nothing makes a hired hand testy like worrying that he won't get paid... (OOC: There's probably some chance Kaylee has heard of the Bog Wraiths, right?)
Germain	shakes his head. It wasn't boring! The question is: why are they manning the wall? We know good and well the Wraiths have already been "a'scheaming" with the Odessans in Alexia--it's not hard to read between the lines even if you just follow the politics of the mainland...
Mose	yawns in anticipation.
Germain	grumbles. Fine. No one cares. The fact is, I told them I would need help keeping the peace in the city, but putting a full garrison on the walls seems like overstepping. I didn't think he even had enough men to guard Wydmoor Castle effectively with all the troops they are funneling into Alexia, so I can't imagine why he would put so many here unless there were issues. Or if he was up to something. He is pissed that we brought all the refugees into the city... Germain looks agitated. I don't want to wait anymore than we have to. Can we cross that wall now? Do we have a way to "sneak" across it in broad daylight?
LE	grins, shrugs, and disappears from sight.
Germain	Nice trick. Kaylee, didn't you say something about being able to teleport across walls? Does that work on all of us, or just you?
Kaleesarynn	Sure does! I can take 3 people with me per trip, so I could take maybe Kimika, Mose, and Germain on the first trip, and then come back for Al and Quin. That'd be three trips total for me and use up that much power... (she starts doing some mental calculations) (OOC: This would take 21 PSP, which I'm fairly sure she still has - also, edited this because Kaylee is level 9 now and can take 3 people with her) I think I could get us all across. Also, did LE just teleport there?
LE	LE's voice: I'm still here. I'd need to use the rope.
Kaleesarynn	Jumps a little at the sound of LE's voice from out of thin air Ack! In that case, I could take you, Al, and Quin on the final trip. What do you guys think?
Mose	Sounds like a plan! Let's go. At least this way Kimi can save her flying ability if we find that going back into the city has turned into a bad idea. keep camp chatter rp above this line

Meeting with Egg

Game Master	The party, using many newly acquired tricks, enters the grounds of the Magius Keep. A small garrison walks the walls. They wear the sideways-V emblem, carry crossbows, and wear studded leather (i think) armor. The party decides to continue to sneak in without alerting the token forces. The Silverwalkers, Quinalin most especially, rate the level of security in the tower as abysmal. Once inside, you quickly make your way inside the tower and rush to find Egg. You find him in the library, begoggled and reading a tome the size of a human torso.
Egg	Oh, thank Omnity you're back! It feels like you've been gone for ages! But it couldn't have even been a week, could it? (XP Bonus! What is today, and how long has it been since you left the city!) (I think it's best to say today is 30 Verdant 1401 and we left the city 5 days before that. This is assuming it took us a minimum 1.5 day march to and from the southern reaches of the swamp-- a guess based on our first forced march to the hydra's place from the Lizardman camp. If our Phylactery chat took the entire day then instead we arrive at the tower late-day on the 30th rather than the morning. The quest notes as written imply today is the 29th but I think that's too aggressive.) (I'll buy it! I assume that was Mattie? Free share to Mattie! All hail the Calendar Master!) yawn I don't think I've slept a full night since you guys left. I'm way out of my element here! I mean, not HERE here, as in the tower. I'm actually finding this place quite suits me! Err, what I mean is HERE as in dealing with the problems of thousands of desperate refugees... ARMED desperate refugees! Dealing with the War Room Council. Err, as much as possible. I try to go to the meetings, but Omnity's Mercy, it's a lot of talking for everything being pre-decided by Naprid and Fenn. I just have more important things to do.. Err, sorry. The riots. We've done our best to keep order, the Geese any myself, but it's just not what any of us are really good at. A small food riot a couple three days ago, and the Wraiths came in hard and have basically kept the camp on lockdown ever since. Confiscated whatever weapons Astlen and Laecina haven't managed to squirrel away. Oddly enough, they haven't tried to force me out at the tower, so I pulled the most of the rest of the Geese back here to set up camp.
LE	rushes to Egg and embraces him. It's really bad... please say you found something...
Germain	Our trip didn't turn out as we expected, either. We found something terrible at the bottom of that cave... An ancient lizardfolk Druid who fell to the dark one in the time of our savior. Germain quickly, but adequately, covers the tale. I'm afraid for LE. Did those papers help? Did you learn anything new?
Egg	Errr. That depends on what you mean. looks nervously at Germain, and glances at the other Silverwalkers
Germain	It's alright, things are too far gone to keep things under wraps anymore. Tell us what you've got.
Egg	Ahhhhh.. Alright, then. I'm afraid most of my time has been taken up with learning the ropes of the tower here and putting out a thousand fires. Metaphorical fires, I mean! But, err.. But, I've kind of forgotten who knows what, and so I'll just give you a run down of what LE and I have figured out so far. In many ways, it's what we've all expected. Except, not really. I mean.. Ok, so.. Possession. Yes. Yes, it's possession. But.. not exactly. Err.. Let me start over, and try to keep it simple. I can probably answer some questions if things are too unclear. Sorry, souls and stuff are not exactly my specialty. Alright, most of this theorizing comes down to her mage's mark. We've seen evidence that this sigil was also used by this Melkior guy a few hundred years back. For a while, LE and I figured it was a straight up case of this guy cheating the grave or whatever. But, it's not. When I was picking through some of books I picked up from Kathkalan for a song a few months back, I noticed what seemed to be LE's sigil, or close enough. It took me some bit of time to actually *learn* Old Petaran. Anyway, I've read that section so many times by now, I can recite it from memory. ahem* "Through many bodies and many ages, the industructable soul. You may know the enemy amongst you by the mark of the beast. For the soul gives lie to the truth of the flesh. "Ruination swings from the arms of marked men. From the wombs of the women comes desolation. The wild possess the cunning and wickedness of men. "If a babe be so augured with the mark of the beast. Without hesitation dash its head against the rock. Lest the quickening wail speak the Name that seals the doom of your clan. So... Er, not really hopeful stuff. And, my own translation, so it loses much of the poetry of the original. But, from what I can tell, this little passage far, far predates Melkior. gears turn in Egg's mind Germain - when you say "From Alexandrian Times," do you mean "really old" or literally "from the time of Alexandria." Not just quibbling definitions, for once - Now that I think about it, the book I'm talking about was written late in the reign of Sayid I. Which, if you're being literal about the Druid Lich, gives us two sources tracing this thing back at least 1,400 years.... Wow, that's kind of fascinating! looks at LE, blushes with embarrassment Err, I mean.. Horrible! But, so, good news is that Melkior is probably not possessing LE. More likely, whatever is going on with Melkior is also going on with LE. Of course, we know very little about Melkior in Wydmoor - that Edrell guy seems to have run off with most everything Melkior related from the records room. Also, when we did that food run, LE and I took a little, errrr, detour to the University Library in Ubrekt. I was able to find some stuff there, as well. Oddly enough, although we know he received his measures there, the library contained no mentions of Melkior in any of the main library archives... INCLUDING in any of the Alumni Almanacks, including the one that I own that does have him listed. A clear case of <gnomish word: To Exile from History>. I was able to find some oblique references the exiliers missed. It was an unofficial document, but it indicated something of his course of study. It will probably come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Melkior was a necromancer, but his mastery study was in a subfield called "soul transference." That led me to a section of the archives where I was able to stumble across citations to a pair of Melkior theses that no longer exist in any library I could find. All the citation listed was the author - Melkior - and the titles of the works: "The Living Phylactery" and "Broken Mirror" So, err, yeah, sorry. So. I think she's ... not possessed. Perhaps "inhabited" by the soul of some supernatural being.. Or, maybe, *a piece* of another soul. But, not a possession. Possession implies some sort of externality that isn't at work here. A ghost or demon or whatever forces its way into a mortal. Not the case here, I don't think. I think it more likely that whatever, errr, "it" is - Melkior didn't cause it, but likely was no less a victim in his own way. looks around uneasily* How was that? Err.. any question? keep egg meeting rp above this line