Dreams of the Second Age - Additional IC

Nikola dusts himself off, putting his weapons away and strolling up to the temple at a leisurely pace, letting the rest of the circle do their thing
 
Araneus grins wider when Zen smashes down more of them with his charms, and then almost looks unnatural in how much he's smirking as he sees them get pushed back by imaginary men. Once they're close enough, he rushes and twirls about in a whirlwind of battle, his staff coming down across the backs and legs of as many as he can hit.


As he flies through them, he shouts out "Want any left alive?"
 
Aredin would let his voice waft on the wind, carried by the force of his melody, "Just one for interrogating, if you're feeling merciful." his voice manifesting in old realm rather than their prior tongue of choice.
 
Araneus stops when he reaches the last one, his staff covered in the blood of the warriors, and stops the sharp end of it just millimeters from the last warriors throat. "Surrender. Now."
 
Under the combined efforts of the Exalts, the group of people are quickly butchered before any have a chance to escape or to raise an alarm cry. When Araneus threatens the final one with his spear, the man looks about the area in horror and slowly drops his weapons. He begins blubbering on in Forestspeak, begging for his life.
 
Aredin approached the man, taking away his weapons and returned dialogue with his native language, "Stop your blubbering and show some pride. Who are you and who do you work for?"
 
The man's terrified eyes never leave Aredin. "My master is Filial Wisdom, the Goblin King, and I am Raul, and I am just a member of his army."


Pyter comes walking up at this time.
 
"Goblin King, as in he leads armies of Fae? What else do you know about his operations? Where is he? Where are his bases?"
 
The man looks confused with your questions, but tries to answer. "He rules here in the city. All exist here at his sufferance. He can most often be found in the largest pyramid with his advisors."
 
"Tell me more about the pyramid and his advisors."
 
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The man looks even more scared, if that is possible. "I don't know much about the pyramid. I am unworthy to be allowed inside. Only the strongest can go in with the King and his advisors. They are not as powerful as our true master, but they are strong. Stronger than any of us. They have seen the glory that will come with the rule of the King, and have joined his cause."


Pyter frowns. "That sounds like Dragon Blooded to me. Perhaps some Outcaste Exalts, looking to find some bully to latch onto. I wonder just how powerful this Goblin King is."
 
Aredin rubs at his chin, looks to Niko and then nods. Talking aside to the group for a moment in Old Realm, "For those not fluent in Forest-tongue, he says Filial Piety, the Solar and apparently Goblin King, is stationed in the largest pyramid with his powerful, but noticeably less than Solar level, advisors. Pyter's estimation is sound but I believe Niko can follow up on that suspicion while we decide on what to do here. I'm fairly certain this fellow, unless he is far more capable at than he lets on, doesn't have information that we couldn't acquire on our own and without his aid." Turning back to the prisoner Aredin then resumed interrogation with another question, "If we set you free, where would you go?"

Note that I have the gemstone of surface thoughts. If he's been trying to deceive or if there is underlying information he is holding back I think it should give me a chance to pick up on it through mind reading.
 
His verbal response is, "If you let me, I will run away from here, never to return to such demons as you are." In his mind, he is thinking of the rewards he will get for telling his master about the demons that have intruded upon his land.
 
Aredin smirks letting his next statement sink in, "No I meant specifically, since you can't return to your master for the punishments of your failure and whatnot. What place would you actually go to before the wilderness itself killed you."
 
"There are several villages in the jungle that I can go to. Just don't kill me!" Because if you do, no one will be able to tell the master about you. He wishes to watch you die at his hands, slowly and painfully, and hopefully he will be allowed to eat the flesh from your bones.
 
Aredin relaxes. "I will think on this for a moment." Turning back to his comrades Aredin would divulge what he's learned in Old Realm careful to make sure his words were either unheard or unintelligible to the prisoner, "The kid seems so indoctrinated that he's ready die to inform on us it seems, despite his facade. His sense of self preservation is active only to the extent that he can still serve his master. While I can admire this level of devotion it is quite repulsive when you can catch the context of his thoughts, feasting on our flesh and whatnot. So he either needs to die, or I can bind him to deliver a message should we so chose to play on Filial's madness and probable paranoia. Between my hearthstone and anima power, the prisoner's struggle will be most amusing when he cannot act against my wishes. I will concede however, if you all think threatening the Solar is still too premature."
 
"We have what knowledge we seek, and our prisoner is too far gone to attempt at sanity, and too much of a risk to let loose. Kill him quickly and painlessly, as a mercy." Said Rine.
 
"Hmm... As much as I would like to remove his insanities, give him a second chance, and so on. The process would effectively be breaking him against his will and rebuilding him into something new. Knowing what we know of reincarnation, you are probably right, Rine, that rather than forming him to our whims in such a way, it would probably be more ethical to let him become his own being once again."
 
Araneus nods, and walks back over to the man, holding him still if necessary should he cower from the man who slaughtered his kin. He places his hand on his forehead and an almost euphoric look comes over the mans face as the Sidereal works his magic. Then the blade of his wrackstaff slits the mans neck from one end to the other, leaving him to bleed out painlessly.


"He will feel no pain, and his blood is the last of our sacrifice to Laeeyta."

Activating Peacable Conclusion before to let him die without pain.
 
The body crumples to the ground, leaving your group in control of the courtyard right outside the entrance to the temple. Pyter looks around at the fallen and says, "It would seem that there is nothing stopping us from going to see the Goddess. Let us go."


Unless there is no dissenting opinion, you make your way inside the main hall of Leeayta's temple. It is a sad sight. Broken statues to the Unconquered Sun and Leeayta dot the walls, and the ground is covered in garbage and filth. There are numerous tracks in here, most of them are the clawed feet of the Dragon Kings, but some are human.


At the far end of the main chamber is a ornate pedestal and altar to the Lizard Queen. This shows signs of recently being cleaned up and used; fairly fresh blood is drying on the altar. There are many smaller chambers that lead off of the main hall, but you are certain that they have been looted for their riches long ago.


What do you do to gain the attention of Leeayta?
 
Nikola looks over the sad state of affairs and feels an undeniable urge to begin fixing the place up. Perhaps his repairs will help draw her attention.
 
Aredin looks at the offering bowl and shakes his head in disgust, "Human sacrifice is in direct violation of the orders of the most high, and is thus now unsuitable offerings to gods that would redeem the feral Dragon Kings." Aredin took the ammo pouch to his Repeaters and sprinkled a pattern of fire dust over the blood into the sun's sigil. Taking his clay flute in hand he began to play music in prayer to the Goddess Leeayta. The tune ranged from the forceful bombastic melody of victory to the tones of mourning. At the crescendo of his prayer, motes of light would swirl down upon the offering bowl just at the rhythms of hope dominated the end. With the final note, Aredin fired his repeater and lit the dust in the bowl to scour the taint of her offering bowl and anoint it with his anima. The light would flare back upwards as the quills of a hawk fell down in a circle, scribing the many possible futures of Rathess in streams of golden light and revealing all concealed entities in the temple, even spirits.

Note the the Resources 3 sacrifice of Fire Dust and the Jewel of the Lawgiver's Authority should reduce the standard prayer difficulty from 6 to 1


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Pyter looks over the altar. "I would hazard a guess that this was done by the recently Awakened Dragon Kings, and they made a sacrifice to their goddess in the only way they could think of; a sacrifice of some animal or person. I applaude their efforts even if it was poorly executed. There should be some response from Leeayta . . . ah, look there." He points to a glowing portal of light that is forming in the air a short distance in front of the altar. Stepping out from the portal is a female Raptok, draped in white and red robes with the golden symbol of the Unconquered Sun.


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With a graceful step, the Dragon Queen steps forward to the altar and looks at the gathered Exalts, one at a time. With a soft voice that seems somewhat out of place for the scaly reptilian figure in front of you, she says, "My goodness. So many Exalts all arriving at my temple at once, including two of the Chosen of the Maidens. Am I to be taken to Yu-Shan for sanctions for some crime that I have supposedly committed? I do not recall having performed some offense worth the attention of the Agents of Heaven. Or is there some other reason for you have come here today, with so many powerful Exalts? A social call, perhaps?"
 
"A social call indeed. It is time Rathess returned to proper order, and we are here to make it so. First order of business is to correct this whole 'Goblin King' problem. We met L'ron and his band, but they seem hesitant to trust us until the Elders have returned. I believe you would be able to assist us with this task?"
 
Leeayta looks over at you. "Ah, L'ron. One of the few of my children that have regained their sapience. He tries so hard to teach his brothers and sisters, but there is only so much that he can do on his own, and I am limited with what I can to to aid him. There are Elder Dragon Kings still in Rathess, but I cannot get to them. There are several chambers that are warded against the entrance of spirits so I cannot enter and reawaken them myself, and my children are too weak to make it through the gauntlet of challenges that lie between them and their goal." She slowly walks around, pondering you all. "You seek to restore Rathess to proper order. I can see that you are powerful Exalts, perhaps even strong enough to perform the task you have placed before yourselves. If you were to aid me and my children by going to awaken the Elders that are sleeping in the depths of the city, you could find yourselves the recipient of many powerful allies in your struggles. But can I trust you?"


Pyter replies, "What choice do you have, other than to trust us? If you wish to see not only your city but your chosen people restored, you are looking at your best bet to have that done."


She replies, "I see your point. But I would hesitate to leap into a arrangement with no way to enforce it. Are one of your number a member of the Eclipse Caste of the Solars? If so, we can use Essence to seal the bargain. What say you to that? Come to think of it, I don't even know your names. Who are you, and why come to Rathess at this time?"
 
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