8 - Quiet please

General Summary

A well earned rest

The party head to the Tooth and Donkey inn, and splash out by buying drinks for all present. Vexacious Rein goes on the pull, and has a wonderful night.

Kupo pitches a tent outside over a well to sleep in. Only to find himself legally restrained and ordered to The White Mages guild the next morning, the rest of the party blissfully unaware.

The White Mages

Organization | Aug 8, 2018

Required reading

The rest of the party head out to the library, placing themselves in the queue for an escorted visit. They list some books they would like to read up on, namely; cooking, the shadow plane, weird magic storms, church of the one, and they also request a specialist in crystal knowledge comes to their aid, the last request however will take some time.

They get wind of the fact Kupo has been taken to The White Mages and is being given a sort of guild trial, and decide to head out to his aid. It's probably needed.

Guild matters

The group head to the White Mage's guild, and find Kupo inside. Hamas Lyoney is there, being kind to his old student. Gery Foxe is also there, being considerably less polite, as she demands Kupo lose his guild membership, as he did not properly follow procedures of promotion before wandering the world, he is considered not to formally be a white mage, thus must surrender his staff and robes, along with ceasing the use of the title.

During talks, Kupo admits to getting drunk, and to abusing his staff along with some other PR nightmares.

The group as a whole then go in to meet the Vice-GM, Neldor Daesatra. There is a long discussion, where the party puts forth suggestions and evidence to support Kupo. Gery wants Kupo dismissed, and Hamas wants to simply grant Kupo early promotion to journeyman based on his deeds and enthusiasm. The meeting is then concluded, with results being promised the next day.

Meetings

Zephyr Highwind and Kupo head off privately to meet Hamas. He informs the pair that interfering with the crystals is a high crime. He discusses the fracturing, and events of the past and gives the pair some guidance on what books to look for in the grand library. He also gives them temporary access to the master white mage only areas of the library.

Books, more books

The party head back to the grand library. Arrex Nairin researched the Church of the One. The party found books written by Ehrelien Vahda, that wrote about the primal crystals, and how they theorised on each of the major spirits present within, namely; Titan, Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, Garuda, and Leviathan.

Kupo felt strangely sick the whole time, as if his healing magics were bubbling up in his tummy, occasionally the bubbles would feel like blackened magic, not of white.

The party attempt to find a book on the will of the crystals, but it appears to be locked behind high level access.

Kupo tries practicing some healing magic, and the wild effects afterwards cause him to spray healing magic lights in various directions, as if being sick. Vex attempts to heal too, and a wispy presence appears for a moment, even his curative spells are acting up.

The party are escorted outside for causing both mess and fuss.

Kupo explains what has happened outside, and Zar'ral Helvimtor decided to sneak back in and scope the place out. He learns the library layout and steals some keys from a guard.

"Let's break in to the library" spoken for the first time, ever

The party head back to the inn, and plot to break in, and find their way to the basement where the strange energies are being felt.

Kupo sneaks off to find Hamas, hoping to garner aid, despite the risk to his own personal reputation and guild membership.

Kupo and Hamas talk, Hamas admits to knowing they had real pieces of crystal upon their being all along, and they should probably keep their chest crystals hidden for now, or claim them as ornaments. He agrees to put himself at risk too, as he feels this might be a very important issue the law might be wrong about. He gives Kupo special permission to enter the Library again, something that would put him in harms way should Kupo be discovered..

Meanwhile, Zar'ral heads to the docks, informally named the Leviathian docks, and buys some sleep powder off the black market.

I'd like to check out, please

The plan begins, the party are allowed access to the library again due to Hamas' aid. They succeed in stealthily sleeping the guards, which will buy them about 10 minutes to get through the guarded door towards the basement. Opening the door proves no trouble.

They head down, set after set of zigzagging stairs until they come to a large double door, feeling the sickening magic behind it. They burst through, weapons ready, only to see the minor primal crystal of Restoration in the center of the room, with a sickening purple mass coalescing inside it, just beneath a small crack, through which crystal energy is seeping out. The mass responds to their approach, forming in to Aether creatures, in this instance, a set of zombies.

The party begin to fight, Kupo and Zar'ral soon realising they can drain the purple corruption out of the crystal in to themselves, at great personal suffering. The group continues to fight zombies, as time passes, larger and larger ones spawn, culminating in a fearsome beholder zombie. They barely manage to win in time, draining the last of the purple mass out from the crystal before sealing the crack with their powers again. That's when they hear the door opening again behind them..

The towering figure of High Bishop Thordan is stood in the doorway, a handful of elite Cysterian guard at either side. His sword is drawn, but the tip rests upon the floor as he places both hands on the hilt, simply staring.