Nights of Steel and Fire (D&D)

[Rogue 9]

[When in hell did we go inside, much less into the sanctuary?]

"Torma, drop it." Gaheris was beginning to get red in the face. "The Abbot will have your hide for a cloak if you keep destroying the temple, and I won't be in much of a position to stop him." To say nothing of what the justiciar would say. Comes of consorting with chaos, he'd tell everyone. No matter her morals.

He turned to Dulchas. "Yes, speaking with the dead is precisely what we need. If you can do it now, all the better."

[Cynical Cat]

"Right after that dragon stops desecrating the cathedral," the priest gratted through clenched teeth.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Hear that Torma, stop eating the Pew and desecrating the temple, and Dulchas will help us talk to the dead guy." Astinius said.

[LadyTevar]

Torma, already half-way thru her 'meal', looks at the men gathered around her. One laughing. One exasperated. Two bloody furious.

Yes, the prank worked. And it was worth eating beewax-flavoured wood, just to do it, too.

She looked innocently down at the remains of the pew: the seat, still attached to the standing ends, both of them with bites taken out of them. The back was totally gone, but the bites out of the sides could be sanded down and refinished to look decorative. "Hmmm.... Not that bad, are you sure you don't want me to get rid of the rest of it? The beeswax gave it a nice honey taste." And she grinned at them, lifting one clawed forepaw to pick the splinters out of her teeth.

[Rogue 9]

"Torma, I would remind you that you are a guest in this holy place," Gaheris said through clenched teeth. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny. What would you do if an invited guest of yours came into your lair and started casually destroying your hoard?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Astinius was getting serious now. It was funny at first, but it was desecration

"Torma. In all seriousness, this is not acceptable behavior. You are a guest here and you will not continue with this. As it is, you are lucky the priests have not forced you to stop. And we wont be able to stop them should they make the attempt."

[LadyTevar]

"Fine... Fine..." Torma said, stepping away from the half-eaten pew and settled down in a comfortable crouch, head up, her forepaws tucked under, her wings relaxed, and her tail curling around her. Maybe next time they'd take her seriously the next time she said she was hungry...

Funny how they were making all that fuss over a pew. Now, the altar she could understand, or one of the statues standing around. But a PEW? Please... it was just a place where the clerics parked their tails. Why else did they thnk she left the seat alone?

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris sighed. "Should be a simple enough matter to fix, but this still isn't acceptable. Torma, you must learn patience. We'll eat soon enough, now let's go to the barracks to get at the mess hall." He allowed himself a rueful half-smile. "I don't know why in the name of the Triad you came here to eat instead of there anyway."

He turned to Dulchas. "I am genuinely sorry, my friend, for the both of us. But now we must attend to Tyr's business, and hope this man knew who sent them and why."

[Cynical Cat]

Dulchas began to chant the words to the spell that would compell the corpse to speak. The words began as a deep and quite dirge and rose up until it ended as a high and triumphant aria. Shadows flickered around the corpse. A distant voice spoke from the corpse's mouth. "Ask your questions."

[Rogue 9]

"Ask it who sent him and his associates to attack us, for starters." Gaheris was eager for answers and it showed as he leaned forward slightly in anticipation.

[LadyTevar]

Torma's wings rattled slightly as the corpse began to speak, her tail curling more closely around her. It was just ... unnatural ... for that to happen. When they were done she'd offer to get rid of the body for them with her acid breath. Best to make sure it was totally destroyed.

[Cynical Cat]

Dulchas repeated Gaheris's question. The corpse spoke in a distant and hollow voice. "Zrem Hedar sent us."

[LadyTevar]

"Who's Zrem Hedar?" Torma asked, frowning as she spoke. She didn't remember pranking anyone by that name....

[Rogue 9]

"Where can we find Zrem Hadar," was the next question Gaheris relayed to Dulchas.

[Cynical Cat]

Dulchas repeated the question. "Elturel," said the corpse.

[LadyTevar]

"And just where's that...?" Torma added, still wishing Gar had asked the corpse the first question. "It would be nice to know if this guy is just human or worse, ya know..."

[Rogue 9]

"I was just getting to that," Gaheris said. "Who is Zrem Hadar?"

[Cynical Cat]

Dulchas repeated the question. The corpse replied. "Last of Nine and first among the Speakers."

[LadyTevar]

"... Yeah.. that really tells us alot..." Torma sighed, rolling her eyes.

[SirNitram]

"Shhh." Malkamar elbowed Torma. "Enough. We will find out what we can."

[Cynical Cat]

"Two more questions," said Dulchas.

[LadyTevar]

"What does he want with us?" Torma suggested helpfully.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Torma, patience. Dulchas, it may be helpful, if the rest concur, to ask what organization he references. Last of Nine and FIrst among the Speakers is a bit too vuage for my tastes."

Astinius may or may not have enough for his own divinations. Hopefully he did, but he got the feeling he would be indisposed for some time casting them regardless.

"But only if the rest concur, and only if you can ask it in such a way that he could answer"

[LadyTevar]

"It was just a suggestion... since Gar is asking the questions"

[Rogue 9]

"That's something we may well be able to learn from a sage, but we might as well ask. The trouble is that the answer presents us with two questions, which wouldn't leave us room to ask for his motive." Gaheris frowned. Which was more important?

He took a stab in the dark. "Who are the Nine?" Even if that didn't yield the organization the corpse referred to, it should at least give them more names...