Durenthaz, the beholder factor, has asked a few fellow Believers for a favour in a delicate matter. He was being rather secretive about it, deciding to reveal the nature only after he's selected the right candidate or candidates.
(( OOC info: as per http://z13.invisionfree.com/nwn2planesc ... st=0&#last
(( Also probing for how many active players there are here;=p
A Misplaced ... Colleague
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*3l03
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
(( This knowledge would be available to pretty much any inquiring Godsman ))
Those volunteering to help Factor Durenthaz were given vague descriptions of the delicate matter he had asked them to help with. Apparently another Factor of the Believers, lich Vhzi, has gone missing more than three dozen peaks ago. He departed to Astral plane and was never seen again. Factor Durenthaz feared the worst and asked the volunteers to find either him, or his phylactery. He mentioned this was of great importance, as Factor Vhzi was a very old member of the Godsmen, although he mostly kept to himself, his research and knowledge far exceeded even that written in the most ancient and guarded scrolls of the Believers. His body, mind and soul might carry secrets beyond any imagination, and equal power. Factor Durenthaz said even that 'Vhiz might have been closer to the Source than any of us, ever', and would rather not see this knowledge fall into wrong hands.
(( This would be available to Kala (and Trixx.) Unless they share, consider it OOC: ))
It was not easy convincing Varea, Vhiz's assistant, to collaborate - in fact, she did not have much of a choice. But she lead Kala to the old storage rooms in the Foundry which Vhiz has turned into his labolatory. A number of intriguing findings were there, among them:
- The Resonators, forged of this strange, exotic material, the same one often found in the Gith Outpost in the Astral plane. About two dozen of them, and traces of many more being moved by a few of Vhiz's golems. When Kala asked whether they were moved here from the Astral, Varea told her that on the contrary, they were created here and being moved out. Apparently these were supposed to function as some sort of energy transmitters, perhaps capacitor units, perhaps collectors. It was not entirely clear as they seemed stagnant at the time, and not even Varea knew their purpose well - and she was definitely not able to lie at the time - apparently her master had not ever share this knowledge even with her.
- An impressive collection of books. Some of them in Common, some in planar or draconic languages. Some in forgotten, ancient ones, some that even Kala could not recognize. All of them seemed to share one quality, being highly technical, theoretical essays on the nature of magic, energy, and the very essence of the Multiverse itself.
- A chamber exceeding in size the whole of labolatory, most likely a pocket universe. An immense mass of remains, partially devoured corpses in various stages of decay, of creatures big and small was herded inside. Flesh, organs and bones in a sea of blood, laved by potent turbulences of negative energy. The Vampire seemed to enjoy, no - relish this wicked blend. Upon her proximity it reacted strongly - it was almost as if the mass was at least partially sentient. Even fairly remote contact with it had left Trixx.. changed, although not in an apparent way, but something about her just felt disturbingly different.
- Finally, an intriguing note from one calling himself Mr V J Gozo, inviting Vhiz to meet him at his mansion.
All in all, none of these leads have explained the disappearance, not yet at least - perhaps they were all connected, perhaps they all lead to dead ends. One deduction seemed near certain, however: Vhiz was certainly too powerful to simply have an unfortunate accident, and perhaps now that Kala has witnessed this, the Beholder's words started to make a little more sense.
Those volunteering to help Factor Durenthaz were given vague descriptions of the delicate matter he had asked them to help with. Apparently another Factor of the Believers, lich Vhzi, has gone missing more than three dozen peaks ago. He departed to Astral plane and was never seen again. Factor Durenthaz feared the worst and asked the volunteers to find either him, or his phylactery. He mentioned this was of great importance, as Factor Vhzi was a very old member of the Godsmen, although he mostly kept to himself, his research and knowledge far exceeded even that written in the most ancient and guarded scrolls of the Believers. His body, mind and soul might carry secrets beyond any imagination, and equal power. Factor Durenthaz said even that 'Vhiz might have been closer to the Source than any of us, ever', and would rather not see this knowledge fall into wrong hands.
(( This would be available to Kala (and Trixx.) Unless they share, consider it OOC: ))
It was not easy convincing Varea, Vhiz's assistant, to collaborate - in fact, she did not have much of a choice. But she lead Kala to the old storage rooms in the Foundry which Vhiz has turned into his labolatory. A number of intriguing findings were there, among them:
- The Resonators, forged of this strange, exotic material, the same one often found in the Gith Outpost in the Astral plane. About two dozen of them, and traces of many more being moved by a few of Vhiz's golems. When Kala asked whether they were moved here from the Astral, Varea told her that on the contrary, they were created here and being moved out. Apparently these were supposed to function as some sort of energy transmitters, perhaps capacitor units, perhaps collectors. It was not entirely clear as they seemed stagnant at the time, and not even Varea knew their purpose well - and she was definitely not able to lie at the time - apparently her master had not ever share this knowledge even with her.
- An impressive collection of books. Some of them in Common, some in planar or draconic languages. Some in forgotten, ancient ones, some that even Kala could not recognize. All of them seemed to share one quality, being highly technical, theoretical essays on the nature of magic, energy, and the very essence of the Multiverse itself.
- A chamber exceeding in size the whole of labolatory, most likely a pocket universe. An immense mass of remains, partially devoured corpses in various stages of decay, of creatures big and small was herded inside. Flesh, organs and bones in a sea of blood, laved by potent turbulences of negative energy. The Vampire seemed to enjoy, no - relish this wicked blend. Upon her proximity it reacted strongly - it was almost as if the mass was at least partially sentient. Even fairly remote contact with it had left Trixx.. changed, although not in an apparent way, but something about her just felt disturbingly different.
- Finally, an intriguing note from one calling himself Mr V J Gozo, inviting Vhiz to meet him at his mansion.
All in all, none of these leads have explained the disappearance, not yet at least - perhaps they were all connected, perhaps they all lead to dead ends. One deduction seemed near certain, however: Vhiz was certainly too powerful to simply have an unfortunate accident, and perhaps now that Kala has witnessed this, the Beholder's words started to make a little more sense.
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*Xndar
- Posts: 282
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Factor Sixthfinger would send spies and subordinates (both Godsmen and otherwise) off sleuthing around Sigil, the Godsmen outpost in Toil on the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Salt, and around Dead God Rock on the Astral Plane, digging up whatever chant or dark they can turn up on the missing Factor. Maelfina herself personally follows up on the most promising leads brought to her by her subordinates.
Her primary focus is on Dead God Rock, as the Factor was last reported on the Plane (granted its a big place, but a body's gotta start somewhere), but she still keeps an eye on Toil, as the Plane of Salt is inherently an appealing hideaway for any undead of power, and its one that the faction has a toehold in.
Her primary focus is on Dead God Rock, as the Factor was last reported on the Plane (granted its a big place, but a body's gotta start somewhere), but she still keeps an eye on Toil, as the Plane of Salt is inherently an appealing hideaway for any undead of power, and its one that the faction has a toehold in.
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*Hydra
- Posts: 554
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Kala also sent some subordinates to investigate Mr V J Gozo and to the Astral plane in an attempt to gather some rumors as well. She started investigating the books using a myth and legend spell, and used the spell "comprehend languages" (if approved) over each book's introduction trying to grasp what they are about without spending too much time, her instest mainly focusing on the researches about the four primordial elemental energies.
//OCC
//OCC
wrote:Comprehend Languages
Drui 1, Cleric 1
You can understand the spoken words of creatures or read otherwise incomprehensible written messages. In either case, you must touch the creature or the writing. The ability to read does not necessarily impart insight into the material, merely its literal meaning. The spell enables you to understand or read an unknown language, not speak or write it.
Written material can be read at the rate of one page (250 words) per minute. Magical writing cannot be read, though the spell reveals that it is magical, but comprehend languages is often useful when deciphering treasure maps. This spell can be foiled by certain warding magic (such as the secret page and illusory script spells). It does not decipher codes or reveal messages concealed in otherwise normal text.
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*3l03
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Maelfina's long shot, despite being a coherent idea, lead her eyes and ears to nothing but, well - piles of salt.
(( As for Sigil and Astral, that might depend on what I just PM'd you two))
Those in the Cage and Dead God Rock were still to return any news.
(( Same for the book))
(( As for Sigil and Astral, that might depend on what I just PM'd you two))
Those in the Cage and Dead God Rock were still to return any news.
(( Same for the book))
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*3l03
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Kala studied the books. Her spell helped her decipher their meaning, including those in languages otherwise forgotten. Among the books were:
'Fundamentals of Energy Dynamics' - a seven hundred pages textbook describing theoretical dependencies between various quantities of energy changing in time, underlying mechanisms, theories and their implications.
'The Revelation of Qy, volume 3 - standard forms, quasiforms, paraforms.' - An exotic tome regarding, as it calls it, 'energy forms', an intuintive, and seemingly metaphysical science of ancient origin; seemingly written by members of some powerful, prime race, who allegedly exercised a significant influence on shaping of their prime - Kala would remember at least a few of likely candidates, all long gone.
'The Topology of Timespace Fabric in the neighbourhood of Infinite Vortex Fields, the Axiomatic Approach' - another huge tome of highly theoretical lore; perhaps the most technical of them all. Despite great effort, Kala would very quickly get lost in the exceptionally high level of abstraction and the maze of convoluted logic, not able to develop a sufficient degree of comprehension even in the first few pages.
'The Scrolls of Reumoroh: Scroll of the Souls' - one of the collection apparently written by Obiryths, as the first page informs, 'to enslave, humiliate and wreck the omniverse by the only Lords it ever had'. Although less systematic, the information there is still highly technical. It dwells deeply into the concept of the soul itself, describing a number of topics: nature of souls, their structure, origin, interactions; ways of creation, manipulation, annihilation of their very essences; merging and fission, behaviour of small, large and gigantic aggregate pools of them, energy links and flows in large soul-pools, practical usage; additional unverified hypotheses and their possible implications.
'Asperiato' - This book was wrapped in an outer cover, whose title read Asperiato. The inside looked very exotic, more so than any of the other rare works Kala has collected in Vhzi's labolatory. The pages were written on an unseen before material, quite like paper - but definitely different. It was covered in regular lines of tightly packed, organised symbols; none of them resembling anything remotely familiar. The spell itself did not manage to decipher their meaning: it was odd, was the text wrapped in any protective magic, Kala would feel her Comprehend Languages bounce off immediately. But she did not, thus presenting no obvious reason why this might be. Perhaps it was gibberish, perhaps not text at all? Perhaps the source of this immunity was different? It was certainly surprising for Kala to discover it; none of the oldest scrolls nor ancient legends from across the Verse mentioned anything of the sort.
'Fundamentals of Energy Dynamics' - a seven hundred pages textbook describing theoretical dependencies between various quantities of energy changing in time, underlying mechanisms, theories and their implications.
'The Revelation of Qy, volume 3 - standard forms, quasiforms, paraforms.' - An exotic tome regarding, as it calls it, 'energy forms', an intuintive, and seemingly metaphysical science of ancient origin; seemingly written by members of some powerful, prime race, who allegedly exercised a significant influence on shaping of their prime - Kala would remember at least a few of likely candidates, all long gone.
'The Topology of Timespace Fabric in the neighbourhood of Infinite Vortex Fields, the Axiomatic Approach' - another huge tome of highly theoretical lore; perhaps the most technical of them all. Despite great effort, Kala would very quickly get lost in the exceptionally high level of abstraction and the maze of convoluted logic, not able to develop a sufficient degree of comprehension even in the first few pages.
'The Scrolls of Reumoroh: Scroll of the Souls' - one of the collection apparently written by Obiryths, as the first page informs, 'to enslave, humiliate and wreck the omniverse by the only Lords it ever had'. Although less systematic, the information there is still highly technical. It dwells deeply into the concept of the soul itself, describing a number of topics: nature of souls, their structure, origin, interactions; ways of creation, manipulation, annihilation of their very essences; merging and fission, behaviour of small, large and gigantic aggregate pools of them, energy links and flows in large soul-pools, practical usage; additional unverified hypotheses and their possible implications.
'Asperiato' - This book was wrapped in an outer cover, whose title read Asperiato. The inside looked very exotic, more so than any of the other rare works Kala has collected in Vhzi's labolatory. The pages were written on an unseen before material, quite like paper - but definitely different. It was covered in regular lines of tightly packed, organised symbols; none of them resembling anything remotely familiar. The spell itself did not manage to decipher their meaning: it was odd, was the text wrapped in any protective magic, Kala would feel her Comprehend Languages bounce off immediately. But she did not, thus presenting no obvious reason why this might be. Perhaps it was gibberish, perhaps not text at all? Perhaps the source of this immunity was different? It was certainly surprising for Kala to discover it; none of the oldest scrolls nor ancient legends from across the Verse mentioned anything of the sort.
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*Hydra
- Posts: 554
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Kala took notes about the books did what she could to get copies, be they magical or actually done by a scribe to keep their information for her own researches. The state in which she found them made her guess that her original owner wouldn't be in any need for it anytime soon.
The only exception was of course Asperiato, the book seemed indeed extremely intriguing and complex and would require some proper studies. While she had the time, she took the opportunity to try to learn bits of the language in an attempt to progressively get some meaning out of it.
The only exception was of course Asperiato, the book seemed indeed extremely intriguing and complex and would require some proper studies. While she had the time, she took the opportunity to try to learn bits of the language in an attempt to progressively get some meaning out of it.