cinaed

Session 151: Day 19 of Saedan (10/4)

Az catches his breath during this moment within this smoldering warehouse. There is the sound of rubble falling from the platform as they look at the defunct piece of machinery that had been controlling the necrotic runes in the prosthetics of the people of this city.

Not far from him too is Tally’s corpse. There’s part of him that knows there won’t be much time to catch his breath because people will come. The people who worked here, people who spent their time here, the Senators.

Hava and Audacity go to look at Tally’s body. Her right hand is covered in this metal sheathing, brassy and bronze, very different from the silver metal filled with souls. It was what she was casting from when she was trying to cast the Fireballs. Her hand is intact, so this was some kind of arcane focus instead. She wasn’t using any of the prosthetics. Hava notices as she looks at the ungloved hand that there is part of a missing finger that hasn’t been replaced. She has all the technology that an artificer would have but none of the prosthetics.

As Hava looks over the rest of Tally, she does have skin on her upper arms that are blackened like they have been permanently stained. Audacity squints at the marking and thinks they seem similar to his handprint from Asalor in that they won’t come off.

There’s nothing else of note, money or jewelry other than a very fancy and expensive pocket watch that has a ruby and a sapphire on it. Hava takes it and offers it to Az.

Az looks down at it. She puts it directly in his hand and says that it’s for killing him three times. He points out he was knocked unconscious twice. She says she promised his father she’d keep him safe. He can sell it or keep it as a fancy lad.

Az studies it. It’s very nice. Those are real gemstones and when he pops it open, each little number spot has a tiny diamond in it. It is over five hundred gold worth of diamonds. He points them out, thinking that they should replace the diamonds and keep the actual diamonds in case of an emergency. He drops the watch into his pocket and says they should look for Arlin.

Yolov has been investigating the room for a logbook or anything that would be Tally’s workshop. He finds a desk that is covered with detritus that is both from today’s fight and possibly earlier explosions. He looks through it, finding a logbook that keeps track of everyone who has a prosthetic and where they are and how long they’ve had it. It has their names, their addresses, and a brief physical appearance. He finds Az’s eldest sibling’s name in it; Sazu has prosthetic fingers on his right hand.

He also finds a document that looks to be effectively an order sheet. It is ordering the creation of five machines, two defensive and three offensive, made of what they call ghost steel. On the order there are two check marks next to offensive and one check mark next to the defensive.

Now as Az mentions Arlin Yolov agrees that is a good idea and adds that they also should check on the metal in the workshop and see if Az destroying the array freed the souls or not. He also looks at Az’s badly injured state and says someone should heal him.

Galowen casts Lay on Hand on Az and Diana as Hava also casts a healing spell.

Yolov shows everyone what he found. Galowen wonders how they got the enormous machines out of here and Hava says magic.

Az says that they should go find Arlin. When Yolov repeats they also need to check on the steel, Az agrees but says that they should find Arlin first.

By the time they get out of the workshop, all of the workers are long gone. They ascend higher and higher up the staircase and away from the nightmare below them and eventually they reach the top of the staircase where sound has returned, of people whispering and talking.

As they all wiggle out from the storeroom and the closet entry that held the staircase, they hear the staff whispering among themselves about the earthquake they felt. They’ve sent a message to the Senate.

Az knows that the offices where Arlin showed him are upstairs. He leads the party up there. It is unsurprisingly unlocked and empty. There isn’t much sign of a tremendous urge to leave. The only thing that he notices is that the blueprints on Arlin’s desk and in every corner are all gone.

Az curses under his breath. He looks around for any secret doors or bottoms of his desk. Arlin’s office was a mess before and it’s a mess now. It’s hard to tell where he would put any secret compartments even if he wanted any. He gets the impression that hiding something here would not have been Arlin’s plan.

Az sighs. Hava points out that he probably ran straight to Elathias.

Yolov suggests they tell the Senate about Arlin anyway, but first they should check on the metal before they go there. Everyone agrees and returns to the workshop. They can see the shadows and shifting movement in the metal as they examine them. The souls are still in there, but less inclined to press against the surface.

Yolov takes the piece of metal and examines it as closely as possible. He expects to feel a necrotic energy or a strong wash of necrotic magic, but there’s none of that. It’s disconcerting. As he turns it over in his hands that something starts to worry at the center of his chest about what he’s looking at and what these are made of.

It comes to him in pieces. These souls aren’t like the Levants, or trapped in items like they’re possessed. The ghost steel is being used to create multiple pieces of machinery. The souls are not inside the metal so much the metal is essentially a window into where these souls are trapped. The metal is being used as an arcane focus much as the Harbringers used their swords to channel the power of the Sunken Ones.

When Yolov tells the group what he realized, Hava asks if they’re dead. Yolov says they are, but the souls are trapped somewhere and cannot pass on until they are freed. Yolov doesn’t think it will harm them any further to separate the pieces and that they can take a piece with them.

Audacity takes a piece of the ghost steel and tucks it away.

The ride back to the Senate House is short and solemn, with Yolov casting Prestidigitation and Mending on Az to make him look a little less like he came close to death. When they get there, most of the lobby doors are closed.

Az has never seen the lobby doors closed. However they are waved through to find Senator Togworth waiting for them, wringing his hands. He immediately waves at Az to bend down to his level and magics away any blood and soot that Yolov missed, agreeing that Az’s dad will kill them all if they see Az in this state.

Az endures it for a moment before he stands up.

Togworth asks if everything is handled. Az tells him that it’s complicated. Togworth tells them that Zorax has headed to Sasha’s warehouse, while the others are waiting for them upstairs. He gave the excuse of working on his workshop to avoid Az’s father but wanted to be here to make sure Az was in one piece.

Togworth leads them to the Senate Hall. It’s a circular room, with a few tables that were long and could also accommodate multiple people for discussions and more rows of almost auditorium seating that is on tiered levels in a close-knit space. The Council isn’t sitting in specific high-backed seats. They’re all scattered throughout the room, some pacing, some checking their nails, all radiating nerves.

Az’s father is clearly the most nervous. He’s on his feet the second the door opens and barrels towards Az, dragging him into an embrace that makes Hava cry. Az’s father explains that Togworth told him that they were getting to the bottom of the necromantic prosthetics without any assistance from the town guard or the Senate.

Az says that they’re fine, they got information. His father brushes the offered paperwork aside, which Togworth grabs, and tells Az that he can’t put himself in danger on their doorstep.

Audacity opens his mouth and then closes it wordlessly.

Az says that he’s not the only person his father needs to talk to, when Sazu lost four of his fingers. His father says that it was an accident at the fish shack involving a fish within a fish, and that isn’t what he’s talking about. He tells him that he’s so worried whenever Az is gone.

Az says he’s got his friends with him. His father brushes his hair back and says that his friends may be keeping him together but look at them all. The Senate could have helped. Az says that they perhaps could have helped, but they didn’t see this under their noses.

His father points out that they can’t see everything, but they can only learn from their failures and become better as leaders by changing and adapting and from learning from their mistakes. There will be new procedures going forward to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. He knows someone had to do this, but does it have to be Az.

Az says it doesn’t. He promises that they’ll take a break sometime soon, but they have a few things they have to track down first. Then he promises he’ll stay and visit for a while. They can all use a break.

His father’s eyes shine as he says he remembers when Az was so little. Despite Az’s protest not to tell any stories in the Senate Hall, he continues with his hands on the sides of Az’s face and tells him that he was the last of the children that she held. He is the most like her in every way. She was always so headstrong and wanted to be something. She used to want to see the world. There’s something in the way he holds himself that is so much Az and so much his mother.

Az’s father pauses. He says he just wants Az to be safe.

The other senators are trying to give them privacy while Hava openly weeps behind them.

Az embraces his father as his father says he’s going to kill Togworth and Sazu.

Az tells him not to do that, wiping his face and entangling himself from his father’s arms. He fiddles with his bracelet as the group catches the senate up on most of what they learned, including that Arlin has fled and is working with the same group that killed Lady Axemight.

The senators take notes and also say that once they investigate Sasha they will offer her a research position so that she can discover a way to make these prosthetics work without the ghost steel.

When the party shows them the ghost steel, Urzog studies the ghost steel and says they are not familiar with different planes but they will commune with Roshka and see if there is a way to reach these souls. Some of them may be hers and Roshka sometimes serves as a captain guiding lost souls through the afterlife. She might have guidance. They hand it back with a small blessing in Orcish: May the shore remain unbroken beneath their feet.

As the conversation ends, Audacity lingers to speak with Togworth and the others discuss what they should do next. Az wants to rest and then help his patron, Galowen wants to go to the Night Market. Togworth asks Audacity what he wants to discuss.

Audacity says that he wanted to apologize for how he spoke to him earlier. He’s had a very stressful few weeks and snapped at him and he didn’t deserve that. He apologizes.

Togworth gives him a softer smile at that. He’s an older gentleman and looks at him with an old, warm, tired smile. He says he’s been called much worse before. Audacity is forgiven, though he warns him that not everyone is an old teacher who is used to ignoring remarks from students and is capable of reflection. Audacity will not always be forgiven for turning his own troubles on others, and he and his friends will need more friends going forward. Not all friends that they can make in times like these are going to be perfect. They’re not going to be the choice of the litter. They’ll be people, and people, unlike most machines, will have a squeaky wheel. Sometimes the best way to make friends or companions or allies to fight this war is finding a way to communicate and to find common ground. It can be hard.

Audacity goes on a face journey before he says that he understands, but it’s hard when people put his family and friends in danger and do terrible things even for understandable reasons.

Togworth says sometimes it is helpful to get an explanation, not an excuse, as to why they did this. There is also the matter of when a machine destroys half of one’s collection where it’s not worth the pain that they would cause. Not all allies are worth it. Some people cannot be forgiven, what they did was too egregious. It comes down to what Audacity believes. Was the intent outweighing the pain? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. He thinks fondly of that arachnid.

No one can determine for Audacity what is too much, but he should know that there is a time and a place when it is okay that there is too much. If that’s too much negativity or danger or suffering or annoying, it’s okay. There’s a place for it. Sometimes when something is too much for him that doesn’t make it evil, it just makes it what Audacity is willing to handle, or how much is good for him to handle.

As a man divorced three times, he continues, which earns a startled snort from Audacity, it can take a while to figure out what one is willing to put himself through before he decides it’s too much.

Before he starts snapping at senators, Audacity says dryly.

Togworth agrees and says he won’t start a war on the matter. Though the Matron might, though, don't tell her he said so. When Audacity says that the senators going to war each other would be awkward, Togworth agrees.

Togworth shoos him away and says that he should see to Turen before he lays waste to Togworth for putting his son in danger. Audacity tells him that he could suggest to Turen that he should give his son the benefit of the doubt.

Togworth says that Turen is proud of his son, he reads all of his letters out to the senate and boasts about his son rescuing people. He’s simply protective.

The Hooligans leave the senators to their discussion and return to the Turen estate where they all begin to take some well earned rest before the Night Market.

There in the privacy of his own room, Audacity takes out the ghost steel and meditates with it, reaching out to Asalor to ask about it. He prays over it, used to prayer being a sense of warmth blanketing him. This time where his fingers touch the metal it’s cold. A frozen bolt of what feels like a frigid burning coldness lances through his chest in a flash of white.

Everything goes dark. Sound, scent, feeling, sensation, all is gone as Audacity feels almost undone. It feels like the first time he died. He opens his eyes to see a cold, icy expanse. Ahead of him there are frigid, frozen mountains reaching towards the sky in a perfect reflection of the mountains.

When he looks up, he sees his own reflection as wind howls through the snow. When he lifts his foot, there’s no footprints.

A second later, a sword is thrown at his feet. Audacity goes into a defensive stance, looking for the source of the person throwing the sword. He sees a woman in gold armor, tall, about six feet tall, a tiefling with coal gray skin and hair and two horns curling back from her face. She has gold painting on her face.

He recognizes her as Arayla as she tilts her head and tells him to pick up the sword.

Audacity obeys. It feels as natural in his hand as his staff. There’s a flash of gray and gold and white as she comes at him with a sword matching her armor. Her sword plunges through his incorporeal shoulder before she draws back and looks at him like it’s his turn to strike.

Audacity asks why and Arayla tells him that she and her brother have spoken about him. As he blinks, she tells him that he has potential. He knows what it’s like to be angry and betrayed. He agrees and says so does Asalor.

Arayla says her brother understands it in concept, and Audacity says the first person he killed was for Asalor. She says that her brother isn’t rejecting him, but she can feel the fire burning inside of him. She tries to circle him but he turns so that he’s always facing her.

She tells him the fires of the forge make the weapons. She asks if he recognizes the sword he holds and he recognizes it as the sword he made with Asalor. The swords made in the flames of the Forge have never been wielded by the ones who made them. Does he want to hurt the ones who hurt him, who hurt Galowen?

She moves into his face and asks if he wants to make Elathias pay. He says yes. She asks if there is redemption for everyone in this world. Audacity is quiet for a long moment before he says it’s not his call to make. She repeats the question. He says if they choose it. If they don’t choose it, then again, the first person he killed was for Asalor.

She says that the first blood he shed was in the name of her brother and he has been loyal to him ever since. She looks up and instead of her reflection beside Audacity in the sky, there is Asalor. She and Asalor’s reflection look at him as she says, “If Elathias reached out a hand asking for redemption, would you take it? Would you take the hand that killed your friend’s family? Would you lead him down a path of salvation?”

Audacity says he doesn’t know.

Arayla leans back and looks around at the serene winter. She offers a hand and Asalor’s reflection offers a hand as well.

Audacity says that she said she was here not because Asalor is rejecting him but because she’s reaching out. She says she is not claiming him as her own, she wouldn’t take her brother’s toy, but occasional flames can burn so hot they can feel cold and the winter and the forge sometimes can both agree on something.

Audacity thinks for a moment, before he says he would be honored to burn as needed.

Arayla says while she and her brother disagree on most topics, it may be possible to rest rage in one hand and temperance in the other. All things in balance, as Rova keeps saying. And if Rova keeps sending snakes into the snow, the next one will be returned without a head.

Audacity bows upwards towards Asalor and then kneels in the snow and offers her the blade in a gesture of fealty. She takes the blade from him and drives it into the snow at his feet as she kneels before him.

She grabs his chin and pulls him face to face with her and fiercely tells him that her champions kneel to no one, not even her.

Audacity rises. He tells her that he’ll have to work on that and she tells him to do it or to not even bother before she drives her sword through his chest.

He awakens on the floor barely clinging to life, his fingers and his lips cold as ice.

Hava pokes her head into the room and shrieks at the sight of him. She rushes over as Audacity curses and sits up and says there’s got to be an easier way to do that. She exclaims that he’s freezing and casts Cure Wounds on him.

She asks him what he was doing.

He says he was trying to ask Asalor about the ghost steel.

She tells him it’s evil. It’s not evil itself, but the people who made it are evil. She asks what Asalor said and Audacity explains he had a conversation with Arayla instead about killing things. Part of that is that she stabbed him twice with a sword.

When he opens his shirt, there are two frostburn-like scars through his shoulder and his chest.

Hava touches the scar on his chest. It’s like touching ice, even as she senses divine magic.

Audacity doesn’t feel the cold himself unless he touches it directly with his hand. She leads him outside onto a balcony to feel the Striogian sun for a moment. No matter how long he spends outside, the scar doesn’t feel warmer. It still feels cold. He tells Hava that he doesn’t feel cold, if that’s any comfort.

Hava says that’s good though she doesn’t understand. She asks if he’s sworn to a different deity now.

Audacity says sort of. He thinks he’s serving both twins now. He’s a champion of them both.

Hava says that’s pretty cool. She asks if he’s in pain. He says he feels like he got the shit kicked out of him but he got stabbed through the heart while dead so that makes sense. Hava says that’s a little hot and Audacity laughs.

She tells him that maybe Arayla could give him advice like not yelling at important political figures who are trying to help them. Audacity asks if she’s okay, and Hava says she is, she just wants to relax and go to the Night Market but get drunk beforehand.

They go hunting for the wine cellar in the basement. Hava gets comfortably buzzed and drags Diana and Galowen as well down to the basement to have a few drinks.

As they all get dressed, the Hooligans prepare to head off to the Night Market.