Drawing the Line (A Philsys First Gen RP)

[KingOfDoma]

Friday works, cuz I'm not. Wednesday I may be a while getting home, but then again, that raises the question... are there still limits on bedtimes, kids?

[Kai]

I'll ask Brian what he wants to do about Friday. Only issue is that we have a wedding to attend on Saturday, and I'm not sure whether we'll be leaving that morning or the night before.

[Archmage]

Friday evening I have CPR training, but the wedding is at 4:30 PM; we had best leave well before 2 PM Saturday, which will probably mean trying to get up before noon.

Perhaps we can swing it.

[Kai]

Tomorrow.

Yessuh.

Be there, peoples.

[Taiar]

A bit late on the line, as per usual for me, but I work tomorrow from 6:00 to 9:00. Sorry.

Saturday is open, but not for other people it seems.

Sunday...I might work during the day, but I should be back around 6:30 as I normally do.

As for the rest of next week, I have no idea on my work schedule but I don't normally work during the weekdays at any point which comes back to Friday.

Once again, I apoligize.

[KingOfDoma]

... we should do it Saturday, then. I'm closing the store all next week, and then I'm gone for the weekend.

[Kai]

I'll ask Brian what he wants to do about Friday. Only issue is that we have a wedding to attend on Saturday, and I'm not sure whether we'll be leaving that morning or the night before.

Already told you days ago. Saturday doesn't work. I don't know when we'll be back on Sunday, either. I have to get up for crap that starts at 7:30, but I don't need to be at 100% to plant trees all day.

If Brian and I are around on Sunday, we'll do it then. Plan to be there and we'll try to do the same.

[pd Rydia]

Sunday, can do.

[Kai]

Thanks, Dia. *salute*

Shaun and I will do our best to finally finish this gorram thing.

[Kai]

Session Seven: Crossing the Line

Summary:

After their conversation with Isaac, the party took a night to pull together resources and, in Karis' case, brush up on their theology. Joss and Solis elected to join the party on their trip to the temple, while Dia stayed behind to see to the inn (and potentially avoid further dealings with fanatic worshippers of the goddess of balance).

After a day's travel south, they rested in Shamayumia, a town near the temple dedicated to her worship. Taiar was contacted by his mysterious friend, who warned him that the temple was a very dangerous place for people like them. She also offered her assistance in case it were seriously needed, seeming unwilling to leave Taiar without backup in a temple to order.

The next morning, happy to leave a town that seemed pathologically obsessed with order and organization, the group continued on their way. They were met by temple guards before they reached their destination, and Karis explained why they had come. Agreeing to escort them to the temple, the guards walked them in as Taiar became progressively more and more uncomfortable with the magical energy in the area.

One of the guards demands to test their resolve to ensure that they truly care about the case they're going to make. Before the battle was finished, word came that Anwell had arrived and was causing problems in the temple.

They found Anwell in what appeared to be an altar chamber. After a brief discussion with him, the inevitable hostilities erupted. The party had numbers on their side, but Anwell had the magic-absorbing glove that served as his source of magic. Before either side can finish the other, the two groups are broken up by a man who can only be the high priest. He introduces himself as Alai Vernari and forbade them to speak unless spoken to, let alone continue shedding blood in his temple.

He promised them each a chance to speak their piece before him, and gave them ten minutes to prepare. Karis agreed to speak for the party, and Anwell was left to defend his own case. Karis pled that that artifact not be allowed into Anwell's hands or anyone else's. Anwell, Karis argued, was irresponsible, dishonorable, and in his lust for power would create an imbalance that the temple should not endorse.

Anwell cited his desire for knowledge. He argued that his intentions were honorable and that only the pursuit of his research (and not the power he could gain) were on his mind.

Vernari ruled that neither party could be trusted with it, but since that happened to be the request Karis made... it meant he was ruling in his favor by default. Vernari left to remove the Ner Tohu from the premises, and told both groups that they were not to follow him and if either one did... the other had full authorization to use any force necessary to stop them.

Anwell, of course, made a break for it. The party chases him with Joss in the lead, the boy having clearly flipped over into brainwashed cultist assassin mode. The group held Anwell back as best they could while he followed Vernari back into the temple after the Ner Tohu. In the ceremonial chamber where it was kept, Vernari and an apprentice begin opening a passageway requiring magical authorization.

Determined to hold Anwell back until the high priest is free again to assist, the party leaps into battle with him one more time. Joss, claiming "a right to kill him," joined the fray until he broke out of his haze to try and beat Anwell to the Ner Tohu. Anwell blasted him into the altar, and when the chest was jolted Bad Things happened.

Joss threw his head back and was very abruptly covered in fire coming off of him in gales. He seemed to be generating it. He screamed and exploded. The party avoided taking damage from the blast, but when the flames cleared, Joss was gone.

The altar was also empty. There was apparently nothing to fight over, but that didn't stop Anwell. With nothing to lose, the madman threw himself back into the battle, only to be slaughtered by Cardinal. The party, along with Vernari and his apprentice escaped before Anwell's glove overloaded and detonated. Vernari apologized for the day's events, gave Taiar his blessing to remain in the temple, and explained that no... he didn't believe Joss had been teleported. The boy seemed to have expended the Ner Tohu's power, but as far as vernari knew... Joss was dead.

Vernari, content with that explanation, gave the party leave to stay and investigate. Cardinal was the only member of the group unwilling to accept that their young friend was dead. Determined to find some way of contacting the boy, he headed off to a meditation chamber. He tried to get in touch with Joss telepathically, but received no response. To attract the attention of whatever was left of the child, Cardinal scorched a spider web in the corner, hoping that the fire would be enough.

The fire was sucked away as soon as he lit it. Weird! Cardinal found that other magical fire displayed the same bizarre magical phenomenon. Realizing that this must have something to do with Joss, the solution in Cardinal's mind was... make more fire. True to his Christian background, Cardinal elects to set up some firewood around a bush.

Instead of getting sucked down, cardinal's spell turned into a Valthi flamethrower and the bush burst into a pillar of fire. It condensed down, reducing in size but not intensity as it ripped through the fuel it had been given. As the flames tightened they stopped flickering and it became clear that there was something there.

It was just... very still. But at the very least, it was Joss-sized. Maybe Cardinal isn't insane after all! A gout of flame reached forward and became some form of appendage. It started to define some kind of identifiable head, which it tilted as it looked forward to the end of its arm. It became easier and easier to see a small person made of fire hanging out in the scorched ruins of that poor shrubbery. Its head tilted, it examines its ...yeah, hey. There are fingers. As it watched, the flames die back and the fingertips are... fingertips! As the figure pushed the fire back from its skin, its eventual success left a live, if nude and unconscious, Joss to fall to the ground.

Cardinal grabbed him, determined to cart the kid around. Something still wasn't right though, as Joss' skin was almost too hot to touch. Cardinal called for a healer, and Vernari came back to assist.

"No, there doesn't seem to be anything wr-- well, that's not true. Gentlemen... how much do you know about fire elementals?"

However, this wasn't the best time to interrogate the boy about where he'd been and what had happened to him. Simply glad to see the boy alive, they left him to rest in the dormitory wing away from the questions and concern of his allies.

(Things your characters would have noticed but that the GM forgot to mention because it was 3:30 in the morning for her: On Joss' back right on his shoulderblade was a brand that appeared to be overlaid letters in Common. You saw this because he was naked. You can ask him about it any time; he'll tell you.)

EXP:

650 for the whole RP, as well as a 100 EXP bonus to Cardinal for happening to think of my backup "if the PCs don't figure out how to get Joss back" plan. Seriously. Of all the random things for him to try...

As for the players... thank you so much for being part of this. Your effort and dedication made all the difference, and Shaun and I appreciate it. Hope to GM for you another time.

Thanks again!