@mrz84
@TheDarkOne
Zataka and Sancireph...
Expecting a comfortable interrogation through bars, you are instead confronted by an ambush. The prisoner CECETTE had escaped prior to your arrival and had her eyes set on the VERIDIAN STONES OF AUDAMAR.
She has a hostage, too, the PRISON WARDEN. It seems she's enchanted him into obeying her.
Before anyone has a chance to react, though, you find you have been flanked by a CURSED SWORDSMAN, some manner of Dragonkin with which you are unfamiliar.
Zataka, she challenges you to a test of skill, with the prize being freedom from the prisons. You accept and begin to enchant your bracers with tree energy to get the drop on her, but you are tired from the battle of ogres and when you blink, she has vanished. She trips you and you fall to the ground.
Sancireph, you feel the hand of this swordsman reaching around in your cloak, but you were prepared for this. The STONE OF AUDAMAR is safely tucked in a secret pocket, no one would be able to find it while you are wearing the cloak. Instead, she pulls away with a RED PEARL you had substituted for the real stone. ...Where did you get that pearl, anyway? You saw something like that when you were in Telivar's mansion, but you can't recall taking it with you.
Zataka and Sancireph, the plundering swordsman takes the stone and slams it into CECETTE'S BOSOM. Before your eyes the prisoner you intended to interrogate transforms into a JADE DRAGON and rips through the walls and ceiling, escaping the mountain.
Sancireph, you ask Evaine what to do now.
"So the stones were a dragon pearl. I can't believe I never knew."
She glances briefly at her soldiers, still stunned by the events that have transpired.
"It's been a long day. You two have earned your rest.
Zataka and Sancireph, Evaine arranges accommodations and you slip into slumber almost immediately. Before you know it, morning roosters cry at the sun.
Sancireph, you notice that your cloak isn't in the same position you left it when you went to sleep. It's upside down. Searching it, you find the pocket has been ransacked.
Sancireph and Zataka, you go to Evaine demanding an explanation. Zataka asks what happened to the stone.
"It's safe."
[Act Medias Res]
Whereabouts of the Stones (Filled)
~~~~~
No way to keep the stone safe.
~~~~~
[/Act Medias Res]
She sighs.
"The city of Audamar thanks you for your services. I think it would be best if you were on your way."
You emerge from the mountain and watch the sun rise over the plains. To the west you can see ships coming and going from a harbor. You could reach it by sunset if you wish. Faster if you hire transportation.
What do you do?
=====
@Tamamo
Granberia, you reflect on the events that led to this altercation in the prisons.
~~~~~
In Draconic: "That is unfortunate. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
You ask her to tell you a little something about herself.
"Oh, that story is long and painful. I hate to complain to strangers."
You insist.
"Well, I wasn't fortunate enough to be born in this dimension like you were. I had to re-hatch after traversing a rift. Don't get me wrong, our home dimension is a dump. But the problem with rift hopping is that you can't see your destination. I crawled towards the warmth and emerged from my egg a glorious beacon of jade flame, but unfortunately I crawled out in the treasury of some horrible mountain called Audamar."
She frowns.
"See, the rift I used was crafted by a cabal of magicians trying to gain control of the universe. They expected to obtain ultimate power. Instead, they got me. Of course I was just getting used to my new body and I incinerated one of them. The rest decided they were going to get revenge... or some such nonsense. They pulled me apart, piece by piece, until they ripped my pearl from me."
You shudder at the notion.
"So now I'm doomed to linger around this wretched place, searching for my precious pearl."
You sympathize with her plight and ask if you can help.
"Actually, you can. See, I've been studying this world's magic since they used it to dismember me. I have become a master. But even a magister isn't invulnerable when outnumbered. I tried to take the city with ogres but I was defeated. They're oafish brutes with insufficient coordination to pull off an organized assault. But another of our race... you could help me recover what is mine. You know what to look for."
You say that you both clearly live interesting lives. Then you ask what her plan is to escape.
"Even from a distance I can still control the ogres. It is a simple exertion of LYCAON magic to send them orders; our connection lingers from their creation."
You ask how she went about making the ogres in the first place.
"I drained the essence of the forest to the south to collect Wood energy. This world is rather simple when you dissect it, actually. This I filtered into the bodies of kidnapped gnomes until they were overwhelmed, erupting into ogres."
You ask why such action wouldn't turn them into trolls, since the energy was wood energy. You also ask why they weren't corrupted by her dragon energy.
"Alas, without my pearl I'm no different from any other caster on this rock. As for the formation of the ogres, that I can't explain. I can only figure that the energy was warped within my body as I collected it, since I am a foreigner to this place."
You turn her attention back to the escape.
"Ah, yes, the escape plan. We could leave right now, but as you are aware that warden is a hawk. Instead, we should embrace patience and await the ogres. They will breach the city eventually and when they do we will make our move."
You agree to wait for the opportunity to make your surprise attack.
~~~~~
Clearing your mind, you tap the shoulder of the PALADIN standing between you and Cecette and challenge him to a duel.
You use your multiform technique to leave a faint image of yourself in your wake while you move to his backside. Then, you trip him as he casts a wood enchantment on his armor.
Strange, the fight should not have resolved that quickly. Looking him over, you note the fatigue in his limbs and the bags under his eyes. He has not had rest in quite some time.
You sense that he does not have what you seek, though. You can feel heat coming from the ELVEN FIGHTER that was standing next to him. Quickly you reach into his cloak and snatch a spherical object, which you immediately recognize as a Dragon's Pearl.
This you shove into Cecette's bosom, helping her transform back into her natural form. But something is wrong.
She's screaming. You ride her out of the mountain but she will not stop flailing. Up in the sky she thrashes in the moonlight until she throws you from her back.
You're falling towards a desiccated forest. You use bursts of flame to slow your descent but you still crash. You are knocked unconscious by the blow.
A rooster crows in the distance. You realize that it is morning.
"Wrong... wrong pearl."
You can hear Cecette speaking in the distance. She is in pain. You find her sitting in a lake at the end of a trail of blood.
"Wrong... pearl"
Her wings are destroyed and her body has lacerations all over her sides. Some scales are growing to cover the wounds, but they are the wrong color. ...CRIMSON.
"Have to get it out. Have to get him out."
She trails off incoherently, looking off to the west. Before you can approach, she dashes away, cutting a swath through the trees.
What do you do?
