RttToFC/Session9

Kuros: This is Andrew, the new PC

dakkareth: ah, welcome

Kuros: I got him on sale

dakkareth: (ExBot is our dicebot, so forgive him for not greeting you back)

Andrew2: Thanks. It's been a while since I've played much of anything.

Andrew2: Yeah.. ExBot and I have an understanding. ChanServ and I aren't on speaking terms, though. Long story.

Beyond the Tomb of Five Corners - Session 9

Kuros: Okey dokey

Kuros: On the last exciting episode, our PCs had several clandestine meetings.

Kuros: You had just finished chatting with Lao, if I remember rightly?

Lei_Zu: "So. It looks like we will have to go down into the catacombs if we are to try and rescue Caran."

Alyssa: "Agreed. I believe that you had some experience of catacombs in Nexus - is there any equipment that we should obtain for the purpose?"

Lei_Zu puts his face into his hands. "Lights. Other than Castemarks."

Casteen nods. "Agreed. A light is a great idea."

Casteen: "How fortunate that we are in a city that specializes in fine lamps."

Alyssa: "Lanterns will hardly be difficult to obtain in this town."

Lei_Zu: "And maybe the Nitumen Guild can give us a map. We should have asked them while we were there."

Lei_Zu: "Indeed. The two can easily be combined."

Alyssa: "When should we leave? Now or in the morning?"

Lei_Zu: "The hour is late, but maybe we can still find someone at the guild house. It would be best to strike in the early hours of the morning. Three, four hours after midnight."

Lei_Zu: "We don't know how long they will keep Caran alive."

Casteen: "Indeed. Haste is probably wise."

Alyssa: "I am sure that I can obtain lanterns from the inn, such a service is trivial."

Alyssa: "A few hours rest before we depart would also be welcome."

Alyssa reverts to her usual appearance. "Shall I have a servant bring some lanterns for our use?"

Casteen: "Certainly."

Lei_Zu thinks. "The guild won't trust any maps to a messenger. One of us will have to go. Passing up a chance to learn more about the terrain would be most unwise."

Lei_Zu: "Casteen, you first came into contact with them ... do you want to go or should I do it?"

Alyssa: "Casteen is best known to them, but going onto the streets alone might not be wise."

Lei_Zu: "We'll both go then."

Casteen: "That seems like the smartest decision. After all, if they managed to capture Caran..." and he just lets the sentence trail off.

Lei_Zu nods wordlessly.

Alyssa: "These rooms should remain reasonably secure."

Lei_Zu: (off we go!)

Alyssa: Alyssa asks a servant at the inn to provide a few lanterns for a pre-dawn excursion. She'll wait at the inn for the others to return with a map.

Kuros: The lamps are delivered quickly...standard lanterns, unless you want something more specific.

Kuros: As for the maps...

Kuros: The guild will provide what maps they have of areas not controlled by them.

Lei_Zu: (can they guarantee that nobody's hiding within their territory?)

Kuros: So they insist.

Lei_Zu: (Lei Zu assigns a slightly lesser probability then)

Lei_Zu: (how big are these catacombs?)

Kuros: According to the map, they extend past the current borders of Lanterntown.

Lei_Zu will analyze the maps with regard to possible places for a HQ of the Order of the Silver Chair.

Kuros: But remember, Tzu Lao told you where he goes to meet with them.

Lei_Zu: That's one of the data points he'll use. In fact finding the spot on the map corresponding to that place is his first priority.

Lei_Zu: (I'll assume we are all looking at the maps back at the White Lily)

Alyssa is asleep in her bedroom.

Casteen: (I'll look over the maps with you)

Kuros: There's an area of the map that is blank, that is near the entrance Tzu Lao specified. It also seems to have only one passageway in or out of it.

Lei_Zu: "You think that's the place?"

Casteen nods. "It seems very likely. It's probably where I would choose to have a meeting place, and it's right where Tzu Lao indicated."

Lei_Zu: "Then that is our first target. If we do not find them there we will have to continue our search in a spiral pattern."

Lei_Zu spends 1m to know the exact time

Kuros: 10:30PM

Lei_Zu: "I propose that we will sleep until the second hour of the new day, then make our move."

Casteen: "That sounds like a wise plan. Please come to my room and wake me when it is time."

Lei_Zu nods, prepares a new face for the rescue attempt, then goes to sleep after performing the mental exercises that will focus him on 2am as time to wake up again.

Kuros: OK, 2am.

Lei_Zu wakes up everyone else, then prepares his weapons

Lei_Zu: The poisoned throwing knives in the special sheathes and all the other various weapons he usually carries.

Lei_Zu: His rope is wound around his right arm, hidden inside his sleeve. Surprise will make it all the deadlier.

Alyssa dresses and is ready to go, carrying a lantern and her usual staff.

Casteen wakes and dons his armor and readies his weapons.

Casteen has his two hook swords crossed on his back and is wearing his two cesti, though they are mostly covered by long sleeves.

Lei_Zu wears robes of white that accentuate his inhumanly pale skin and smooth black hair. The twisted attractiveness of this disguise is only marred by snake-like yellow eyes that speak of endless cruelty.

Lei_Zu: He grins. "Time to bring an old persona back to life to scare the children."

Lei_Zu: "Or rather the necromancers."

Alyssa nods and her face takes a harder cast, twin scars running across one cheek.

Alyssa: "Let's go."

Casteen just stands, wearing his usual style of clothing. "You two make me feel like I need to be getting a new wardrobe."

Casteen: "And a new face."

Casteen: "But yes," he says, nodding. "Let us be off."

Lei_Zu nods curtly.

Kuros: The building is near the docks, and quite decrepit. It is several stories tall, but seems abandoned.

Kuros: Do you go in?

Alyssa gestures for the others to take the lead.

Lei_Zu listens at the door for a minute, then if everything is quiet he silently opens the door and slips inside

Lei_Zu quickly moves through all rooms of the house, before returning to the others to pronounce "Clear" (if indeed it is)

Kuros: The interior is filled with rotting bales of clothing, wool, and the like. In the middle, though, you see a pile of debris that has been scattered, and an iron trapdoor that has been torn from its socket in the floor.

Lei_Zu: On silent feet Lei Zu moves forward to see where it leads

Kuros: A ladder leads down into darkness, below where the trapdoor was.

Alyssa goes through the door and then steps to one side, keeping her back to the warll.

Casteen steps off into a corner, hiding himself from view as he begins chanting a few words and moving his hands. The ritual should look quite familiar, as his hands slowly twist into the shape of gnarled roots...

Lei_Zu: After making sure the building is clear Lei Zu crouches down beside the trapdoor, examines it to see what damaged it so and keeps an eye on the shaft down.

Kuros: It looks like it was ripped off its hinges by someone...or *something*

Kuros: You find something that looks like an indentation of fingers.

Kuros: It's an iron trap door

Kuros: The damage is very recent. Very, very recent.

Kuros: The torn areas are, in fact, still warm.

Lei_Zu doesn't comment on Casteen's sorcery but once he is done: "Someone passed through here not long ago. Someone extremely strong."

Alyssa: "Unlikely to be a regular visitor then."

Lei_Zu: He frowns. "Maybe just minutes ago. Be watchful."

Casteen grins. "Finally, something exciting."

Lei_Zu bites back a reflexive reply. This isn't a cell of professionals, he has to keep that in mind.

Lei_Zu: "I'll go first."

Lei_Zu: He quietly climbs down the ladder.

Casteen follows after him.

Kuros: The ladder terminates perhaps fifty feet down into an earthen tunnel that only extends in one direction.

Alyssa brings up the rear, thrust, climbing one handed with her staff in the free hand and the lantern's ring in her teeth.

Lei_Zu closes his eyes to faster adjust them to the darkness, compensating with his ears. As Alyssa comes down the ladder he moves forward down the tunnel, keeping on the shadowy edge of the light

Kuros: All three of you see the glow of a lantern from up ahead. Do you keep going?

Lei_Zu holds up one hand to stop the others, then cloaks himself in deeper (mental) invisibility and continues

Lei_Zu: For Casteen it looked like Lei Zu disappears like a mirage, Alyssa on the other hand can still see him, although she feels the pressure to ignore him and forget she saw him.

Casteen stops and stands as quiet and still as he can.

Alyssa presses herself against the wall and shields the lantern to reduce how much light is visible in the direction that Lei Zu has taken.

Thelaos stands by a crude obelisk in the center of a large, domed room connected to several more corridors. About six feet tall, holding a steel straightsword in his right hand and a lantern in his left, he appears unremarkable save for his weathered armor and traveling cloak and two long bundles strapped to his back.

Thelaos peers around the different corridors as if expecting an ambush, and spends several seconds looking straight through Lei Zu before turning around and walking away.

Lei_Zu slips back far enough to gesture to the others to follow him at a distance, then silently follows the man

Alyssa moves forward as quietly as she can, still shielding the lantern.

Alyssa: When she sees that Casteen isn't moving, she touches him lightly on the elbow and gestures for him to go onwards,

Kuros: As Thelaos, and Lei Zu, head towards the voices, they see two men in red robes standing around a pedestal that holds a silver orb.

Kuros: They appear to be arguing.

Kuros: If you make no effort to conceal your presence, Thelaos, they will notice you.

Thelaos: (If they have made no indication of seeing me, I won't make a point of interrupting them. But the most I'll do to hide is step out of view and see what I can hear.)

Kuros: As one, they turn to look at you. They stand, shocked, for a moment, and then one draws a sword while the other dashes down a nearby corridor.

Kuros: (Join Battle, Thelaos)

Lei_Zu: Like a gust of wind, invisible but for the force of his passing Lei Zu races past the unknown man and after the fleeing one.

Lei_Zu: Though he does not know what is going on, it would not be a good thing for one of them - and it seems obvious just who they are - to raise an alarm.

Lei_Zu: Like a diving falcon Lei Zu falls upon the fleeing man, stopping him with a vicious stab into his right kidney while covering his mouth with his left. The White Reaper takes no prisoners.

Kuros: The man grunts as you stab him, and then collapses to the ground, blood pouring out the wound.

Lei_Zu shimmers into visibility while lowering the dead man to the ground.

Kuros: The cultist next to Thelaos raises his sword, and rushes at Thelaos.

Thelaos had been ready to warn his opponent against this, and thought he'd had the situation in hand.. but was taken off guard by the presence of Lei Zu suddenly dispatching the other man. He seems more focused on Lei Zu than the attack he just knocked aside.

Thelaos takes a step back, both from his obvious opponent and his potential enemy. "Drop your weapon. You won't survive this."

Lei_Zu crosses the room in the blink of an eye and comes to stand behind the red-robed man with one hand clamped around his throat. With the other he hold the man's sword arm in an iron grip.

Kuros: You easily grab him

Kuros: He grunts and struggles, to no avail.

Lei Zu's tone is conversational as if nothing of interest had happened as he addresses the man not in a red robe. "And you. You don't seem to be one of them. What are you doing here?"

Thelaos keeps his eyes fixed on what is probably the deadliest being he's ever encountered. "I would ask you the same thing." He keeps his sword raised toward the captive, but is clearly ready to turn it on Lei Zu.

Alyssa stops shielding the lantern and hurries ahead once she hears a scuffle, pausing just outside the domed room.

Casteen follows after Alyssa, keeping careful to not make much sound.

Kuros: They can see the fight, and hear what you guys are saying

Lei_Zu: "I am called the White Reaper. I come on behalf of the Society of the Lawgiver to extinguish these." He shakes the red robed man a little and keeps pressure on his carotid arteries.

Thelaos raises an eyebrow, almost surprised at Lei Zu's forthcoming answer. "My name is Thelaos. I've come from the Hundred Kingdoms to find a friend, and tracked him here."

Casteen: Once he is closer, Casteen walks slowly forward. "You know, Reaper, this man may have some useful information. Should we really be killing him?"

Casteen smiles. "Excuse me, this red-robed man."

Kuros: The man groans and nearly passes out.

Lei_Zu stops the pressure, but keeps preventing the man from crying out.

Thelaos turns his head when he hears Casteen and sees that he's clearly outnumbered.

Lei_Zu: "Of course we should kill him. Though you are right, it wouldn't hurt to extract some intelligence first."

Thelaos frowns and decides that escalation isn't the wisest move. He lowers his weapon.

Casteen bows low and slowly, keeping his hands concealed beneath his sleeves and behind him as he does so. He stands up straight and smiles. "My apologies for the rather unpleasant introduction."

Lei_Zu: "Not mine. You were careless, 'Thelaos', to let one of them run for help."

Lei_Zu: "But if your friend was abducted by these, it is likely you have come to the right place."

Alyssa steps into the room and looks around, paying especial attention to the silver orb on the pedestal.

Alyssa: "Well, now isn't this interesting. Just what we were looking for."

Casteen holds up a hand and makes a gentle "shhh" sound.

Casteen walks up to the obelisk and puts his ear close, listening carefully.

Alyssa pauses and looks at Casteen, raising one eyebrow.

Lei_Zu fixes Thelaos with his unnerving eyes. "Our intentions here, they do not clash I hope?"

Casteen: "This is quite unusual. If you come close, you can hear whispering. And there are strange characters wandering about its surface."

Casteen: "I can't be certain that this is related, but I have heard about a similar object in relation to a Yozi cult."

Casteen looks at Lei Zu. "Ever the cautious one, White Reaper. Give the guy a chance - at the very least, the guys that want to stop us want to stop him too."

Thelaos, watching Casteen curiously, turns back to Lei Zu and regards the white reaper for a moment. "I hope not. I'm only here for my friend.. and to provide absolution to some of this city's dead."

Alyssa: "Soulsteel, I believe. The magical material most associated with necromancy. I can't make out the markings, but I can almost see the ghosts."

Alyssa: "As to a Yozi cult -" She shrugs. "I don't recall anything."

Lei_Zu bows his head slightly to Casteen as if in deference to someone higher placed. "Very well. You can follow us as long as you don't get in the way."

Thelaos nods, "thank you."

Alyssa winks at Thelaos. "Now that Lei Zu has practically taken you to his bosom, what led you to believe your friend is here?"

Thelaos sheathes his sword and takes a few steps toward the obelisk. "My friend passed from this life a long time ago. I tracked him here with aid of others like him, and they led me to an abondoned building at the city's docks."

Thelaos: "Whether they have led me to the right place.. I don't know. But either way, my path is clear for now."

Lei_Zu: "You speak with the dead? Interesting ..."

Thelaos nods. "The dead have a lot to say."

Lei_Zu whispers into the red-robed man's ear: "So you see, there is no need for us to keep you alive at all. So behave, will you?" Keeping his iron grip on him he takes the sword from his hands and lowers it to the ground with one foot.

Kuros: The man makes no move to resist.

Lei_Zu: He allows the man enough freedom of movement to nod in reply, if he wants to.

Kuros: He does nod.

Alyssa: "Perhaps we should allow our new friend to ask any questions he might have first?"

Thelaos smiles at the offer, "thank you - I have many. But they can wait, and I think we've spent enough time here. There's still work to do."

Thelaos: "You said you are here on behalf of the Society of the Lawgiver. This is enough for me, for now."

Lei_Zu: The White Reaper sits the man down on the ground and takes his left hand from his throat, bringing close his knife in return. "Then we will ask questions of this one. After all we have work to do."

Alyssa nods. "Very well then." She activates Judge's Ear Technique. "Explain to me your organisation's recent actions," she demands of the prisoner.

Kuros: He coughs and rubs his throat. "I will tell you nothing."

Kuros: (Truth. He doesn't intend on telling you anything.)

Lei_Zu: There is malicious glee in the Reaper's voice as he asks: "Shall we proceed to the pain then?"

Alyssa: "You will tell me or you will tell the reaper," Alyssa tells him. "And if you're talking to him then it might take a while. He enjoys his work, you see." (1st presence excellency; make him fear Lei Zu more than he fears talking)

Kuros: He suddenly whimpers, and slumps in defeat. "What do you want?"

Alyssa: "Firstly, for what reason have you people been raising the dead?"

Kuros: "We were just...experimenting."

Kuros: (Truth.)

Alyssa: "Experimenting with...?" Alyssa inquires relentlessly.

Lei_Zu looks almost disappointed as the man starts talking

Kuros: "Necromancy."

Kuros: He suddenly sneers. "ANd our master knows you are here. If I were you, I would run."

Kuros: Both true.

Alyssa: "You underestimate us. How amusing. What did you hope to accomplish?"

Lei_Zu listens if he can hear anything apart from the people in the room

Thelaos raises an eyebrow at the last and glances at the other corridors

Casteen doesn't pay much attention to the others, and instead devotes his time to analyzing the obelisk.

Lei_Zu waves Thelaos closer and motions him to take over threatening the prisoner.

Kuros: The man sneers again at Alyssa. "Power, more than you can imagine."

Kuros: (True)

Thelaos calmly and deliberately removes one of the bundles from his back and begins unrolling it while Alyssa interrogates the helpless captive.

Thelaos steps toward Lei Zu and places a boot on the man's shoulder while he works with the bundle.

Lei_Zu: "Heheheheheh. You really have no idea who and what you're facing. Amusing, if a little disappointing."

Lei_Zu: Then he falls quiet, gives Alyssa and Casteen a nod, and with a few long steps has disappeared into the corridor where the other man tried to flee. Time for more reconnaiscance while Alyssa gets the answers they need.

Alyssa: "You truly amuse me, little man. Still, enlighten me. What power do you believe your master can bring you that outreaches that of the Society of the Lawgiver?"

Kuros: The man begins to laugh hysterically.

Kuros: Blood begins to drip from his nose and ears, and his laughs become gurgles as red froth bubbles from his mouth

Alyssa: "This is tiresome. Do I need to explain to a would-be necromancer what you would face in death?"

Kuros: The man suddenly pitches forward

Kuros: And doesn't appear to be breathing.

Thelaos immediately drops to a knee beside the man and turns him over onto his back.

Alyssa: "Dead?"

Kuros: As you turn him over, you see the flesh underneath his robe beginning to ripple.

Lei_Zu returns to the room with the pedestal, ghostlike

Alyssa tries to yank Thelaos away and use the Zenith anima power to burn the body.

Kuros: With a horrible ripping and cracking sound, the corpse sits up, the head dangling at an odd angle.

Thelaos stands up and takes a step back when he sees the flesh moving under the prisoner's robe. He drops the cloth from the bundle in his hands to reveal a great sword of glass and gold.

Kuros: The body is enveloped with golden fire that reduces it to a fine, white ash.

Alyssa: "Stupid. How utterly stupid. Power? For a slave!?"

Alyssa: "Did you find anything, Reaper?"

Thelaos expresses obvious surprise as he realizes Alyssa's nature, having figured the white reaper for a spirit or god-blooded servant of some other solar.

Lei_Zu: "A sealed jade door there," he points into one corridor, "and a number of doors over there, only one of them with living people behind them."

Lei_Zu: "I didn't investigate the others."

Lei_Zu: "Shall I make an End for them?"

Alyssa: "He said his Master had considerable power. 'More than we can imagine'. I believe the first, at least, to be true."

Lei_Zu idly draws a second knife, then suddenly turns his head and barks at a patch of empty air: "Show yourself!"

Kuros: The blur stops, and then ripples into into a man in a red robe...

Kuros: He's much taller and bulkier than the cultists, and his skin is a pale blue/white. The temperature drops several degrees as he emerges

Lei_Zu shows his teeth in an almost insane grin. "How nice of you to join us!"

Kuros: He looks at the pile of fine white ash. "Interesting."

Casteen turns from the obelisk and rises from his crouched position, looking at this new man. After a quick look over him, he drops to a combat stance.

Thelaos stays where he is, weapon in hand, and waits for the man to speak. His grip tightens on the hilt.

Kuros: "You break into my home, and kill my followers."

Kuros: "I haven't seen any of the Anathema in nearly a century."

Thelaos: "So you're responsible for the restless spirits roaming this city."

Alyssa chuckles (and activates Iron Kettle Body). "Do you claim exclusive right to kill your slaves?"

Kuros: He shrugs. "I had need of them...for my experiments."

Thelaos: "Before your death, I have one question."

Kuros: He chuckles, plumes of fog emerging from his mouth. "And what's that?"

Thelaos: "What do you know of Niasios?"

Kuros: "Niasios...Niasios..."

Kuros: He snaps his fingers. "Oh, do you mean that old ghost?"

Kuros: "I think there's a few pieces down the corridor there..."

Thelaos lowers his eyebrows slightly. "If the rest of you have nothing for our host.." He begins walking toward the man in red.

Lei_Zu just eyes the man with unconcealed bloodlust

Kuros: He faces Thelaos "WEll. I was going to see if I could interest anyone with a new job...but apparently not."

Lei_Zu raises an eyebrow. "An /interesting/ job?"

Kuros: He draws a blue jade chakram from beneath his robes. Join Battle!

Lei_Zu raises his shadow from the floor and lets it move toward the Dragonblooded in a murderous dance. While the man's attention is focused on this he himself blurs forward and past the necromancer with incredible speed, one knife striking at him in passing.

Kuros: The Dragon-Blood smiles, and has no problem tracking you.

Kuros: He steps to the side as you attack, grabs your arm, and twists, hurtling you towards Casteen.

Casteen attempts to leap aside but Lei Zu's redirected attack hits him anyway (1 HL).

Lei_Zu lands one step behind Casteen, his snake-like eyes narrowed in concentration, trying to understand the man's technique.

Alyssa hurls herself forward, then tucks her knees up for a moment to send herself skidding along the floor feet first. She arrested her motion with the fingertips of her left hand catching hold of a crack in the floor and started cycling her legs, pivoting her on her left hand while still almost flat on the floor, adding speed to her staff as she swept it around couched beneath her right elbow, towards the back of the Dragonblood's kne

Kuros: The Dragon-Blooded backflips over the staff, and lashes out with his chakram, sending a ghostly image flying towards Alyssa

Alyssa jabs her staff down to the floor, aiming to snag the centre of the chakram with it and then lever herself upright.

Kuros: You knock away the ghostly chakram, and it bites into the wall with a crack before fading away

Thelaos strides forward after Lei Zu's attack, his daiklave humming as it cuts through the air toward the terrestrial. He strikes twice in rapid succession, first for the man's stomach and then for his throat.

Kuros: The Dragon-Blooded attempts to leap backwards, out of range of your strikes. DV of 11 and 10

Kuros: He easily evades the attacks, acting again on Tick 9

Casteen aims carefully, studying the movements of the Dragon-Blooded.

Lei_Zu: Walking in a circle around the room the White Reaper waits until just after Thelaos attack, then attacks from a different angle, his daggers weaving a deadly web of attacks.

Kuros: The Dragon-Blooded darts to the side, away from the attacks.

Kuros: He easily avoids them, the daggers always going right where he was, not where he is

Casteen jumps through the air toward the Dragon-Blood, his large oak claws whistling as they windmill through the air. As he lands near his enemy, he continues the momentum and whirls about, his claws slicing rapidly at the man (8 acc, 3 rate, 0 def, 4 dmg - 3 attacks)

Kuros: The Dragon Blooded's body turns to mist before your attacks, and your claws pass harmlessly through him

Kuros: As you make your last strike, the Dragon-Blooded quickly hurls a ghostly chakram at you.

Casteen bends backwards, trying to allow the chakram to pass over him./

Kuros: 4L of damage

Casteen: (Now, I will be using my caste ability to soak the damage)

Casteen: (Which reduces it by 3)

Kuros: The Dragon-Blooded, after attacking Casteen, turns toward Lei Zu, releasing a flurry of ghostly chakrams at him.

Lei_Zu dances in a circle around the Dragonblooded, each step perfectly measured to dodge one attack

Kuros: The chakrams streak past you, putting more holes in the wall, but missing you.

Thelaos steps slowly around the dragonblood, his blade held at the ready and gleaming in what little light there is underground. He looks over the terrestrial's shoulder at the White Reaper with a proposal, "on my next move."

Alyssa chases after the Dragonblood, jabbing her staff into the ground and vaulting off it into the air with a twist that sends her spinning into the air, head level with his own. Again, she strikes out with the ironwood stave for the centre of his chakram, seeking to hook it away from him and deprive him of his weapon as she flies past him. Her anima banner blazes awake, white vines bursting out around the staff, reaching for her target.

Alyssa: (combo Defiance of the Small Gods to use 1st melee excellency for 7 motes: disarming attack (-2 external penalty) with a pool of 20dice+stunt)

Kuros: The chakram is knocked across the room (8 ft), clattering across the floor.

Alyssa: Alyssa breaks out of the spin to land beyond the Air Aspect and spints to take a defensive postute.

Casteen watches carefully how Alyssa performs her movements and how the DB reacts. (Aim action)

Kuros: The Dragon-Blooded opens his mouth, and begins to scream.

Casteen again whirls through the air, but this time he leaps again and lands behind the Dragon-Blooded, his claws stabbing in unison at his kidneys.

Kuros: Your claws rip long furrows across his back, and the Dragon-Blooded cries out in pain.

Lei_Zu nods back at Thelaos and continues dancing in a circle around the Dragonblooded, hiding his hands behind his back. Then on cue from the swordfighter he makes a strange gesture and sends a shadowy bird of prey hacking at their opponent's eyes, distracting him. Simultaneous with the other man's attack he jumps forward to send a series of barehanded jabs at the necromancer.

Thelaos is a picture of stoic focus and patience as he waits for the right moment. He makes eye contact with Lei Zu for only an instant before closing in with their opponent. His blade moves swiftly and masterfully toward its mark, driving the terrestrial toward the white reaper's attacks.

Lei_Zu: It is when the Dragonblooded tries to dodge their combined attacks that the Reaper's trap snaps shut: A previously laid snare, nearly invisible, gray on the gray stone floor, jumps up and closes around the man's leg as the Reaper gives the rope's other end a vicious pull, causing the rope to cut deeply into the Dragonblooded's thigh.

Kuros: 1 extra, 2 extra, 7 extra, miss.

Lei_Zu: (14L post soak, 5 HL)

Thelaos: (9L and 10L post soak, 10 HL)

Kuros: Your blades slash into him, and the rope tears into his thigh, sending sprays of blood everywhere. With a look of utter shock on his face, the Dragon-Blooded collapses to the ground.

Thelaos regards the terrestrial impassively, and glances around the room for any reinforcements along the other corridors.

Lei_Zu: Violet fire flickers around the rope burning away the blood as the weapon contracts again and disappears up the Reaper's sleeve. "I thought not," he states drily.

Alyssa sucks in a long breath. "So much for 'the Master'."

Alyssa: Then she frowns. "Assuming that this is he."

Lei_Zu: "This must be the one of whom the minister spoke."

Lei_Zu: "This 'Wick'."

Casteen sighs and returns to the obelisk, investigating it further. Though this time, he continues to pay attention to what everyone else is saying.

Lei_Zu: He grins. "We still have some work ahead of us, though."

Thelaos: "He was powerful.. perhaps the souls of his victims may move on now, though."

Alyssa: "Perhaps. We need to be sure." Alyssa points at the orb, still on the pedastal. "Casteen, is there any reason not to destroy that thing?"

Lei_Zu: "Much as it pains me to say, this is a rescue mission after all."

Alyssa: "Because we can't guard it while we search this place and I'm damned if I'm carting it around."

Lei_Zu shrugs, apparently unconcerned with that

Casteen looks at Alyssa. "Well. I can give you plenty of reasons, but most of them simply involve my fascination with it."

Alyssa: "Fine, you carry it." Alyssa looks at Thelaos. "We're still missing our friend and there may be more of his followers here."

Alyssa: "Where did you find other people, Reaper?"

White_Reaper grins at Thelaos. "You're not bad with that thing."

White_Reaper absently points down one corridor. "There, third door on the left."

White_Reaper: "They were busy last I listened in."

Thelaos nods at the White Reaper, "Thank you." He considers him with reservation as he replaces the daiklave in its cloth.

Thelaos draws his steel blade once more and walks directly up to the door indicated by The White Reaper. (is it locked?)

Alyssa: "Then they are about to become busier," Alyssa says grimly. "Telling us where Caran is, just to begin with."

Alyssa: She also heads for the door.

Kuros: (It is locked.)

White_Reaper kneels down between the dead Dragonblooded and unashamedly looks through his belongings.

White_Reaper: His white robe quickly assumes more red spots

Kuros: (His Chakram is lying on the ground. On his personage, he only has his robes and clothing.)

White_Reaper leaves the jade chakram where it is and unhurriedly follows the others in his bloodstained white robes

White_Reaper speaks in an idle tone as he approaches: "You should incinerate the body. Much as it might be fun to kill that guy a second time, we /do/ have a mission ..."

Alyssa: "I'll get to it."

Thelaos looks back at the others. "Ready?"

Alyssa: "Do it," Alyssa hisses.

Casteen stops looking at the artifact and hurriedly gets behind the others.

Thelaos gives the door a hard shove with his shoulder, sending it flying open in splinters.

Kuros: Inside, the light is very dim, and a dim mist seems to hang in the room. The ground seems to be covered by inky black shadows. In the center is a stone altar. On it, a figure is bound to it with silver chains at the wrists and ankles.

Alyssa: "Damnation. It's a shadowland."

Thelaos: It's a man appearing to be in his mid forties, pale and bearded, wearing armor similar to Thelaos's (reinforced breastplate), only his armor looks far less worn. A modest crown sits on top of his head and what parts of his skin are visible are covered in battle scars.

Thelaos looks visibly angry as he sees the old man secured to the table.

Kuros: The man on the table moans weakly, and barely seems conscious.

Thelaos: "If we go in there, we may not come out for a short time."

Thelaos is clearly bothered by his own statement

Casteen looks at Thelaos. "Yeah, this may not be a safe place to enter. The Underworld can be pretty dangerous."

Alyssa: "If you go in there don't leave until dawn."

Thelaos: "I have little choice. If you are here for something else, you may leave me to this."

White_Reaper: "It's not so bad actually. But it would side-track us."

Alyssa: She looks around and turns to Reaper. "I'll deal with the body and then we should check that jade door you mentioned."

Alyssa goes back to the domed room and uses her anima to burn the body of the Dragonblood.

Kuros: It burns into fine white ash.

White_Reaper follows, juggling a knife from one hand to the other and back

Thelaos remains in the doorway for a few moments

Thelaos: (can I spend a mote to check the time?)

Kuros: (4:03am)

Thelaos: (what time does the sun rise in this part of the world?)

Kuros: (Err...around 6am)

Thelaos: (alright.. I'll wait for them to check the door before I head in)

Alyssa: "Right, where is this jade door you found?"

Lei Zu follows, forced to continue his 'White Reaper' role due his audience of one.

Kuros: The door is massive, at least six feet across and eight high. It is made of blue-tinged jade, and has occult symbols inscribed into the surface.

Kuros: It is quite cold to the touch.

Alyssa: Alyssa tries to open it.

Kuros: It doesn't move, and there is no visible handle or locking mechanism.

Casteen reaches out to the door and closes his eyes. His aura slowly begins to burn brighter and brighter, and soon he is completely aglow with a silver-gold light.

Kuros: The door ripples with light, and a seam appears in the middle. The halves of the doors retract into the walls...

Kuros: The room beyond is perfectly square, and the walls are inscribed with runes that glow with a faint red light, pulsing gently. In the center of the room, is a raised dais. On it sits a large, silver, ornate throne decorated with tiny runes.

Kuros: On the throne sits a ravaged man. He is thin and wasted, with stringy black hair, and dressed in torn rags.

Alyssa: "Lokan?" Alyssa guesses out loud.

Kuros: His eyes are closed, and he moans softly. Around his throat is a silvar collar attached to the throne, and his hands are pierced with silver spikes at the arms of the throne.

Kuros: The figure opens his eyes, and looks at all of you. "Help..me..."

White_Reaper: "Mmh. Not the captive we were looking for."

Alyssa: "A captive nonetheless."

Alyssa: "And he may know something of use." She enters the room and starts to study the collar, looking for a way to remove it."

Casteen follows Alyssa and also looks at the collar and spikes for a method of removal.

Kuros: The collar appears affixed directly to the throne.

White_Reaper enters the room and while the others are focused on the throne takes the time to examine the rest of the room

Kuros: The collar appears affixed directly to the throne, whereas his hands could just be removed from the spikes by pulling the hands off of them.

Alyssa starts working his hands off the spikes as gently as she can.

Kuros: Lokan moans as you pull his hands off the spikes, but seems in a bit less pain once they are off.

Alyssa: "You had best check the other rooms quickly," Alyssa suggests to White Reaper. "I don't want to stay here further past sunrise than we must."

White_Reaper nods. "Agreed."

Alyssa: "Can you make anything of these runes, Casteen?"

White_Reaper goes back to the other corridor and starts opening doors

Kuros: The rooms are all filled with strange equipment, alchemical liquids, and various blades and other sharp instruments. No more captives, though.

Kuros: He was obviously doing a great number of experiments.

Kuros: More than that, you'd have to spend a lot more time looking

Casteen: "It would appear that someone has been sapping Lokan's essence. These runes draw it out and redirect it to someone else. And it's powerful sorcery."

Alyssa: "Can you break the spell the way you did that on the doors?"

Casteen presses on some of the runes in a deliberate order...

Kuros: With a click, the collar detaches from the throne, and Lokan falls forward out of the throne.

Alyssa: Alyssa catches him

Alyssa: "Let's get him out of here and see if Reaper has found anything."

Casteen: nods. "Agreed."

Kuros: Lokan opens his eyes and looks at Alyssa. "Wick..where is he?"

Alyssa: "If you mean the Dragonblood, he's dead."

Kuros: Lokan smiles as Alyssa says that. "That's...good." He then collapses into unconsciousness.

Casteen: "Sheesh, this god is in terrible condition. We need to get him out of here."

Alyssa tries to lift him and then sighs. "Damn, he's heavy for someone that's been a prisoner for a hundred years."

Casteen chuckles and helps Alyssa out.

Kuros: Where do Alyssa and Casteen go?

Alyssa: Probably to the domed room first. No point going further without White Reaper.

Casteen: (To the obelisk. I need to grab the orb and we need to destroy the obelisk)

White_Reaper finally comes back to the room where Thelaos is trapped in the Shadowland

White_Reaper: "Can he answer a question?" He nods toward the ghost.

Thelaos has the ghost free of his bonds by the time White Reaper returns, and propping him gently into a sitting position, examining him for any wounds that are not artifacts of his death.

Thelaos: (oh.. and a quick edit on the ghost's appearance, sorry - he's in articulated plate which is badly damaged, chipped and rusted)

White_Reaper: "Besides killing every one of these red-robed weaklings we're looking for another captive, a man named Caran. He'd have come in today, if he's here."

White_Reaper: "Have you seen him or heard of him?"

Kuros: The ghost looks up at Reaper. "They...they took someone through here...maybe it was him."

White_Reaper: "Where?"

Kuros: "I don't know...I was a bit preoccuped. He gestures at the chains."

White_Reaper: "Did you get a good look at him at least?"

Kuros: The ghost lies back down on the altar, shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry."

Thelaos looks apologetically toward Reaper and then back down at the ghost, "Niasios.. what were you doing out here?"

Kuros: "A descendant is here...he needed help."

Thelaos frowns, "you never mentioned this. Where?"

Kuros: "I don't know. THey took me before I could find him."

Thelaos: "Alright, Niasios. Rest. Your captor has been destroyed."

White_Reaper watches Thelaos, apparently bored. "So, using Orichalkum weapons ... and also ripping apart iron doors with your bare hands? Interesting style."

Thelaos looks up from where he tends to his friend, "yes. And somehow I suspect that the three of you are not here on behalf of any lawgivers."

Thelaos: "Who is it that you were searching for?"

White_Reaper: "The Society of the Lawgiver has decided that something needed to be done about this infestation. So they sent us."

White_Reaper: "A member of the society that was captured. We were meant to recover him."

Thelaos considers this information for a few moments. "You've helped me to find my friend, even if it wasn't your intention. I'll help you find yours, if you can use my assistance."

Thelaos: I'm good either way.

White_Reaper: "You know your way around the Underworld?"

Kuros: OK, let's end here.

Alyssa: xp?

Kuros: 9xp.

Kuros: Also, can you give me some idea of what you guys are going to do next?

Casteen: Well, I personally want to kill any of the people running this town that were in willing (read: non-threatened) collusion with this group.

Thelaos: Aside from making sure that Niasios can get to a "safe" area of the underworld or creation to recover.. the only two things on Thelaos's plate are helping him find this other descendant and helping these strangers find their pal (or whatever else they decide to do until his "debt is repayed")

dakkareth: Lei Zu: try to trap the remaining members of the Order - we got only three, there were said to be 'less than a dozen' of them

dakkareth: while doing that find out, where Caran was taken and if possible try to continue that rescue mission, if need be into the Underworld

Kuros: Do you plan to take over Lanterntown covertly?

Casteen: I plan to work with Lokan, if he doesn't mind me taking out the trash.

Kuros: It'd take Alyssa about an hour to have Tzu Lao drooling to do whatever she said. =P

Thelaos: Yeah.. I wouldn't have any objection to helping Lokan dispose of any culpable parties.

Kuros: Well...you guys need training downtime

Alyssa: In fairness, it was a pretty tough sell last time. See what Lokan wants. If he wants rid of them, then overthrowing the government of Lanterntown shouldn't take more than a few days and then we can take time off to train

dakkareth: but really, to Lei Zu Caran represents a major asset for his plans, plus Intimacy to the Circle. So unless it's patently impossible to go after him ...

Casteen: And yeah, of course we need to figure out what happened to Caran

Casteen: I'm not gonna just abandon him.

Kuros: WEll, speaking OOC...

Kuros: the problem is that Caran won't be back to play for a long time

Kuros: People brok einto his apartment and stole his laptop

Kuros: So on the off chance he can come back at some point, I want to preserve his character.

dakkareth: well, I'm reminded of Naruto. chasing after a lost comrade isn't that bad a basis for a campagin ;)

Casteen: This is true.

Casteen: It could also allow us time to conquer this area of creation.

Casteen: Excuse me, I mean -liberate-./

dakkareth: (although at some point Lei Zu would give up. you can go only that far to recover an asset before it becomes a net loss)

dakkareth: so, next time will be ...?

Kuros: Friday at 2:30PM PST