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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 1, 2013 21:58:30 GMT -6
You emerge from the Arodenama as thieves and devils flee in terror. You gaze upon the destruction, still smelling the oil fire as it finally dies out. Yet there is a stillness in the air, the sensation that perhaps the worst is over. Before you take hold of your senses again, a short man in Thrune military garb is standing before you. Behind him are twenty soldiers, well armed and obviously skilled, but not eager to start a fight.
"You are the Guardians of Cheliax, yes? General Vourne is at the docks, we are to take you to him."
Salvatore had met Vourne previously at the mayor's banquet, though he didn't get a real chance to talk to him.
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Post by Aura Guardian on Nov 2, 2013 8:02:55 GMT -6
"Very well. But could you wait a minute for Encindal to call his Eidolon, Nora, back?
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 2, 2013 12:00:40 GMT -6
"There is no reason to leave them waiting. We will go now."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Nov 2, 2013 12:10:16 GMT -6
"Nora is as much part of the team as any of us; I see no reason she should not be present for this."
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 2, 2013 13:44:22 GMT -6
"If they find the wait and Nora acceptable, then of course, go ahead."
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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 2, 2013 20:11:53 GMT -6
The men exchange nods, then wait.
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Post by Aura Guardian on Nov 2, 2013 20:37:24 GMT -6
I pull out my scroll of Heal.
"Can't believe I forgot I had this..." *Casts it as soon as Nora is summoned* "Okay, I think we're ready then."
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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 5, 2013 5:49:57 GMT -6
You are taken to the port, before Vourne's warship the Asmodenaut. Vourne turns towards you as you approach, and calmly but firmly speaks, "The mayor has fled. The dottari and the Hellknights are in shambles. What the hell has happened here?"
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 5, 2013 7:14:43 GMT -6
"A lot has happened here, over bad blood between a grandfather and a grandson. They could not keep their feud private, and its effects spilled over to the rest of the city."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Nov 5, 2013 7:21:31 GMT -6
"This culminated in one of them trying to take control of the city, which has recently been prevented."
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Post by LightWolf on Nov 5, 2013 14:49:51 GMT -6
"And there was this portal that sucked us into Hell and two gods started fighting above us while we had to deal with their little helpers and then Iomadae flew in and fixed everything! Oh this must be written down, this is worth it's own epic!"
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 5, 2013 15:05:43 GMT -6
"...There was indeed some bad blood between Ecarrdian and Vicindio Drovenge. While there are things about them that would be best shared with fewer ears listening, suffice it to say that their feud over their...family's assets caught the city in the crossfire. This is what caused the destruction of the mayor's manor, and his flight from the city. However, even after Ecarrdian overcame his grandfather, he continued to lash out at the city, sowing chaos and causing the most recent unrest. We can clarify further, though I am certain you would not wish your men to hear it without you having time to think on it."
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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 6, 2013 9:14:26 GMT -6
As you speak, Vourne looks on with disdain at the rubble and ruin of the city. "I did not ask for your story in private, I asked for it here. So unless you are done, you should clarify further."
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 6, 2013 9:24:27 GMT -6
"Alright. Ecarrdian Drovenge was the son of Mammon."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Nov 6, 2013 13:49:40 GMT -6
"He wanted to take over the city, using a manufactured extraplanar invasion as fodder for the Council of Thieves to defeat so that he could be lauded as a hero, and then use that to claim power."
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Post by maxim on Nov 7, 2013 15:03:53 GMT -6
(Before meeting up with Vourne)
"Wow...so that's Iomedae?" Encindal said, still in shock after the battle that had just ensued. "I can't believe we survived that. That was intense."
Then he noticed what he had been asked, and said "Oh, right! Just give me a minute sirs!" With that, Encindal got out his ink brush and drew the summoning symbol on the ground. Then he chanted some words and a fainted Nora appeared. Salvatore chanted his Heal Scroll, and Nora was soon back up and ready for action.
"AHHH! Demons, Jithabha, T-rexes! Jithabha riding a demon t-rex!" Nora said with a start. "...Oh, it's over." she said, regaining composure. "A shame, I would've loved to take a bite out of that cocky demon spawn." Then Nora noticed something...everything seemed a bit bigger than before. Then she realized that she had been shrunk down to normal size and said "Hey, what's the big idea!?"
"Nora, we're heading off to meet some general, and frankly, I'm getting really tired of dragging you through narrow hallways." Encindal replied. "At any rate, we need to get going."
________________________________________ (At this point in the conversation.)
Encindal was getting somewhat nervous at the conversation. Here he and his friends had worked so hard to restore peace to the city, if the higher ups wanted a scapegoat that would prove disastrous. That said, he couldn't tell what the General was thinking. At length, Encindal decided to explain the whole situation, and see what happens from there. If the General decided to kill them, Encindal would be out of the city in the flash.
"Ah, perhaps I should explain from the beginning sir." Encindal started, with a hint of nervousness. "We are the Guardians of Cheliax as you no doubt have heard. Our job was to essentially keep this city safe and hopefully find some way to dispell the shadow creatures that had been plaguing the area until recently. Well, as we were in the course of getting rid of the creatures, we found out that the Council of Thieves was very much alive and well within the city. They got their hands on an artifact called the Totemrix, which one of their number was using to make the creatures stroll around so that they could commit their evil deeds with little chance of retribution.
"Well, in the midst of dealing with that, we found a witch who told us about her coven's dealings with the Drovenges. Vicindio was waxing along in years, and wanted a strong son to carry on his 'legacy' so to speak. Unknown to him though, the contract he signed to give his kin power had some fine print that said his son would be the son of Mammon, or something along those lines. Even worse, said son was supposed to somehow bring Mammon knocking on this plane. Well, years passed and eventually Eccardian decided to do his old man in to fulfill a plan. From what I gather, that plan was essentially to bring in a whole demonic horde to rampage across the city, then have his goons take them out, making them out to be heroes and getting them control of the city by popular demand. According to him, he was then planning on making it a den of thieves and getting rid of the diabolism. So naturally when we finally traced the Totemrix down, Eccardian had already offed Vicindio and was in the midst of working his plan out, although we managed to stop the shadow beasts that were patrolling the city.
"We went to work at that point. We called in pretty much every favor we could and helped the city regain order by gaining the help of the local dottari and Hellknight divisions. Once Eccardian decided to put the main part of his plan into action, we pulled in determined to stop the mess before it got out of hand. After trading blows with Eccardian, well, you might not believe me past this point, but basically we were swallowed up in a portal to Hell. Next thing you know, we see something that was probably Mammon about to head out of the portal and start his rampage. Luckily, before it was able to get far, some other god, the name escapes me at the moment, came in to stop him, and on it's side was Jithabha. Jithabha was a woman who essentially caused problems in the city for the Guardians to take care of to, in essence, pull off the same thing Eccardian tried to do without the demon horde. While she was the Guardian's leader at one point...we've had a change of leadership since then. This caused a three way standoff between the three of us...though in truth they both decided to try and kill us first. Once that was taken care of, we got lifted out of the portal and the portal was sealed, possibly by Imoedae herself."
Encindal took a deep breath and said "That's pretty much the gist of it sir." Then he turned to his companions and said "Did I get most of that right?"
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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 7, 2013 15:11:59 GMT -6
Vourne looks unimpressed with the story. "I'll have to confer with my captains. Return to this ship tomorrow, do not make me come find you."
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Post by General Spoon on Nov 7, 2013 15:29:09 GMT -6
"It is mostly right, though you didn't give anybody a chance to get in a word edge-wise. It was not our job; it was something we did. And I don't know how many times I need to tell you this Encindal, but there is a difference between devils and demons. It was infernal, not demonic."
"And another thing. Through the recent turmoil, House Thrune has done nothing to stop the chaos that Westcrown had to endure. Why is that?"
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Post by maxim on Nov 7, 2013 15:32:09 GMT -6
"Demons, devils, I honestly don't care about the distinction, all I know is that they both burn stuff, the latter's just more likely to take your money or soul before he does so. At any rate, yes sir, we'll be right back here tomorrow as soon as we possibly can!" Encindal said. Then he started to leave.
Then Nora started communicating with Encindal telepathically "Why the heck are you letting that shrimp walk all over you? You've beaten things much stronger than him, why not just beat him up as well?"
"Probably because I don't intend on taking on the Cheliax army all by myself!" came Encindal's reply
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Post by vonfiedler on Nov 7, 2013 15:34:26 GMT -6
The general stares you down, "If I had things my way, this whole city would be under martial law and you'd be in chains. Do not test your luck."
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