Nights of Steel and Fire (D&D)

[Comrade Tortoise]

" arrogance is part and parcel of being an archmage I fear" Astinius said facetiously

"But now everything makes sense. Taking over the Abbot would not only give them a foothold in westgate and access to the Nightmasks and their... leadership, but with the entire church hierarchy of all three Triad faiths, and their web of allies. If only through personal connections. The Vara' Dome has its benevolent tentacles inserted in places I dont want to know exist, Torma is Torma. The natural sorcery and resistance to magic is certainly worth examining... and much much more if they get to the right people. We will need to enlist aide, and tread softly in the doing They may well have not started with us"

[Rogue 9]

"If they think they'll take me, they should think again. I'd die first," Gaheris stated flatly. "Besides, if they think the Abbot will help them gain our trust, they need to think again. We know now." Then a sudden grimace took over his face as he realized the implications of what he'd just said. "We know. They don't. We need to get back to Westgate, now."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"If they think they'll take me, they should think again. I'd die first," Gaheris stated flatly. "Besides, if they think the Abbot will help them gain our trust, they need to think again. We know now." Then a sudden grimace took over his face as he realized the implications of what he'd just said. "We know. They don't. We need to get back to Westgate, now."

"The Abbot may not have a choice. If the method you used to get here still has uses left, that will get us out once we get out of the wards. Otherwise, I have one more teleport left. If we need to escape quickly after that, we will not be able to"

[SirNitram]

"We'll get back." Malkamar said simply. "Just stick close and bring those exploding death spells. We'll need every one of them."

[LadyTevar]

"We do know how to remove the tsochari from an infected person, so we can save the Abbott either way," Torma reminded them.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"You're in luck. I have not used any of those since this morning"

[Rogue 9]

"Gregor might not have a choice, but we know what's got him. No matter what he says, we'll know to check," Gaheris clarified, already striding towards the door. "We don't have time. If he goes back to the Abbey pretending to have escaped, no one will have any inkling of just what's gone awry. We have to get back."

[LadyTevar]

Torma rolled her eyes to the heavens, then gave Malk a look that said plainly 'can we stop yet?'

And then a horrible thought hit her.

"Umm.... Gaheris? These things take over people... right?"

"What if they'd taken over the Lord we spoke to this morning?"

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris stopped in his tracks. "You mean what if they've taken Lord Dhelt?" The fingers of his left hand drummed against Bright Edge's pommel as he thought. "Then they know what we know. And Elturel is in deep trouble. But if they have enough influence in Elturel as to control their lord, we wouldn't have walked out of there so easily; they would have tried to take us."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Gaheris stopped in his tracks. "You mean what if they've taken Lord Dhelt?" The fingers of his left hand drummed against Bright Edge's pommel as he thought. "Then they know what we know. And Elturel is in deep trouble. But if they have enough influence in Elturel as to control their lord, we wouldn't have walked out of there so easily; they would have tried to take us."

"Not necessarily. I was not there, but it may not have suited their purpose. Timing in these matters is important. But you are correct, we should get get back. Had The Abbot escaped, priests lack teleportation and planar travel spells. But we cannot trust the others to know that" Astinius was heading toward the door.

[SirNitram]

"...Priests can go across planar boundaries, Alyrium." Malkamar grunted. "Seriously, you're the best the world can do for an Archmage nowadays? Even I know that, and I'm not a true mage."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"...Priests can go across planar boundaries, Alyrium." Malkamar grunted. "Seriously, you're the best the world can do for an Archmage nowadays? Even I know that, and I'm not a true mage."

"I misspoke. They can plane shift, but it is inaccurate at best as to the place they end up on that plane. Only a priest who's deity grants travel powers specifically can use teleportation"

OOC: I checked. Unless erratta is on your side.

[Rogue 9]

"I don't particularly care about the intricacies of priestly magic," Gaheris said irritably. "No matter how the Abbot may or may not have gotten to the Abbey, very few there would think to mistrust him if he suddenly returns, unless I miss my guess. We need to go there and fix that. Then we'll worry about how they intend to use him to trap us, because that's the obvious next move if they want us so badly."

[LadyTevar]

"Less Talking, More Travelling." Torma sighed, once again starting to move out of the city so they could use the Ring again.

[Rogue 9]

"Agreed," Gaheris said, suppressing the urge to display his frustration. Instead, he simply resumed striding out the door on Torma's heels.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Indeed" Astinius had never stopped moving and was walking toward the city gate.

"Torma, take this" Astinius said pulling a wand out of his pouches

"It is a wand of curse. Hold it in front of you and speak the words on the side. That should activate it. It probably will not penetrate spell resistance. But it stands a decent chance of getting through a persons natural mental defenses. When you activate it, you can easily do one of three things. Partially immobilize the target. generally disable the target, or weaken one of the targets physical or mental attributes"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Speaking a language shared only by them, Mr. Toad and Astinius began conversing

"That talk about priest magic got me thinking Astinius. You know how sometimes priests suddenly get new spells that no priest was able to use before. Sometimes even spells that fly in the face of what makes the differences in divine and arcane magics?"

"Of course. When I was first studying magic, before I learned better, I thought it could be that there was a huge cosmic spell compendium that was edited by a committee. But when I got older I learned differently. The real answer is a bit more interesting. Priests, even priests of mystra and azuth, who are better than most... are essentially magical slackers. They design new spells the same way wizards do, and the God they pray to empowers it. They arent as good at of course, but they get divine help so it equals out in the end. That spell is then shared with allied churches, or stolen and reverse engineered, slowly and possibly poorly, by opposing churches. Eventually every neophyte cleric knows to ask for it in the early morning power-grovel"

"I think I like the committee idea better"

"Yes. It is more satisfying in a way, it makes a bit more intuitive sense. But the elegant answer is not always the correct one"

[LadyTevar]

"Torma, take this" Astinius said pulling a wand out of his pouches

"It is a wand of curse. Hold it in front of you and speak the words on the side. That should activate it. It probably will not penetrate spell resistance. But it stands a decent chance of getting through a persons natural mental defenses. When you activate it, you can easily do one of three things. Partially immobilize the target. generally disable the target, or weaken one of the targets physical or mental attributes"

It was a little awkward, taking the wand in her front paw and limping along on the other three as she looked over the wand. "Might be useful, yes... if I have time in combat to use it," she answered offhandedly. She did have to stop moving to put the wand in her haversack on her back.

"And you're right, the committee idea makes more sense"
((Speak with any intelligent ))

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Oh, eves dropping torma, I never would have imagined you would do such a thing!" Astinius remarked with faux-shock

"So what do you think a power-grovel is exactly? Groveling for power, or does the grovel itself have power, much like certain types ofmid-afternoon nap? It is a question that was never resolved when a Mystran priest and I met in a library a while back"

[LadyTevar]

Torma gave the matter a little thought before speaking. "I would say it would depend on the god. Bane and Cyrics would be groveling for power, but Mystra's would be a more respectful request for aid."

[SirNitram]

"You ask for help, they want something back. Basic business relationship." Malkamar replied. The Shadovar was, well, as heretical as the old Empire had been. "Mystra took me in, so I'll fight for her interests. Seems fair to me."

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris would have raised an eyebrow under normal circumstances; his own daily communing with Tyr was hardly groveling. As it was, though, he didn't much care, and kept walking straight on towards the city gate.

[LadyTevar]

"With the Dragonic gods, it is a matter of respect and honor," Torma went on. "They made us what we are, and thus deserve a measure of veneration. We may not like all of them," she added, thinking of a certain 5-headed one, "but we respect their power over their Children."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"heh. I mean the groveling bit only in jest. It depends on the deity. Prayers to umberlee or Auril, or Bane would be groveling. Prayers to the more benevolent deities I have found are more similar to an honest request or even a conversation... "

[LadyTevar]

"Then why bring it up now?"