Post by Derthaad on Jun 6, 2023 17:42:54 GMT
Derthaad doesn't usually dress in his full uniform. He usually only has an overcoat of some sort that he can take it off quickly in the event that he is needed outside of work, or to just make the end of his shift that much more easier, but it's mostly just for comfort. Today, however, he had a new recruit joining his squad.
"Sir!" The salute comes from a newly recruited private. He's a young tiefling, looking not a year older than 20, his white drawn-back hair draping over his standard blue cloak. It was new. There are no tears in the cape, no wear on the bow, no cuts in the quiver. A fresh new recruit added to the Watch’s roster, and to Derthaad’s squad.
“Welcome to the Watch, private…”
“Private Valrus, Sir! Just Valrus…” the tiefling quickly corrected himself, “Sir.”
“Private Valrus! I heard that you have earned yourself a favour from those of high-profile. Tell me, private, I’m curious to know how you have accomplished such an impressive feat in such a short time.”
“T-thank you, sir,” the tiefling responded rather nervously. “Well… it was of a matter that further cemented my decision to join the Watch.”
“Oh?”
“It was a case that I wished to document and report, for I believe that a dangerous person may be among the populous.”
“A dangerous individual,” replies Derthaad curiously, “what kind of individual, private?”
“A woman by the name of Drusilia, Sir.”
Derthaad’s face hardens, his posture becoming straight and orderly. “A dangerous individual, indeed,” his tone stern and commanding. “Private Valrus, report!”
“Yes, Sir!” Valrus corrects his posture and takes a deep breath to steady himself. “I first saw the woman known as Drusilia during the month of Hammer. I do not recall the exact day but I remember it being during the first tenday. I was with some friends, having a warm stew at Hundor Stewshank, a locale with a view toward Portal Plaza. My associates were Julius, a firbolg greengrocer, Clover Hawkbit, a harengon milkman, Den, a half-elf novice to the Temple of Waukeen and Theo, the assistant from Pipper’s Wonderous Emporium. The day was nothing spectacular until a tall hooded woman in a silk cloak entered. The only thing notable about her initially was that she seemed someone too well off for a place like the Stewshank. That is until she sat down at a table and we were able to get a better look at her. She had red skin but seemed to have this brown complexion, something like vitiligo spots, and dark, almost purple, hair. Not long after she entered, a small figure ran in, grabbed her bag and was about to make its escape. Theo launched after the kid and managed to snatch back the bag and hand it over to her. She reached out to grab the bag with fingers that had longer-than-normal nails.”
Valrus stops, awaiting a reaction.
Derthaad simply nods, giving a sign for the new recruit to continue the report.
Valrus returns the nod. “She said she would thank us by… sparing us.”
“Sparing you? From what, in what way?”
“We didn’t realize this until later when the Duchess told us. She spared us form a charm, a charm that affected the entire city. The members of our little group were the only ones who were able to see her. As if… she was invisible to everyone else but us.”
“You’re telling me,” Derthaad’s voice takes a more dire tone, rising in intesity, “that this entire time she was walking through the city and no one was able to see her?”
“Sir! Sorry Sir!” comes an apologetic cry from Valrus. “I wanted to report this sooner, but no one seemed to bear it any mind and-”
“Calm down, private,” interjects Derthaad sternly, bringing his tone down to his usual commanding self. “I am not blaming you for this. But this is clearly a dire discovery. Continue!”
“Yes S-sir!” Valrus quickly gains his composure as he clears his throat. “After that, she disappeared. It seemed we completely forgot what happened in the following 15 minutes or so.” He takes another nervous breath, feeling sweat dripping down his temples and the back of his neck.
“The next time we saw her was during the third tenday of Alturiak. As per usual, our little group was having lunch at the Stewshank when suddenly a portal flared up. We thought nothing of it until the familiar silk-cloaked figure steps out of it. I was left with a sense of suspicion about her since the last time, so I tailed her. I know that I was still under the recruitment program and that the protocol dictated that I should have asked the aid of proper guardsmen for backup but, I didn’t want to lose sight and also I didn’t want to have too much of a commotion following her.”
Derthaad nods in agreement. “It’s good that you didn’t. Having a squad of guards following her would have made her act against it and may have aborted what she was up to. It was good to have her think that she was safe. Plus, by what you described, they would have been able to see her, so you would have just wasted precious time. Were you the only one who tailed her?”
The tiefling shakes his head. “No, Sir. Our previously mentioned group followed her, but mostly myself and the harengon were the ones who kept a close enough distance to her that were able to discover something. At some point, she went down a small alleyway that led to a fenced-off area that seemed to inhabit some vines and other shrubbery. I took cover behind some barrels and peered through the fence. I couldn’t see much, but I was able to see her talking to… a fairly ordinary individual by what I was able to distinguish. The individual looked more like an ordinary human male, average height, dark hair, middle age. He wore a simple brown shirt and breeches. In fact, one might say he looked boring. He was a direct contrast to the elegantly-dressed woman.”
“Were you able to understand what they were talking?”
“No, but Clover, the harengon, was able to hear what they discussed. He said something along the lines of:
Him: I gave you the location of the horn for your lord.
Her: Yes - do this for me and the plan will succeed - you will not see me again.”
If Derthaad had a reaction to that notion, his professionalism did not let him show it. “I assume that they did not disclose anything else regarding their plain?”
“No, Sir. They seemed to each have teleported out of there. What was interesting is that in the place where the woman stood, the grass seemed to have overgrown, even sprouting some unusual flowers that mostly belonged to the Feywilds. In the place where the man stood, the grown was scorched. It wrecked a foul stench.”
‘So, she was plotting with someone from the Nine Hells, then.’
“The next time we saw her was at the end of Chess, during the Festival of Coin. One of the fences for the goat petting zoo fell over and the goats were suddenly loose, causing massive chaos. It took the herders about 15 minutes to get them all back in their pen but, as they did, we saw her again, the silk-cloaked woman. She was coming out of the Temple of Waukeen and, as she did so, passed on what appeared to be a coin purse with a weird symbol, the one that has been spotted throughout Daring Heights, to one of the goat herders.”
“If she’s invisible to everyone else but you, then why would she need a distraction?”
“She needed to distract the clergy from the temple.” The response came quickly, a small sliver of pride seeping, like a pupil knowing the answer to the teacher’s question.
“How do you know that?”
“Because of the last time we saw her.”
“When was that?”
“Last day of Tarkash, Greengrass.” A short moment passes as Valrus realizes that this is his cue to continue. “There was a sudden incursion into Portal Plaza of a swarm of imps that were throwing pottery around and generally causing a lot of chaos. The pottery bore the symbol. The guardsmen came and told us to get to safety, which of course we followed their orders, but also helped other civilians. But, just like with the goat stampede, this was a distraction. Theo managed to spot the woman once again, but this time entering the Temple of Waukeen. He notified the guards and convinced them to check the inner halls of the temple.”
“Did they find anything?”
“No. At least, they didn’t.”
“Let me guess, they were not able to see Drusilia, correct?”
“Yes, Sir. They opened the door to the temple’s library and she was right there, but everyone else didn’t notice a thing. We were only able to spot her right as the door was closing. She was doing something, a ritual.”
“What kind of ritual?”
“A summoning ritual. When the guards left, we were also escorted out, so we went to report this to Aurelia in the hopes that the Council will be able to act upon it. Unfortunately, Aurelia was occupied so we were greeted by… a lich… sir.”
“Was her name Sabrina, by chance?”
“Yes… sir.”
“Did she report this further up?”
“I… do not know exactly if she did, sir, but she did assure us that she would. However, we were also greeted by the woman known as the Duchess, and she took matters into her own hand.”
“She’s a high-profile individual within the clergy of Waukeen. I assume that with her help you were able to further investigate?”
“Yes, sir. We went into the room when the woman was last seen. Like everyone else, the Duchess didn’t see anything. But we did. There was an infernal summoning circle drawn in the middle. It was hard to understand, but what I was able to read said 'summoning' 'when activated' 'big devils' 'conduits' 'more devils' 'danger'. With our help, the Duchess was able to dispel the circle. It is at this point that, in a nearby scrying mirror, the woman appears. This is when she introduced herself as Drusilia. There seems to be a hint of recognition between Drusilia and the Duchess.”
“Did Drusilia say anything?”
“She said that it doesn’t matter, that she has ‘done her part’.”
“Was that the last instance of when you saw her?”
“Yes, sir.”
It is now that Derthaad’s posture changed, adopting a more pensive look. “I have done my part”, he repeats.
“Is that all, sir?”
“I wish,” murmurs the dragonborn, “I feel like there’s something in the middle of all of this. Seems that the person in the middle of all of this chaos that has struck the Dawnlands this past half a year is someone from the lower planes. But who?”
“You think this is not over… sir?”
Derthaad shakes his head. “No. There’s a pattern here. Although the goats and the imps have been a distraction from what Drusilia was doing in the Temple of Waukeen. But I feel like even her trying to make that summoning circle in the temple was a distraction.”
“The Duchess told us that making an infernal summoning circle in the Temple of Waukeen, on hallowed ground, could have resulted in a catastrophic result. H-her blowing up the temple was… just a distraction? Sir?”
“Think about it… Everything that has been happening is of massive proportions. The Prideborn Trading company sows distrust towards the adventurers among the citizens of Kundar, the Behooved are pretty much ravaging the political climate in K’ul Goran, Drusilia bringing forth the Wild Hunt in the Feywilds…” Derthaad turns towards Valrus as he just not notices that he started pacing. “These are events of massive proportions that cannot be ignored, and they all seem to come to a boil very soon… almost simultaneously. Yes, private, I feel like whoever is orchestrating all of this has used the existing turmoil to sow chaos and distract the adventurers. The only reason we survived the invasion for as long as we did was because all of the adventurers were in one place. But now, the adventurers will be called to help… but this time it won’t be just one issue, but multiple.”
“Sir… you’re saying that…”
“That whatever will happen will be here and it will be big. Destroying the Temple of Waukeen could have been a great distraction, on par with the other places, a reason for the adventurers to react… while something else moved behind the scenes.”
“Sir, w-what should we do?” The question came with concern.
“We will have to report this and hope it gets to the higher-ups, maybe the Council. If the enemy is among us, we need to be prepared and on our guard.”
“Yes, Sir. Urm… orders… sir?”
“With me, if you can see those who are hidden in plain sight, then I will need your aid with this.”
"Sir, yes Sir!
"Sir!" The salute comes from a newly recruited private. He's a young tiefling, looking not a year older than 20, his white drawn-back hair draping over his standard blue cloak. It was new. There are no tears in the cape, no wear on the bow, no cuts in the quiver. A fresh new recruit added to the Watch’s roster, and to Derthaad’s squad.
“Welcome to the Watch, private…”
“Private Valrus, Sir! Just Valrus…” the tiefling quickly corrected himself, “Sir.”
“Private Valrus! I heard that you have earned yourself a favour from those of high-profile. Tell me, private, I’m curious to know how you have accomplished such an impressive feat in such a short time.”
“T-thank you, sir,” the tiefling responded rather nervously. “Well… it was of a matter that further cemented my decision to join the Watch.”
“Oh?”
“It was a case that I wished to document and report, for I believe that a dangerous person may be among the populous.”
“A dangerous individual,” replies Derthaad curiously, “what kind of individual, private?”
“A woman by the name of Drusilia, Sir.”
Derthaad’s face hardens, his posture becoming straight and orderly. “A dangerous individual, indeed,” his tone stern and commanding. “Private Valrus, report!”
“Yes, Sir!” Valrus corrects his posture and takes a deep breath to steady himself. “I first saw the woman known as Drusilia during the month of Hammer. I do not recall the exact day but I remember it being during the first tenday. I was with some friends, having a warm stew at Hundor Stewshank, a locale with a view toward Portal Plaza. My associates were Julius, a firbolg greengrocer, Clover Hawkbit, a harengon milkman, Den, a half-elf novice to the Temple of Waukeen and Theo, the assistant from Pipper’s Wonderous Emporium. The day was nothing spectacular until a tall hooded woman in a silk cloak entered. The only thing notable about her initially was that she seemed someone too well off for a place like the Stewshank. That is until she sat down at a table and we were able to get a better look at her. She had red skin but seemed to have this brown complexion, something like vitiligo spots, and dark, almost purple, hair. Not long after she entered, a small figure ran in, grabbed her bag and was about to make its escape. Theo launched after the kid and managed to snatch back the bag and hand it over to her. She reached out to grab the bag with fingers that had longer-than-normal nails.”
Valrus stops, awaiting a reaction.
Derthaad simply nods, giving a sign for the new recruit to continue the report.
Valrus returns the nod. “She said she would thank us by… sparing us.”
“Sparing you? From what, in what way?”
“We didn’t realize this until later when the Duchess told us. She spared us form a charm, a charm that affected the entire city. The members of our little group were the only ones who were able to see her. As if… she was invisible to everyone else but us.”
“You’re telling me,” Derthaad’s voice takes a more dire tone, rising in intesity, “that this entire time she was walking through the city and no one was able to see her?”
“Sir! Sorry Sir!” comes an apologetic cry from Valrus. “I wanted to report this sooner, but no one seemed to bear it any mind and-”
“Calm down, private,” interjects Derthaad sternly, bringing his tone down to his usual commanding self. “I am not blaming you for this. But this is clearly a dire discovery. Continue!”
“Yes S-sir!” Valrus quickly gains his composure as he clears his throat. “After that, she disappeared. It seemed we completely forgot what happened in the following 15 minutes or so.” He takes another nervous breath, feeling sweat dripping down his temples and the back of his neck.
“The next time we saw her was during the third tenday of Alturiak. As per usual, our little group was having lunch at the Stewshank when suddenly a portal flared up. We thought nothing of it until the familiar silk-cloaked figure steps out of it. I was left with a sense of suspicion about her since the last time, so I tailed her. I know that I was still under the recruitment program and that the protocol dictated that I should have asked the aid of proper guardsmen for backup but, I didn’t want to lose sight and also I didn’t want to have too much of a commotion following her.”
Derthaad nods in agreement. “It’s good that you didn’t. Having a squad of guards following her would have made her act against it and may have aborted what she was up to. It was good to have her think that she was safe. Plus, by what you described, they would have been able to see her, so you would have just wasted precious time. Were you the only one who tailed her?”
The tiefling shakes his head. “No, Sir. Our previously mentioned group followed her, but mostly myself and the harengon were the ones who kept a close enough distance to her that were able to discover something. At some point, she went down a small alleyway that led to a fenced-off area that seemed to inhabit some vines and other shrubbery. I took cover behind some barrels and peered through the fence. I couldn’t see much, but I was able to see her talking to… a fairly ordinary individual by what I was able to distinguish. The individual looked more like an ordinary human male, average height, dark hair, middle age. He wore a simple brown shirt and breeches. In fact, one might say he looked boring. He was a direct contrast to the elegantly-dressed woman.”
“Were you able to understand what they were talking?”
“No, but Clover, the harengon, was able to hear what they discussed. He said something along the lines of:
Him: I gave you the location of the horn for your lord.
Her: Yes - do this for me and the plan will succeed - you will not see me again.”
If Derthaad had a reaction to that notion, his professionalism did not let him show it. “I assume that they did not disclose anything else regarding their plain?”
“No, Sir. They seemed to each have teleported out of there. What was interesting is that in the place where the woman stood, the grass seemed to have overgrown, even sprouting some unusual flowers that mostly belonged to the Feywilds. In the place where the man stood, the grown was scorched. It wrecked a foul stench.”
‘So, she was plotting with someone from the Nine Hells, then.’
“The next time we saw her was at the end of Chess, during the Festival of Coin. One of the fences for the goat petting zoo fell over and the goats were suddenly loose, causing massive chaos. It took the herders about 15 minutes to get them all back in their pen but, as they did, we saw her again, the silk-cloaked woman. She was coming out of the Temple of Waukeen and, as she did so, passed on what appeared to be a coin purse with a weird symbol, the one that has been spotted throughout Daring Heights, to one of the goat herders.”
“If she’s invisible to everyone else but you, then why would she need a distraction?”
“She needed to distract the clergy from the temple.” The response came quickly, a small sliver of pride seeping, like a pupil knowing the answer to the teacher’s question.
“How do you know that?”
“Because of the last time we saw her.”
“When was that?”
“Last day of Tarkash, Greengrass.” A short moment passes as Valrus realizes that this is his cue to continue. “There was a sudden incursion into Portal Plaza of a swarm of imps that were throwing pottery around and generally causing a lot of chaos. The pottery bore the symbol. The guardsmen came and told us to get to safety, which of course we followed their orders, but also helped other civilians. But, just like with the goat stampede, this was a distraction. Theo managed to spot the woman once again, but this time entering the Temple of Waukeen. He notified the guards and convinced them to check the inner halls of the temple.”
“Did they find anything?”
“No. At least, they didn’t.”
“Let me guess, they were not able to see Drusilia, correct?”
“Yes, Sir. They opened the door to the temple’s library and she was right there, but everyone else didn’t notice a thing. We were only able to spot her right as the door was closing. She was doing something, a ritual.”
“What kind of ritual?”
“A summoning ritual. When the guards left, we were also escorted out, so we went to report this to Aurelia in the hopes that the Council will be able to act upon it. Unfortunately, Aurelia was occupied so we were greeted by… a lich… sir.”
“Was her name Sabrina, by chance?”
“Yes… sir.”
“Did she report this further up?”
“I… do not know exactly if she did, sir, but she did assure us that she would. However, we were also greeted by the woman known as the Duchess, and she took matters into her own hand.”
“She’s a high-profile individual within the clergy of Waukeen. I assume that with her help you were able to further investigate?”
“Yes, sir. We went into the room when the woman was last seen. Like everyone else, the Duchess didn’t see anything. But we did. There was an infernal summoning circle drawn in the middle. It was hard to understand, but what I was able to read said 'summoning' 'when activated' 'big devils' 'conduits' 'more devils' 'danger'. With our help, the Duchess was able to dispel the circle. It is at this point that, in a nearby scrying mirror, the woman appears. This is when she introduced herself as Drusilia. There seems to be a hint of recognition between Drusilia and the Duchess.”
“Did Drusilia say anything?”
“She said that it doesn’t matter, that she has ‘done her part’.”
“Was that the last instance of when you saw her?”
“Yes, sir.”
It is now that Derthaad’s posture changed, adopting a more pensive look. “I have done my part”, he repeats.
“Is that all, sir?”
“I wish,” murmurs the dragonborn, “I feel like there’s something in the middle of all of this. Seems that the person in the middle of all of this chaos that has struck the Dawnlands this past half a year is someone from the lower planes. But who?”
“You think this is not over… sir?”
Derthaad shakes his head. “No. There’s a pattern here. Although the goats and the imps have been a distraction from what Drusilia was doing in the Temple of Waukeen. But I feel like even her trying to make that summoning circle in the temple was a distraction.”
“The Duchess told us that making an infernal summoning circle in the Temple of Waukeen, on hallowed ground, could have resulted in a catastrophic result. H-her blowing up the temple was… just a distraction? Sir?”
“Think about it… Everything that has been happening is of massive proportions. The Prideborn Trading company sows distrust towards the adventurers among the citizens of Kundar, the Behooved are pretty much ravaging the political climate in K’ul Goran, Drusilia bringing forth the Wild Hunt in the Feywilds…” Derthaad turns towards Valrus as he just not notices that he started pacing. “These are events of massive proportions that cannot be ignored, and they all seem to come to a boil very soon… almost simultaneously. Yes, private, I feel like whoever is orchestrating all of this has used the existing turmoil to sow chaos and distract the adventurers. The only reason we survived the invasion for as long as we did was because all of the adventurers were in one place. But now, the adventurers will be called to help… but this time it won’t be just one issue, but multiple.”
“Sir… you’re saying that…”
“That whatever will happen will be here and it will be big. Destroying the Temple of Waukeen could have been a great distraction, on par with the other places, a reason for the adventurers to react… while something else moved behind the scenes.”
“Sir, w-what should we do?” The question came with concern.
“We will have to report this and hope it gets to the higher-ups, maybe the Council. If the enemy is among us, we need to be prepared and on our guard.”
“Yes, Sir. Urm… orders… sir?”
“With me, if you can see those who are hidden in plain sight, then I will need your aid with this.”
"Sir, yes Sir!