Further plans - RPLOG
Participants
Date
13/7/477
Log
Nighttime. Dangerous, even in the settled lands of Promise, doubly- no, triply so in this accursed corner of nowhere. The willows bend in the breeze, and as everyone enters, the last of the callers - one of Ser'ther, was his name Darval? - vaguely gestures at the ancient trees. In response, the grove shifts slightly, fluidly, closing in on itself, sealing the small circle away from prying eyes and minds.
"We're safe here," Victor says, seating himself on the dry grass and inviting the others to do the same. "Ludmilla, please keep first watch. Claudia, we could use some tea here for our guests. Now...explanations. Is there anything you wish to know in particular first, or shall I begin with a general overview of what we've learnt over the last week?"
Selena settles down in the circle with the other beings, sighing quietly and rubbing her temples a little. "... What a day." she grumbles, before resting her heard on a hand and looking towards the center of the group. "I can set a fire if you'd rather not use supplies for the tea, or just boil the water. As for what you start with... I think the more important information should come first. I don't have anything specific I want to know about all this."
"The mist." Jera frowns softly, finally seeing fit to remove his visor in more private, and less hazardous company. "You've put me through the past, so I know that each of these visages we've been fighting was once a person as well. Have you found a way to end this for good?"
Natska carefully sinks down into a kneeling position with the others, brushing a few wrinkles from her skirt as she does so. She looks between the three, expression serious and thoughtful, and then nods. "The most important information first." Her ear twitches. "And if I still have questions I'll ask."
Victor nods. "History is unclear as to how many perished during that ill-fated attack. About seven to eight hundred went out with Lord Robert, as the Good King wanted to make an impression on what he thought were raiders from up north. And afterwards...few thought to make roll call. We can assume that said number is how many can be fielded at one time. We must reach as many memories as possible...items, keepsakes that are intimately connected with the fall of Mossy Stone. Claudia is already on that task, so you need not concern yourselves with it. We've making good progress towards those ends."
A little way off, a campfire is lit with good old-fashioned flint and tinder, and eventually, the warm smell of fireblossom tea wafts through the clearing. Claudia brings over a tray with a teapot and clay cups, curtseys, and retreats.
Victor clears his throat. "Ordinarily, that would be sufficient for an exorcism. However, we know this for certain: the bannerman must be destroyed. Kendrac told me about what happened in Mossy Stone, what was under the church. It's likely that the bannerman serves the same purpose as that "well of souls" did: an anchoring focus that prevents the curse from being lifted. Claudia has reason enough to believe that with enough of the souls reached, it may be possible for one to brave the properties of the mist which cause terror and dampening of mathemagical effects. The army of wraiths, though...another army will be needed to hold them off for the bannerman to be reached, and challenged on the field of battle." He sits back a little, waits for that to sink in.
Selena sighs a little, nodding back to the group and rubbing her forehead. "This is going to be a very long lasting problem." She mutters to herself. "The well of souls should have been purified after that expedition, but I suppose some things are a little harder to work around than living beings. They were begging for Pyrrha to stop tormenting them, and aparrently Kendrac's baton was able to purify the font... For a little while, at least."
The wolfess tsks quietly. "But knowing mossy stone, I'm not too surprised to hear that either." The wolfess accepts a cup of tea, taking a sip of the hot beverage and closing her eyes for a few moments. "Then again, I suppose I can rest a little easier knowing that in so much as getting away from the corrupt court's 'setup', we've shown them up a little. It's hard not to feel a little satisfied when you come out of something like that with no casualties, but I suppose being complacent has no place either."
"There won't be any room for satisfaction, I'm afraid, Selena." Jera frowns. The glow of his own Kendrac markings slipping through the little gaps in his platemail. The normally laid back fox sounding nothing but concerned at Victor's statement. "We'll need an entire army to help us fight the wraiths. There /will/ be casualties there. And that's not to say we won't have any among our bravest injured as well. Kalt already lost her arm to just one caller alone."
"Complacency is the enemy," Natska murmurs, giving her head a small, if decisvie, shake back and forth once. She accepts the cup of tea with a nod of thanks, and cradles the cup in her hands as she thinks. "At least it sounds like the task at hand is direct, if difficult. Why did they come here, miss Selena? Lord Jera? That voice... they have rules? This is a game?"
"Perhaps. I have the feeling that they let us go, though. Or if it was really a show. The wraiths can't stray too far from the mist before they begin to fade away. They must have known that. And if there was really a spy in the camp's midst...it could explain why nothing much was done while it existed. So much more damage could have been done, though." Victor shakes his head, sips at his tea, then turns to Jera. "You saw what happened. Some of the wraiths still retain some semblance of who they were. They were trying to resist the bannerman's control. If we can give them an opening...but I'm getting ahead of myself."
"Yes, my dear, it is a game. One that existed before us and the second match is being set up, only with new pieces. As far as I understand it...the winner takes the board and any pieces that remain." He looks at his fellow callers. "You should probably ask Kendrac sometime about what that meant, that thing about peoples past. I'm as confused about it, myself."
"For now...don't worry about the how. We'll handle that. Worry about the why. We have a lead on that, but there're only the four of us. That's where you can help."
Selena shakes her head, "Small victories are victories nevertheless; I fully intend to ask Kendrac more about this given the opportunity either way. I know that Ser'ther has hinted at a race of beings having lived on promise in distant past - which would account for some of the ruins I've seen during my time in the Ironsoul's Defenders - but knowing they're related to all of this is not something to leave uninvestigated."
"Calling it a 'game' is a little bit of an unnerving way of looking at it. Unfortunately, we're not being allowed to opt out either. What I would really like to know, though, is how creating that mist isn't direct interferance - Spirits aren't supposed to do that. I feel terrible for the beings trapped by it, but I suspect that it could be used to more productive ends if we can learn how it's created and controlled." She suggests. "So, what lead do you have for the meantime?"
"Oh, I don't know. You know how cryptic the spirits are, Selena. For all you know maybe the definition of their direct and ours is very different." Jera folds his arms across his chest for a moment with a soft hmmph. "You'd have thought the other spirits would have chimed in to help if the Corrupt Court really was flouting the rules. But perhaps they don't want to turn Promise into their own battlefield." He nods politely at Natska, smiling warmly.
Natska sips at her tea and listens attentively, ears swiveling as her attention moves from person to person. The jaguar nods thoughtfully. "The mouse doesn't care if a cat is hungry or just playing... neither one ends well for it." Her tail flicks. "And perhaps they are not doing it directly; it seems there is no want of people willing to take up the banner of one side or another." She falls quiet again and drinks away at her tea, then looks up at Selena's question, then to Victor, wanting the answer to that as well.
Victor laughs. "A game, where one side would rather preserve and cherish the pieces they have, and the other uses them as expendable pawns. I know on which side my pork is roasted. I can't speak for spirits; who knows how they think? But from the things Kendrac's let slip...well, maybe they're afraid. Maybe they have...untoward recollections of what happened the last time. Maybe they have their own motivations. We find Creator ruins all the time, and yet the remains of...whoever came before us are few and far between. So far, there's only the one in Serenefall, Darval tells me, and that's only because Ser'ther raised it up from the lakebed.
"But enough of that. There is a lead that you all can follow for us. Ludmilla was on watch three days ago, you see, lass has the eyes of an eagle." He chuckles at his own joke. "Still, yes. She spotted some of those cultist bastards emerging from the mist and heading up an old hill to a manor. Got the best look they could at that distance, but they disappeared into the undergrowth at the foot of the hill and she lost them.
"There has to be a reason they were out there. Delivering messages, supplies, whatever it is that they do. Who knows? I don't want to make a fuss just yet, so a small group that can stay hidden, do a little spying without stirring up a krick nest...find out what's going on. If anything is, that is. Does that sound good to you?"
Selena shakes her head. "Back in the ID we also found some old ruins on islands off the coast of Sweetwater that none of us recognized - and in locations no sane beings would live. There were some off creatures in some of them, to be sure." She notes, shaking her head. "I don't see why that would be unreasonable. Though it's a little cliched to use a manor as a base of operations, isn't it?" She notes, rubbing the back of her neck before taking another sip of her tea and muttering something about the weather outdoors. "Either way, there's no harm in looking. Getting there strikes me as being more of a problem than actually investigating."
"Preeeetty sure I know most of the patrols in Mossy Stone by now. I make my own route every other day, remember, Selena? Reaching the Manor won't actually be a problem. I'm more afraid that it will actually be guarded." Jera adds, looking Natska over for a moment before frowning. "If anything...I think you're the least deft at stealth amongst us, Selena!" He laughs.
"Yes," Natska answers Victor, inclining her head. "And perhaps there is something that drew them to Mossy Stone in the first place... or something there that they need. The cultists came out of the mists, and the mists sounds like a far more secure place for them, *if* they had a choice in the matter." Jera's comment gets a slight smile from the jaguar, and she shifts her weight. "Very well. When do we go?"
"Perhaps. But cliches exist for a reason. Why build something new when you can easily use what's already there? Maybe they were just visiting. Maybe they were scouting out newly acquired turf and it drew their attention. It's best not to go in with any preconceptions.
"Here's what I know, from Ludmilla's scouting. The manor lies on a hill, a little distance away from the road between Mossy Stone and Northwarden. The old dirt track leading up's overgrown after all these years, so that makes it hard to see. From all appearances, it looks utterly deserted, but as I said, no preconceptions. I don't know, this may be a red herring, a false lead. But it's something to do while we work on dispelling the mist. Remember, we know of the hows, but the why is still a mystery."
"Go at your own pace. I trust you not to tarry any longer than is necessary. You two are by brethren in Kendrac, and you -" he glances at Natska - "are their friend. Let us know what you discover."
Selena nods. "To be honest, though, I'd have expected them to settle in one of the buildings in the town." She notes. "Either way, I doubt there's only one base of operation here. There's likely to be a backup place to camp for them in the event their main one is infiltrated." She notes, stretching herself out. "I'll be ready to leave as soon as you are, but rushing back into Mossy Stone could still be a little ill-advised at the moment. I trust you to know what you're doing though, and yes - I probably am the least given to stealth here."
Jera remembers something and then earfolds. "I'm most afraid that there're spies hidden all throughout Firmament as well. You remember what the Corrupt Courts said about the camp before. Above all I think we need to proceed with caution."
Natska finishes her tea and returns the cup to the tray, letting her hands rest in her lap. "Mmmm. Yes. I swear I will say nothing of it, should we return to the city first. I am... as prepared as I could be, I imagine. Let me know when we are going and I will be at your side, however."
Victor nods. "We'll continue to study the situation from this grove, and act accordingly. It's likely that only one chance will be hand, and squandering it is not something any of us plan to do. If there's nothing else, I hope that you have a safe journey back to your homes. Darval?"
The blindfolded caller of Ser'ther nods and draws back an arm, parding the willow trees as if they were a curtain. "Hurry on through. And good luck. If they work together, so must we."
Selena nods back to the callers. "Keep us informed. I'd rather not miss something important for lack of... Well, information. Thank you for the tea." She nods to the group, rising to her feet. "Pardon, though -" she adds, gesturing to the Jaguar woman that had been accompanying them. "I never caught your name. Selena is mine; it's a shame we couldn't have met under better circumstances." The wolfess offers out a hand to Natska - and shaken or not, she begins moving off with the others.
Natska smiles and rises to her feet, accepting Selena's hand and giving it a quick shake. "I agree. I am Natska. It is an honor to be working with you." She turns, then, and follows the wolf from the grove.
