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04.21.20

Concentration

by Steel Claw


 

The Disgraced Lord


 
Auditor Murg waited for Lord Farley in his own cellar, at the lord's estate. The man was angry as he and his men came upon the scene, demanding answers from Murg. Our bugbear revealed he was the one who had outbet the nobleman (stealing his money), before goading the wealthy man into a deal: Murg knew of Farley's massive debtholdings, and he called upon Abadar to peer into the man's mental state (channeling Abadar's divine detect thoughts).
 
The man was panicking, naturally, and even disbelieving Murg's very appearance in his home. His mind, unused to this kind of mental attack, seemed to have one other thought on loop: "Lawrence must not know, Lawrence must not know".
 
Angry, Lord Farley ordered his men to capture the auditor, but again with Abadar's magic Murg simply commanded the nobleman to stand down, and "show me where your missing servants are, Lord Farley".
 
Murg was taken deeper, to a secret chamber in the corner of the cellar, to the missing servants (just as instructed).
 
Farley dropped that Ducati knew of what he had done -- the Inquisitorius is funded by the Excellian nobility, and she had let the lord "lie" for the time being.
 
 

Ducati's Last Chance


Noises from upstairs confirmed to Murg that his messages had been received: Steel and Theo, confident in their recent victories and tied up with their current work, waved them off and returned to their studies. The other message, to Inquisitor Ducati herself, had meant the royal detective was now at the Farley estate. Words drifted down to Murg in the cellar: "no more chances... last chance..."
 
Izol, from outside, had Nonne fly into the manor and search for the bugbear auditor. Getting as close as he/they could, he spoke through message, and at Murg's wish conjured a gaseous form upon himself to traverse the manor in search of the bugbear.
 
United, Murg pressed Izol to help him free Farley's captive servants. Izol was indecisive, but before Murg could convince him further, the shrill voice of Alexia Ducati rang out: "Murglurbiyet, up here, now". The auditor left Izol with a nondetection. Upstairs, inquisitor was 'conversing' with the nobleman, and asked Murg why he was here in the first place -- with a healthy number of threats during and after.
 
There was a lengthy silence, before Auditor Murg blurted out "Farley" and "Larry the necromancer". Ducati retorted that this was all very above Murg and his "gaggle of idiot friends", and that this should be dropped. Immediately.
 
Murg made his exit. Izol, downstairs, had freed more than half of the prisoners, but most all were terrified of him enough to not let the fireband get within armslength. After giving up a very short search for another exit out of the cellar before turning into a dimension door of brimstone and smoke. Reappearing five hundred feet up, far above the Farley estate, Izol floated down to the Excellion streets, into an alleyway before returning to the estate entrance to finally reconnect with Murg.
 
 

Constructed Thought


Early that morning, Master Theo had attempted to use comprehend languages to help decode the spellbook in his possession, though the cipher was both a combination of a least half a dozen languages and a complicated code unknown to him. Work was slow, even with magical help (detect magic revealed only some magic on some pages, for example).
 
When Murg (and Izol) had returned, Steel asked for his holy symbol (and then Murg's gavel of Abadar). Thinking similarly, Theo brought out his, a quill blessed by a priest of Selune. Steel looked that one over as well, while Murg regaled the two "studious ones" of what happened at the Farley estate. Murg wants to plan a heist to free Farley's people.
 
The next morning, Steel gave each a gift -- experimentation and practice:
 
For Murg:

Show spoiler

Miniature Scales of Balance
Wondrous item, common
This copper charm is a small to-scale set of scales that wing back and force but always return to their center. Inscribed on the back are the bearer’s initials and the sign of Abadar.
When you make an attack roll while weaing the amulet, you can forgo the d20 to get a 10 on the die. Once used, this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.



 
For Theo:

Show spoiler

Moon-Touched Holy Symbol
Wondrous item, holy symbol
When held by a spellcaster, this holy symbol sheds moonlight in darkness when the associated command word is spoken, creating bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet.



 
 

New Beginnings


Late that night Izol sat down, held Nonne, and severed their bond.
 
Theo helped Steel with the final problems of his magic and his crossbow. The arcane focus was augmented with an additional magical item, a "focus" headband of sorts (headband of intellect) to further help him attune his newfound magics.



 

To Ibrithil


Several days had passed; Steel finally done with his tinkering (for now), and the rest having caught up with their lives in Excellion (e.g. Auditor Murg and the temple of Abadar). Discussion on the third morning turned back to our next moves once more. Since Ducati was so very against our meddling with the Farley estate, we debated on our next missions: Ibrithil, or the Hollowed Isles.
 
 
 

Continue reading...

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 15:09, Nov 8 2024