Session 103 Report

General Summary

Sarsy's Log

I was awoken from my mid-shift nap today when Mr. Swift and Ms. Electra came barging into the morgues holding bay. They looked a little dishevelled from a previous engagement, something about a bank? Either way I let them in. Ophie and Jinx had already been in there working on something for most of the day, they didn't mention what but I didn't ask. They just wanted me to guard the door as usual, and who am I to say no to a nap? Ophie offered to treat us to drinks, a great way to wind down after some intense Runeguard 69 business. Swift seemed a little apprehensive about going for drinks so "early", especially since Jinx wasn't going to come along. Jinx was still locked away in the morgue, but Ophie assured us she was doing some delicate work and need not be disturbed.   We went to a nice little bar on the divine side of town. Immediately I asked for the most expensive bottle of wine. A local specialty from next door called Flight Apple Wine. I saw Ophie sweat a little bit since she offered to treat us but I guess she's still too new to our party to splurge on a 100 gold bottle. At least Electra was able to pick up the tab. Jinx had come by after our round. She let us know it was time to go help Ping Wing out with something and quickly left. Swift of course went chasing after her. I tried to get the bartender to put an extra order to go on the Runeguards tab but he mistook that as a uniformed cop inquiring about drugs and hid in the back. Surely he won't be missing the wine I grabbed when he wasn't looking. We left on our way to the Conjuration tower at CAATS. We were stopped by a fellow Runeguardian about halfway there. He let us know of a certain "blue blur" that broke the flying speed limit. I offered to chase him down in exchange for a round of drinks, to which he happily obliged. It's good that I've tricked the Runeguard into thinking I'm a reliable and dutiful employee. If they knew I was napping for pleasure instead of exhaustion, I'd be kicked out of the city!   We entered the room in the Conjuration tower to see Ping Wing and Ms. Fortuna already hard at work creating the new transportation circle/gate thingy. It's been a while since we made one of those. Glowing circles brightened up the room as the ritual went on. And on and on it went. I thought it would only be an hour but as it became the 3rd I decided to sit down with Ophie and shared my ill-gotten wine with her. Big mistake, in setting up the circle, some leylines may have been crossed since we were visited suddenly by some very angry interdimensional travellers, and a VERY big bird. It's hard to shoot on target while drunk but me and Ophie seemed to manage it, even though she blew her angelic wing spell by thwapping me in the face with it. We dispatched the belligerents quickly, and we got to meet with the Big Bird. She says her name is Peck, she looks like one of those fancy kick-puncher people. I think she's from the gryphon mountains in the far east of the southern continent of Astillon. Ping actually recognized her from something that happened about 7 years ago, but Peck says she's barely been gone 2 weeks. Time magic scares me. Swift confronted Jinx about something and they left the room to go have their 3rd quarrel of the day. Sometimes I worry about those two, but then again maybe this is normal. I've never been in a romantic relationship before, so I don't really know what happens in those. I'm choosing to stay out of it. They were able to set up the teleportation circle, and soon after ol Goosey Two Shoes Amden himself burst through the portal. He came to help with a ritual for Duk, to put her soul back into her body. And we rushed off to some basement to do so.   [The Book]   It felt as if something came over me when we were down there, I'll have to look more into this thing I've found. Duk seems to be fine now, but with a minor difference. Looks like her eyes are two different colours now… I don't know what Jinx did to her to prepare her for this ritual, but it almost looks like the job isn't quite yet finished. Let's hope she doesn't have any sudden personality shifts, I don't want to have to turn my bow against the Bannermanes' cutest new member.  

Sarsy's Aside

  Everyone is so focused on Duk's ritual, I figured it was a good time to peruse the ritual room of it's "wares" Rare textbooks from Aerilon MUST be worth some coin, or at least have some useful information relating to my new "special" abilities. Nothing really stood out, multiple copies of the same book strewn about the room. I had almost given up my search until I heard it. a soft breathing from a lonely corner of the room, in the darkest part, obscured, hiding from everything else. Yet I heard it loud and clear. I can feel the presence of many gods in this room as our most divine friends are their champions... yet, there is another here. A presence more... *present* than the others. Not watching, but waiting. The book, bound in a kind of leather I've never felt before, has a face...   ...and it *speaks* to me.   It whispers so faintly, as if it has secrets. Secrets that it wants to share with me. I took a flip through it's pages. The words within it are red, as if the whole book was written with blood. The words within it are unlike any language I have ever seen, and I still *understand*. The book, it doesnt want to be read. It wants to be heard. When i picked up the book, a feeling coursed through me. The same feeling i get when casting my special magic... ... but stronger. It's power, I can feel it reaching up my forelegs. Caressing my neck. Scratching my brain.   I'm in the dark, obscured, hiding from everyone else. No one can see. No one can know. because this book.   i t i s m i n e  

Ophie's Personal Notes

A leather-bound tome engraved with the 'Why' Bannermane's sigil sits open on the temple dais. It stands as a testimate to the veracity of its owner's faith, with untidy orphaned pages haphazardly stuffed within, tattered and dog-eared from their rough handling. A deep purple silken bookmark rests between two vellum pages inked with Ophiuchus' various notes and observations on the divine and their intersections with the mortal world, ranging from minor quips scrawled on the margins to full-on poetry complete with character scripts for each of her compatriots. A flicker from a nearby brazier gives flight to a lone coal ember, that by chance landed betwixt the open bindings, setting the open pages alight. For a brief second, the bindings began to glow, infusing the blaze into the vellum and leaving it completely undamaged. On examination, the words within were no longer the same. Where there was once a nonsensical limerick, a new passage written in a softly glowing ink filled out the page, each word slowly flickering and undulating in tandem with the flames of the brazier that birthed it.   "Gods and their miracles... They're very fickle entities, each with their own desires and goals that rarely lead to mutual cooperation between one another. It's not often you see a single adherent blessed with any form of divine magic, much less the ability to raise the dead... But that's what we accomplished today! ...No, that's certainly not the whole story, not even close. This wasn't just the work of a few clerics gifted with a sliver of goldly power, this was something much more involved. I felt the presence of no less than *seven* divine connections in that room. Were it not for the difficulty of maintaining the ritual, I would have been frozen in awe... Or possibly mortal terror.   I believe I have a rough idea of most of the divinities involved in this intercession. It goes without saying that five of the seven were invited by those who participated in the ritual- Stocks is a dedicand of the Sun Queen, Tangent is a saint of the Sun King, Dr. Amden is a devout follower of the Author, Pragstar is an adherent of Luminance, and of course my own connection with the Unspoken. Duk herself is a Shorthooves pony, and like most shorthooves, religious or not, they seem to carry an inherent connection with the goddess of love, Lashtada. So that makes six... Then which deity was the seventh? I have my suspicions... I'll stay my quill for the time being and ponder on what I've learned.   The world is growing more dangerous by the day, and quite frankly, more exciting! If today has been any indicator, we're bound to see some really exciting stuff from the gods above, below, within, without, and inside out!   ~St. Ophiuchus