[IC]Secrets of the Fire Swamp

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:16 pm

"One of them asked us to deliver something to the Bone Mother for money. Does that count?"

To Malagos, "You might as well take Alim's spellbook and component pouches. I don't think he has any further use for them."

Orr will take a blowpipe and some darts.

"Hmm... I wonder if these guys have anything to say..."

Orr will attempt to stabilize the unconscious orcs. He'll disarm them, tie them up, manacle them with stone handcuffs using bits from the box, bury them with just their heads sticking out and then wake them up.

"Hi there. I'll make this simple. Speak up, and I'll go easy on you. The more useful what you say is, the brighter your futures will be. If you don't have anything useful to say, you'll find yourself trapped somewhere, unable to move for the rest of your lives." Orr will grin widely. "I'll leave you some airholes, so that might be longer than you'd like."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:21 pm

The rat strokes his chin. "To deliver something to her? That's different. Usually they want something from her."

Two of the non-reanimated orcs are too crispy to survive long...or perhaps Orr's ministrations are simply not successful. In any event, if they weren't dead when he started, they're damn well dead by the time he's finished. The remaining one wakes up buried neck-deep in the sand between the charred remains of his comrades. He stares at Orr with fear and loathing.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:26 pm

"Well, an exchange actually. We give her a torc, she gives us... a salve we were told that we take back to them."

"Right then, for starters, who are you people and why'd you attack us?" If he doesn't get a response, he'll repeat the all of the above telepathically.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:57 pm

"A salve...oh. Right. I understand." The rat strokes its whiskers. "The Rite of the Moon-Snake. Yes."

The swamp orc doesn't answer. Telepathically, all you can get out of him is an overwhelming sense of terror.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 2:39 am

Mal takes the advice, grabbing the spellbook and component pouches and tossing the bracers to Orr. "Yours if you want em, otherwise I'll put em on a zombie until we can sell them and split the proceeds."

He turns to the orc. "If you will not speak, you can join your friends over here."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:09 am

"Do you know anything about this Rite?" Archimedes asks the rat. "I assume it's some sort of mating ritual, and it didn't seem like they wanted to tell us much about it. Said something about a 'state of innocence.' being needed to complete the job. Is that just dogma, or something more sinister? Want to know if there's a catch. Could the ritual actually be some sort of elaborate sacrifice, and they hired the Swamp Orcs to finish it? Of course, it's possible that these were just raiders, or that someone else hired them to kill us."

Archimedes pauses to catch his breath, before remembering he doesn't need to breathe anymore. "Basically, do you know if the Scaly Ones are leaving us in the dark on anything dangerous here?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 10:52 am

"Details probably wouldn't be good for you, but the ultimate aim is practical...and if it goes well, nobody dies or gets hurt. The people that hired you aren't likely to have hired assassins; on top of a mountain of ritual taboos, they've got a vested interest in your success."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:32 am

"Good point," Archimedes admits. "Might be getting a bit paranoid, given all that's happened today."

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 4:32 am

"If it goes well?" Malagos says, raising an eyebrow.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 9:58 am

"If you change your mind, speak up. You may not have this chance for long."

At Malagos, and not the orc, "Can you zombify him now, or would you prefer to wait till later?

"Yeah, if we need to be 'innocent' or whatever, let's wait till after we finish this to find out more. Anyway, let's get moving. You could have the zombies carry the orc."

Orr will put Vian's gauntlets of Dexterity in Vian's backpack, and then attach the pack to the stone box.

(The backpack contains Flint, Chalk, Torches, Candles, Paper and Parchment, Waterskin, Rations, Ink, Crowbar, Rope, Mirror, Grapling Hook, Manakles, Smokestick, Vials, etc)

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 4:25 pm

The swamp orc says nothing; he seems almost catatonic with fear.

The rat looks up at the sun. "If the Bone Woman is following her old schedule...we must move quickly to where her path crosses this track. If we miss her, it could be difficult to catch up with her once again."

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 2:26 am

Malagos gestures to the zombies. "Take the orc. At the very least, we can throw him in the way of whatever we run into."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 3:53 am

"So, to the Bone Woman, then?" Archimedes asks, stretching out his wings.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 2:20 pm

Orr will examine the stone that Archimedes jumped off of earlier, checking to see if there's anything unusual about it, and if it also exists in the Ethereal.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 3:18 pm

The rat climbs onto Archimedes shoulder, and directs the way as the group begins moving once again. The white stone road cuts through the marsh in a winding path, leading past tumbled piles of white stone and deep open pools of black water, through grass and cat-o-nine-tails that are sometimes as tall as a man. Only hints of the native life are seen - insects with too many wings, six-legged, four-eyed lizards who four-part jaws open to reveal three-pronged tongues, small colorful birds that down their prey with electrical shocks, tiny one-eyed abominations that cower in the grass whenever they see you go by...

The rat indicates a halt at a Y-shaped fork in the road. Straight ahead, off the path, is a half-sunken pile of dull grey metal. The rat turns its head this way and that, then finally breaks the silence.

"She should be here...or will be soon, if she kept to her old ways. We could wait, or we can try to meet her coming," one outstretched paw indicates the left-hand path. "Or we can head to her night-camp" the other paw points to the right-hand path."

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:47 pm

"Waiting is fine," said the necromancer.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 6:59 pm

"Waiting makes sense. That way we won't miss her entirely. Archimedes and I could split up and fly ahead, and report back if we see anything. What's she look like by the way? But first, do you guys want to find out what's up with that while we're all still here?" Orr gestures towards the pile of dull grey metal.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:19 pm

"One of the causes of the Zone," the rat said. With nimble paws, the rat has begun gathering blades of black grass from the side of the road, using claw and tooth to cut them, and begins weaving them together. "The Scaly Ones were not always careful in disposing of the refuse from their magical industry and experiments. Much magical refuse was dumped unceremoniously into the swamp, or buried and paved over. The uncontrolled energies and toxic byproducts tainted and polluted the surrounding land and water...and in places even weakened the fabric of things. It birthed monsters, or perhaps merely attracted them. So they designated the Containment Zone. Before the unpleasantness that led to my capture, many scavengers would brave the dangers of the Zone for piles like this one, which often contained valuable magical reagents."

Finished with its work, the rat now holds a wide-brimmed conical hat woven of black grass, which it places on its head.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:37 pm

"If they're valuable, why did they dump them?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:45 pm

The rat shrugs. "Is your society so efficient that nothing goes to waste that might be recycled?"

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 8:32 pm

"Never really had any particular society for long, but most I've seen were not. The idea of magical industry intrigues me though. I'd like to hear more about it. What do you know about the nature of the taint? What does it take to contain it? How does it affect the undead?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:17 pm

The rat is quiet for a time, and the afternoon sun warms the stones beneath your feet as you wait.

"It started out small," the rat spoke quietly. "All of the crafts had their guilds, with their secrets passed down from when the Eggbearer had first shed her skin, when the Cycle began. Then came the...I don't know the word... New Eggs in Wisdom. They shared out the secret writings, posted them everywhere, taught each other. The little magics that were once the province of the old scales were now everywhere. And as they spread, and the lore was shared, it was added to, and combined in ways no-one had seen before. Very soon, everyone was using a cantrip for this or that, and some dug deeper into the lore than others..."

The rat puffs out its cheeks and releases the breath as a sigh. "The Taint...perhaps it was something inherent in magic before, some invisible fire that consumes things, too small and rare to be noticed. But once the magewrights were producing things in quantity...and there were many sleights to it, little factories producing helpful magic, and the alchemists busy all the time, spilling their byproducts into the waters of the swamp...well, there was never magic on the scale as was produced. Soon, the creatures were not being born right. The workers started getting ill, in body and mind. Some of the magewrights went mad, and made terrible things. The old scales, the Serpents of Wisdom, identified the issue, but did not know how to cleanse the corruption. So, they walled it off. Along with anyone who embraced it. There were more than a few."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:25 pm

Archimedes suddenly pipes up. "Was whoever--or whatever--sealed you away related to this conflict?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:29 pm

"No, that was more of a paternity suit issue." The rat sniffed. "Even if they could never prove anything."

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 1:12 am

"You're telling me the whole magic box/guardians rigamorale was the result of a paternity suit?"

The necromancer howled with laughter. After a bit he calmed down. "My apologies. It's amusing to see a paternity suit treated like an ancient, indestructible evil."