Murder in the Temple – Orianna Èirigh – 18.08.2022
Aug 24, 2022 10:42:24 GMT
Jaezred Vandree, Velania Kalugina, and 4 more like this
Post by Orianna Èirigh on Aug 24, 2022 10:42:24 GMT
She had been awoken very early that morning by Gerhard’s soft movements through their bedroom. He had received a Call from the Staircase — So soon after the first… — but the timing was not so bad. Orianna would be occupied with her own task later that day.
The young archivist had come across a letter on the Academy’s Notice Board. The note came from an acolyte of the Temple of Bahamut in Kundar, the draconic metropolis north-west of the Sunset Spine. Orianna had not been there yet, but she had heard of it. It could be a chance to see what that city was like, to get a feel for the nearest draconic neighbour, to understand their culture, its place in the world.
And if the stars aligned just right, perhaps it could be an opportunity to find a clue as to whether or not her fathers had passed that way…
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
It seems like every week I am meeting new people, new “adventuring comrades” as Kavel would put it.
The familiar face of Beets was there in Portal Plaza where we were to meet. It was nice to see her again. But she was the only one I knew. Keros was the first of the new faces I met. A minotaur from K’ul Goran, a very enthusiastic fighter I found out later, full of rage similar to Beets. I am embarrassed to say, I almost did not know where to look — such little clothing he wore and yet his form was the most exquisitely sculpted to rival even the strongest among the Talons of the Sun. I spoke with him briefly before the others arrived, discovering he was part of the legions of K’ul Gorani who descended into Avernus a few years ago. The look in his eyes told all the story I needed to hear.
A peculiar aasimar woman by the name of Nessa arrived after Beets with her sweets, decked out in what I presumed to think was a fancy dress costume of what she thought a vampire hunter would look like: garlic draped around her neck, wooden stakes instead of daggers on her legs, and a How to Slay a Vampire for Dummies in her hands, which she was reading. The note said the Temple of Bahamut was worried it was vampires attacking their acolytes but one should not assume such things without seeing proof for ourselves if we are to help properly, no? Her intentions were in the right place though.
The final person to arrive was nakata* Boosya. She, along with Beets, offered everyone carrot cake — a kind gesture but I cannot eat sweet things so early in the morning…
*nakata = Primordial for elder
Kundar is even larger than I could have imagined!
It took nearly a whole hour to walk from the teleportation circle up to the Temple of Bahamut where we met Madaline Highland (the originator of the note) and Cornelius (a more senior priest of the Platinum Dragon)...
We were shown the five bodies of those who were attacked.
The first was a human man, not from the temple. He arrived five days or so before the last killing, ‘speaking in tongues’ as Cornelius and Madaline told us, which meant they could not understand him. They were not able to find out where the first victim was from but they did say when he arrived he was from somewhere in the Dawnlands, and he had been travelling for several days, most likely through the mountains before arriving in Kundar. There were two other odd things about the man were his eyes — they were white as snow (possibly blind?) and he seemed to clutch at his chest a lot.
Did he somehow know his heart would be ripped from his chest? Cornelius told me later that no one knew what sort of creature attacked the first victim but by the fact that Madaline was attacked by the last, is it possible that something followed the man here on purpose?
They were trying to get to those caves.
Wait. Madness. From the mountains. Undeath. Power unsurpassed.
Could it be the second prophecy Grougaloragran told us is starting to happen?…
The soft tap tap tapping ceases against the writing desk as she comes to a sudden stop. Violet eyes drift up from the page of the journal Orianna writes in to find the middle distance.
Cornelius leads them to the hallway where Yorik was killed, specifically to an intersection of hallways. Orianna isn’t sure if it’s important or not but she makes note of the location anyways. There are scratches on the marble, and her magic detecting eyes see the telltale signs of necrotic magic wafting off the marks. Nessa finds the end of a broken claw in one and proceeds to cast a spell over it just as Keros points out clusters of five points jabbed into the ceiling. Clearly this thing can move around very quickly and very nimbly if there’s a surface for it to climb.
The young archivist turns back to the jagged markings and reaches out, letting the foxes cunning Boosya gifted her help her keen mind See what would remain hidden.
Something latches onto her, ready and eager. She isn’t scared, not yet. She’s curious and slightly cautious. Orianna reads this power as a reinforcing one, fortifying limbs so they can strike out at something with additional strength to rip the life force out of a creature. Her breaths quicken as dark flames begin to bloom between her fingers, wanting to meld with her. Something, an echo of a presence or will, wants to enter her mind, not to possess her but for… something else.
Let me in… Let me in…
It’s risky. She knows this. But there’s something in the back of her mind that wants to know. Still, Orianna hesitates, thinking of Gerhard. Would it be foolish to do this? If she doesn’t, would they miss an opportunity to better understand what it is that’s attacking the devotees of Bahamut?
Oh Great Cosmos, enfold and protect me from all things evil, she prays.
Then she opens her mind.
Her body is wracked with pain as a myriad of voices scream into her head. It feels like her skull is being split five different ways, her body being torn apart. Beyond her pain she feels unfathomable anger, unbearable hunger, and the need to feed. As this happens the other sees the black fire race up her arm towards her heart and head. Something tries to connect with her soul but the light Orianna carries within, along with the ringing sound of pure starlight, rebuffs the necrotic magic. The moment it is shoved back the presence fades away, rapidly, and the fire bursts into a puff of nothing as if it never was.
Orianna collapses to the ground, panting, clutching her hand to her chest, shaking.
“Orianna, are you okay?!” Beets’ panicked question comes to her.
“Grr, come back and show yourself!” Keros shouts over her, swinging around like he’s expecting something to come out of the walls so he can fight it.
Nessa shakes her head, coming out of her scrying spell, confused, whilst Boosya waddles over, pressing an extra creamy slice of carrot cake into her hands.
“Eat this dearie. It will help you feel better, stronger even.” It’s hard to tell, but Orianna thinks the elderly harengon gives her a disapproving look. “We’ll all need some extra oomph I think,” she says, passing out more slices of carrot cake to the others.
Orianna flips back in her journal to the page where she wrote Grougaloragran’s prophecy. She had not looked at it since returning from the Study but she remembered it clearly as if it was yesterday — thanks to the weird time disjointedness of Mister’s meddling. With the lines burning in her mind, she turns back to her current entry:
Cornelius mentioned the opinions of dragons has shifted in Kundar. When asked why, the obvious and most recent event he said was because of the githyanki and red dragon attack. But before that, and something I did not know about was a corrupted copper dragon used to be under the city. The dragon has since been saved and is healing elsewhere but with two such major events in recent times it is not surprising the people of the dragon metropolis might start feeling differently to their dragon lineages.
But what will that mean for them? Will this question make it easier for what happened at the Temple of Bahamut to happen again, but elsewhere? Perhaps at the Temple of Tiamat?
Whatever the answers may be, the questions I have are only just beginning. I know what kind of presence is trying to make itself known. I have experienced it.
She stops writing and looks at her still blackened left hand. It has faded considerably since yesterday, but she knows Gerhard will ask what happened, and she will have to explain everything — and see the worry on his face when she does.
Blackened fingers curl into a fist and she returns to her writing, the tap tap tapping picking up again.
My intention was to find a lead towards my fathers but this is something I cannot ignore. Undeath is not something I can ignore. The Old Gods of Ashkha- Orianna found it slightly difficult to write the name, but she pressed on. -do not abide whilst they walk the earth. I still may not know why I had a vision of my being here but I cannot wait for something to come where there are such concerns that need to be dealt with.
The sooner, the better…
The young archivist had come across a letter on the Academy’s Notice Board. The note came from an acolyte of the Temple of Bahamut in Kundar, the draconic metropolis north-west of the Sunset Spine. Orianna had not been there yet, but she had heard of it. It could be a chance to see what that city was like, to get a feel for the nearest draconic neighbour, to understand their culture, its place in the world.
And if the stars aligned just right, perhaps it could be an opportunity to find a clue as to whether or not her fathers had passed that way…
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
It seems like every week I am meeting new people, new “adventuring comrades” as Kavel would put it.
The familiar face of Beets was there in Portal Plaza where we were to meet. It was nice to see her again. But she was the only one I knew. Keros was the first of the new faces I met. A minotaur from K’ul Goran, a very enthusiastic fighter I found out later, full of rage similar to Beets. I am embarrassed to say, I almost did not know where to look — such little clothing he wore and yet his form was the most exquisitely sculpted to rival even the strongest among the Talons of the Sun. I spoke with him briefly before the others arrived, discovering he was part of the legions of K’ul Gorani who descended into Avernus a few years ago. The look in his eyes told all the story I needed to hear.
A peculiar aasimar woman by the name of Nessa arrived after Beets with her sweets, decked out in what I presumed to think was a fancy dress costume of what she thought a vampire hunter would look like: garlic draped around her neck, wooden stakes instead of daggers on her legs, and a How to Slay a Vampire for Dummies in her hands, which she was reading. The note said the Temple of Bahamut was worried it was vampires attacking their acolytes but one should not assume such things without seeing proof for ourselves if we are to help properly, no? Her intentions were in the right place though.
The final person to arrive was nakata* Boosya. She, along with Beets, offered everyone carrot cake — a kind gesture but I cannot eat sweet things so early in the morning…
*nakata = Primordial for elder
Kundar is even larger than I could have imagined!
It took nearly a whole hour to walk from the teleportation circle up to the Temple of Bahamut where we met Madaline Highland (the originator of the note) and Cornelius (a more senior priest of the Platinum Dragon)...
We were shown the five bodies of those who were attacked.
The first was a human man, not from the temple. He arrived five days or so before the last killing, ‘speaking in tongues’ as Cornelius and Madaline told us, which meant they could not understand him. They were not able to find out where the first victim was from but they did say when he arrived he was from somewhere in the Dawnlands, and he had been travelling for several days, most likely through the mountains before arriving in Kundar. There were two other odd things about the man were his eyes — they were white as snow (possibly blind?) and he seemed to clutch at his chest a lot.
Did he somehow know his heart would be ripped from his chest? Cornelius told me later that no one knew what sort of creature attacked the first victim but by the fact that Madaline was attacked by the last, is it possible that something followed the man here on purpose?
They were trying to get to those caves.
Wait. Madness. From the mountains. Undeath. Power unsurpassed.
Could it be the second prophecy Grougaloragran told us is starting to happen?…
The soft tap tap tapping ceases against the writing desk as she comes to a sudden stop. Violet eyes drift up from the page of the journal Orianna writes in to find the middle distance.
Cornelius leads them to the hallway where Yorik was killed, specifically to an intersection of hallways. Orianna isn’t sure if it’s important or not but she makes note of the location anyways. There are scratches on the marble, and her magic detecting eyes see the telltale signs of necrotic magic wafting off the marks. Nessa finds the end of a broken claw in one and proceeds to cast a spell over it just as Keros points out clusters of five points jabbed into the ceiling. Clearly this thing can move around very quickly and very nimbly if there’s a surface for it to climb.
The young archivist turns back to the jagged markings and reaches out, letting the foxes cunning Boosya gifted her help her keen mind See what would remain hidden.
Something latches onto her, ready and eager. She isn’t scared, not yet. She’s curious and slightly cautious. Orianna reads this power as a reinforcing one, fortifying limbs so they can strike out at something with additional strength to rip the life force out of a creature. Her breaths quicken as dark flames begin to bloom between her fingers, wanting to meld with her. Something, an echo of a presence or will, wants to enter her mind, not to possess her but for… something else.
Let me in… Let me in…
It’s risky. She knows this. But there’s something in the back of her mind that wants to know. Still, Orianna hesitates, thinking of Gerhard. Would it be foolish to do this? If she doesn’t, would they miss an opportunity to better understand what it is that’s attacking the devotees of Bahamut?
Oh Great Cosmos, enfold and protect me from all things evil, she prays.
Then she opens her mind.
Her body is wracked with pain as a myriad of voices scream into her head. It feels like her skull is being split five different ways, her body being torn apart. Beyond her pain she feels unfathomable anger, unbearable hunger, and the need to feed. As this happens the other sees the black fire race up her arm towards her heart and head. Something tries to connect with her soul but the light Orianna carries within, along with the ringing sound of pure starlight, rebuffs the necrotic magic. The moment it is shoved back the presence fades away, rapidly, and the fire bursts into a puff of nothing as if it never was.
Orianna collapses to the ground, panting, clutching her hand to her chest, shaking.
“Orianna, are you okay?!” Beets’ panicked question comes to her.
“Grr, come back and show yourself!” Keros shouts over her, swinging around like he’s expecting something to come out of the walls so he can fight it.
Nessa shakes her head, coming out of her scrying spell, confused, whilst Boosya waddles over, pressing an extra creamy slice of carrot cake into her hands.
“Eat this dearie. It will help you feel better, stronger even.” It’s hard to tell, but Orianna thinks the elderly harengon gives her a disapproving look. “We’ll all need some extra oomph I think,” she says, passing out more slices of carrot cake to the others.
Orianna flips back in her journal to the page where she wrote Grougaloragran’s prophecy. She had not looked at it since returning from the Study but she remembered it clearly as if it was yesterday — thanks to the weird time disjointedness of Mister’s meddling. With the lines burning in her mind, she turns back to her current entry:
Cornelius mentioned the opinions of dragons has shifted in Kundar. When asked why, the obvious and most recent event he said was because of the githyanki and red dragon attack. But before that, and something I did not know about was a corrupted copper dragon used to be under the city. The dragon has since been saved and is healing elsewhere but with two such major events in recent times it is not surprising the people of the dragon metropolis might start feeling differently to their dragon lineages.
But what will that mean for them? Will this question make it easier for what happened at the Temple of Bahamut to happen again, but elsewhere? Perhaps at the Temple of Tiamat?
Whatever the answers may be, the questions I have are only just beginning. I know what kind of presence is trying to make itself known. I have experienced it.
She stops writing and looks at her still blackened left hand. It has faded considerably since yesterday, but she knows Gerhard will ask what happened, and she will have to explain everything — and see the worry on his face when she does.
Blackened fingers curl into a fist and she returns to her writing, the tap tap tapping picking up again.
My intention was to find a lead towards my fathers but this is something I cannot ignore. Undeath is not something I can ignore. The Old Gods of Ashkha- Orianna found it slightly difficult to write the name, but she pressed on. -do not abide whilst they walk the earth. I still may not know why I had a vision of my being here but I cannot wait for something to come where there are such concerns that need to be dealt with.
The sooner, the better…