Session 103.4

Server started; please wait for map to refresh.

Liatai has connected.

VAE:and now, the lynx goes to shower, shouldn't be long, anyways

VAE:and will prob'ly heat himself up some dinner, to

Liatai:That's fine, I'll go grab some tea in the meantime. :3

Liatai:... I can't help but feel like I'm missing a renegade Macer. Lemme check my lists again.

Liatai:No, I've got them all... huh.

* VAE back, nomming

Liatai:Heyo. :3 Just finishing a snack, myself. And moving NPCs.

VAE:hhaha, an avatar of Mink

Liatai:Huh? -- Oh, you've joined as a GM, I see. :B

Liatai:I just put the Mink there so I'd be able to find it quickly in a pinch. x3

VAE:I run the server

Liatai:You can still select to run a server and connect as a player.

VAE:?

VAE:how?

VAE:Probably one of those options I ignored

Liatai:Not sure, it's been a while since I've hosted. :B But Ghost does it all the time.

GM:<font color="#000000">Right! So! Shall we?

VAE:<font color="#000000">Righto

* VAE looks for token as usual

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Basement level. Just use Map Explorer.

VAE:<font color="#000000">Right, found him, Temple, still

VAE:<font color="#000000">Oh, as an asid

VAE:<font color="#000000">Balding Kordite looks kinda like Igor's evil (good?) twin XD

Liatai:<font color="#000000">:B

VAE:<font color="#000000">Why does that suddenly give me plotbunnies ? :3

VAE:<font color="#000000">Anyways

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Hrm. I never finished Roy's equipment. Ah well, I can do that later.

VAE:<font color="#000000">If you need to, no problem waiting a bit here

Liatai:<font color="#000000">No, no need. I'll just fudge, unless Miron decides for some reason to take a swing at &quot;Commander Scary Eyeball,&quot; as Tom referred to him in narration yesterday. XP

VAE:<font color="#000000">hahaha

VAE:<font color="#000000">Well, if Miron would consider him untrustworthy, all you need is his fort save .. .. and probably his BaB afterwards :3

VAE:<font color="#000000">Anyways. --Oompah-loompah-- GM, set the scene! :3

GM:<font color="#000000">The party's returned from rescuing Sheythsanthi, and there have been some greetings, congratulations, strategizings, reunions, what have you already. -- Say, do you mind if I invite audience members?

VAE:<font color="#000000">not at all

GM:<font color="#000000">The party has since dispersed to do their own things and prepare for the night's jailbreak. What to do, Miron?

Miron:<font color="#000000">''At least that fucking devil didn't wait us out on our way back... still, they do know we got a celestial here now. Ah well, the bodkin would have burst out of the sack sooner or later. Now, to find Gradia.. she might want to have a word with the Senior Inquisitor we pulled out of that shithole too. Hm. Perhaps the first reasonable elf I have met in my life. ''

Miron:<font color="#000000">The inquisitor begins looking around the compound below the temple.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hey Anise.. seen Gradia.. Senior Analyst Thorngage, anywhere?&quot;

Martin Sawyer:<font color="#000000">In this corner, the Olidamarran brothers and a long-haired drow are strategizing over a map, while the lieutenant commander looks on.

Miron:<font color="#000000">''Drow working with the Mace. Half a year ago I'd have cursed anyone to suggest this sort of shit. ''

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;Huh? Oh hey, Miron.&quot; ... actually lemme move Gradia from where she was.

* Ansramil Hawkin offers a nod in greeting.

* Miron nods back

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;I think she went to talk to that red-haired archivist.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;To kill two spiders with one stomp, or so they say.&quot;

* Miron grins

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot;... You do understand that if you do happen to be a player in a grand ruse, Lyle, we will have your badge. &quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot; Me? Engage in trickery and deceit? You wound me, Miss Thorngage. &quot; |3

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot; Very funny. &quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;That said... bloody hell, you should have been with us, for the laughs at least. And because if I'll be telling Flint what a celestial of theirs is like, he'll trust me like a goat trusts a wolf.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hell, he got Tom pissed off.&quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hooboy. What happened?&quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;... That's possible if you're not a fiend?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;If you're a celestial who thinks with his fists, it is.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;See... we were going through the streets, and a devil started taking potshots at us. The thing lunged after it, but screwed up and let it escape.&quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;... well, not like it's easy to stop one of those things from teleporting unless you've got magic...&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Then we come to the Senior Inquisitor's house. There's a town guard patrol there already. We wonder whether to take them down silently, or whether to talk. Tom sneaked up, and found they aren't possessed, so he went to talk to them.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Oh, it didn't teleport away, it fled right and proper.&quot;

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Actually, it did teleport. ^^;

VAE:<font color="#000000">Remember, it was on the roofs

VAE:<font color="#000000">Miron didn't even *see* it

Liatai:<font color="#000000">True, but I think some PCs commented on it. ^^;

VAE:<font color="#000000">ugh ,frak

VAE:<font color="#000000">interrupt, family will be calling

VAE:<font color="#000000">so, you can actually stat out Roy in the meantime

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Flatcat laying on my books =3=;;;

VAE:<font color="#000000">he

VAE:<font color="#000000">heee

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Ready?

VAE:<font color="#000000">not quite

VAE:<font color="#000000">and done with phonin'

Ansramil Hawkin:<font color="#000000">&quot;... seeing as you're here to speak with us, I imagine he didn't get too close to them.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Actually, he did. He was talking to them and doing the usual &quot;we're inquisitors so we get to pull rank and tell you to go where the carpenter left a hole&quot; when the clever Kord's servant dropped from a roof and bashed their heads together.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;He didn't knock them out.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;They started screaming like if he was peeling their skin off.&quot;

Ansramil Hawkin:<font color="#000000">&quot; Where the carpenter...? &quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot; Mironism. You get used to 'em. &quot; |3

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Gamal knocked them out, thankfully.. hell, if it had come to it I had a silencing spell prepared to drop over the place ... didn't have time to use it.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;And his excuse? They were Hextor's faithful. Because that of course allows him to take a shit over orders and put half the town on alert.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Of course I didn't hold my tongue by the leash, but at that point, Tom had enough of it.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;And of course, gave him the sort of talk Ashmore tends to hand out.&quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;... Huh.&quot;

* Ansramil Hawkin seems somewhat lost, but doesn't comment.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Except a bit louder of course. &quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot; Ashmore's our commander. Usually has a face like this. &quot; :|

VAE:<font color="#000000">and fuck, another call

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot; Or sometimes this. &quot; &gt;:|

VAE:<font color="#000000">and dealt with

VAE:<font color="#000000">fff

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Right... it boiled down to I don't care if they're the servants of hellspawn and sold their mother, father and uncle to Asmodeus himself, you aren't a judge, or even an inquisitor, so you do what we order you, or you're going to leave the material plane quicker than a fart leaves holey trousers.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;After that, it behaved itself considerably more.&quot;

Striga:<font color="#000000">Hop hop hop.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hey, Striga!&quot; *attempts to pet the owl* &quot;Sorry... no rats in this basement, there were.&quot;

* Striga looks disappointed, but allows pettings.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'll bring you a bunch next time, there's bound to be some in the prison.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">*looks up* &quot;Senior Analyst Thorngage.. I .. er. .I was attempting to find you, and didn't want to interrupt. Inquisitor Steelsprocket reporting.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">Quickly turns to Anise &quot;See you later..

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot;So I heard. Report.&quot;

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot;Seeya.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Overall, we managed to rescue the senior inquisitor in question, and secure most of the files he kept. &quot;

* Ansramil Hawkin nods farewell.

Anise Berilan:<font color="#000000">&quot; So what was that technique you were talking about again...? &quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;At the time we arrived, the basement was overrun with devils, and they managed to ambush us... the traps Senior Inquisitor Simtherzervain set up there didn't allow them passage into the more remote parts of the basement.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;The house has been tunnelled under, stretching over several times its area..the underground section was comparable to the size of this temple's basement, though less open. A hard place to get someone out of.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;That said.. we have encountered a number of difficulties - a devil who has acknowledged the presence of the celestial with us managed to escape, and he ... unwisely revealed himself to two town guards at the house's entrance.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;In other words, by now they can be sure we have one at our command.. no, near us.&quot;

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hm. Unfortunate.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Asides from the unruly celestiaI, I have encountered no difficulties regarding the rest of the Guardians present.&quot;

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot;Better.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Now... I believe I was intent on speaking with Archivist Petersen regarding the events taking place here, of course with .. precautions.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Unless there's something precluding this.&quot;

Gradia Thorngage:<font color="#000000">&quot;Very well. Not at all. Proceed.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Thank you, Senior Analyst.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">Miron does a textbook salute, and goes off on his way.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;So... here I see the man whose robes kept dry even being grabbed by the neck by an angel of Kord.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Inquisitor Steelsprocket, by the way.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">Miron is smiling slightly.

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Hm... We'll assume this is before Lyle got talked to by Serrierr a second time. :B

VAE:<font color="#000000">ohh?

VAE:<font color="#000000">Should I read it?

* VAE giggles

VAE:<font color="#000000">I should have joined that game on sunday.. not like i did anything useful

VAE:<font color="#000000">Also, lynx might well be having creeping crud

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;And just as I was about to say that I don't believe I know the name of my would-be interrogator this time.&quot; The archivist smirks in return. &quot;Archivist Lyle Petersen, Yoriver branch, by the way. Just Steelsprocket, then? Unusual for a gnome to only have one name.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">and back wit htea

Liatai:<font color="#000000">You can certainly read it if you like. :3 It's actually quite good.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Inquisitor Miron Segras Ironwrit Steelsprocket, if we're to get all stuffy. But then... these days it's unusual to be a gnome.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;And Braxton Falls branch, though you prob'ly know that much.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Mm, sad but true.&quot;

Liatai:<font color="#000000">I'm sure you'd get a kick out of Lyle's responses to Serrierr's lectures. You know what, I'm reccomending you read it sometime. x3

VAE:<font color="#000000">I might after the game

VAE:<font color="#000000">hell, I bloody will

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;If I didn't know you knew Gradia, I'd have assumed that referred to our branch... &quot; *laugh*

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Of course, for the sake of our cooperation ,and your teeth..&quot;

* Lyle Petersen chuckles raspily in return. &quot;So. May I ask what 'precautions' you may be taking during this interrogation, Inquisitor Miron Segras Ironwrit Steelsprocket? I may need to lower some wards, depending on your choices.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Oh, what I tend to use these days has to do with meself rather than the one to be questioned.. that said, I do have an Elixir of Truth that's half a year old, and if I'll find your answers suspect, I will force it down your gullet&quot; *grin*

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Such violent times these are.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Tell me 'bout it... A few days ago I got stuck in a crossfire between your colleagues who made it off like a Kaduan, a bunch of devils, a fuckton of drow, and the Guardians.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;But we might as well deal with it formally.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">ugh, nature calling. Brb

VAE:<font color="#000000">and sorry for the many interruptions today

Liatai:<font color="#000000">It's okay... just know I only have about two hours left before I need to get ready for Dorf Fortress. ^^;

VAE:<font color="#000000">back

VAE:<font color="#000000">two hours should be fine

VAE:<font color="#000000">Worst case, we do what Hatari did and finish it off other time

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;First of all, lower any and all of your wards that might interfere with the interrogation. I shall check before we begin.&quot;

* Miron waits.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hard to say what may interfere if the means of interrogation are not made clear.&quot; =3=

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Then err on the side of compliance, Inquisitor.&quot;

* Miron grins even more.

Miron:<font color="#000000">*Archivist

VAE:<font color="#000000">ffff

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;After all, should you be a more martially-inclined inquisitor, then armor would be considered a ward, wouldn't it.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Touche. However, I know better ways of causing pain than with my fist or mace.. and if I needed that, I'd have called Anise.&quot;

Liatai:<font color="#000000">... dangit, nature calls... but the cat has hugged my legs with her tail... Don't wanna get up... =3=;

VAE:<font color="#000000">hahaha

VAE:<font color="#000000">That said, Anise providing the fist in an interrogation was brilliant, especially for how much that Spindlethorn wasn't expecting it

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Anise...? Ah, her.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Yes, her. You don't want your forehead in an intimate relation with her knee.&quot;.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Mm, I suppose not. I do hope you have not had many accidental intimate relations of that sort.&quot; He slips a ring off his finger, and pockets it. &quot;Very well. Commence with checking.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;But regardless. We might get a talk about more civil matters in later, if your answers are found satisfactory.&quot; Miron waves his hand over Lyle, uttering a word of command. Detect Magic and &#171; &#160;1d20+19 = 11 + 19 = 30&#160; <font color="#000000">&#187; Spellcraft to see if all is as should.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;One question. Do you consider cigarettes a ward? They do have a tendency to keep others away.&quot; The archivist smirks, holding up an unlit one. There's the constant Magic Circle Against Evil effect the temple gives, and a wide variety of magic item effects, but given he just stowed his Ring of Mind Shielding, nothing should interfere.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Not at all.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">The inquisitor grabs the cross on his chest. &quot;Saint Cuthbert, you who weighs every word spoken, grant me the sight to discern truth from lie. For thus it is written in thy holy writ - &quot;In my name the wise m an shall pick the grain of truth from the seeds of lie like a bird chooses grain over gravel.&quot;&quot; Discern Lies activated.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Now, let's start simple. What is your true name, race and rank?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Very nice incantation. Saint Cuthbert and Common Sense?&quot; He takes a moment to light the cigarette. &quot;I trust you mean 'true name' in the common sense and not the conjurer's, else you would be treading on quite thin ice. Lyle Petersen, human, Archivist, currently Yoriver branch.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">So, that'd be a will save if he tried to lie.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">No lies. He just has a very evasive normal style of speaking, apparently.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;First things first. In a situation like this, one can't be sure of anything. And yes.. our holy lord provides... as a Mace archivist you should know. That leads me to. What faith do you truly follow?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;A tricky question for an archivist, as I am certain you know.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;A goat grazes at many a hill, but still returns to one shed every evening.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">As an aside, if throughout the campaign I didn't make it obvious enough, goats were the livestock of choice in Kemmer.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I suppose then you would say my shed is somewhere in a corner of Boccob's library.&quot;

* Slouching Fellow shifts location to watch the entryway.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Good. Now, let's cut to the core of matters. Why did you defect alongside Lieutenant Roy Stanford approximately two weeks ago?&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">I hope it was two weeks,

VAE:<font color="#000000">I recall a date of that kind, but ergh

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Has it already been two weeks? Hm, time flies. Here I thought it had barely been one.&quot; He pulls a drag off the cigarette, then releases the smoke with a sigh. &quot;Granted, the warning signs and conspiracy began long before that. It truly began in earnest two months ago, beginning with a rash of archivists suffering from insomnia without due cause. Sudden behavior changes were noted among our colleagues, as well, particularly after a night or two of restless sleep.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Be more specific. What precluded those events, and what did you observe?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'm getting to it, Inquisitor. But, if you insist, I will try to cut down on narrative flourishes.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I don't mind...&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Tell me everything as you recall, and your deductions.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Given the rash of devil problems, the fact that several of them spoke of diabolic imagery in their dreams was not terribly surprising. However, given that the archives were largely my domain as the most experienced archivist present, suspicion began to fall on me as always.&quot; =3=; &quot;So, I began to research. The affected showed a diminished affect, a more regimented style of behavior, adherence to strict routine, and in the field, propensity toward greater violence. At first, I suspected domination magic. Terribly close, but so far away from the truth.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;In conditions such as your branch was beset by, neither of those would ordinarily be surprising. Is there anything else about their behaviour you found unnatural?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Targeted dispelling of magic proved fruitless, however, and I was about to begin a different avenue of study until I found myself the target of a possession attempt by a kyton one night. That illuminated the situation quite clearly.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hmmm. To answer your question, it varied from case to case. They were often small changes, such as the gaining or losing of habitual behaviors.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Well.. given the possession attempt, the question has become somewhat academic. Did you banish it? &quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;On the contrary, good inquisitor. I captured it.&quot; |3

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Excellent. Were you able to extract any information?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;It *should* know the name of its summoner, at the least as I recall.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Oh, and as an aside, who was the first person in the branch to show such unusual habits and mannerisms?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Quite. And all information it gave was rather, if you pardon the pun, damning.&quot; He chuckles. &quot;That, and more. It became quite compliant with the proper mix of wards and threats. Do you know who it said had summoned it, and charged it with the possessing of 'unturned' archivists?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;'High Priest' Charles Whitaker, through invocation of the Laws of Hextor.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;If I knew, you wouldn't be standing here like a-&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;a-&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">The inquisitor seems to have.. jammed.

* Lyle Petersen draws in another bit of smoke. &quot;Take your time. I'll wait.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Do you attest to the best of your knowledge that Commander Charles Whitaker is a malconvoker and a High Priest of Hextor?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;A malconvoker? Never. I am a malconvoker. Only one of the attested 'malconvokers' in the service of Count Montclaire of Yoriver was a true malconvoker, and she is dead.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Though I must give you kudos for using the proper terminology. So many 'demon-summoner' and 'diabolist' appelations these days. &quot; =3=

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I have met a few of your kind back when I served in around Charred Veld.&quot; *nods*

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;A malconvoker binds what he summons, a diabolist himself is bound.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Demon-summoners.. let's not even get to dealing with that filth.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Mm. Though it can be quite gratifying to loose a succubus on one of those erinyes. The sheer amount of cattiness is highly amusing.&quot; |3

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;But regardless. Is Charles Whitaker himself possessed?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">*snerk*

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;But, I do believe we are getting off track.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I knew a fellow who'd appreciate that sort of thing ages ago.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;To the best of my knowledge, no. However, there are ways to fool the standard detection methods. Whitaker must have stood in the path of soul-scanning spells a thousand times during his career, and I know for myself I have cast such spells with him in their swath, and never once has he appeared vile. I suspect he has a ring, much like myself, carrying a permanent ward against such things.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Ever heard of &quot;On Taxonomy of Tanar'ri, their Banishment and Control&quot; written by Peter Hardy? But yes, we're getting beside the point.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;So you confirm that you cannot attest to whether, and for how long Charles Whitaker has been possessed, or turned to heresy?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Yes, as a matter of fact!&quot; :3 &quot;I may have a copy with me -- ah, yes. But we do digress. No. I cannot confirm whether he is possessed. I can confirm the heretical charges... as I will tell.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;That brings another question. The Hand of Saint Cuthbert... it is every commander's symbol of office, and it does discern. Any idea how he might have avoided that sort of implicit screening?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Naturally the kyton's pronouncements were... alarming, to say the least. I could not very well go to the commander with such a discovery, so I sought the lieutenant in his stead. -- Hmm, I suppose I can address that before we continue. Have you ever examined one of the Hands of Saint Cuthbert under magical detection, good inquisitor?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I haven't... it is not my place to do so.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Nor researched their properties?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;They are blessed by the bishops of Saint Cuthbert's faith themselves, and ever were since our Society was founded.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I know that a servant of the abyss can never touch them, nor one who bows down to the evils of chaos and anarchy.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Precisely. In the artificier's terms, they are 'axiomatic.'&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hell, I have seen one of them burn through a lolthian skull like a hot knife does through butter.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;. . . &quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Naturally, for one who doesn't uphold the law cannot be trusted to command over...&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;. . . &quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'll wait.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;It doesn't quite discern what law does one follow, does it... Malcanthet's winged cunt... &quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'll have to remember that one.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;This .. it means the heretics didn't even have to switch it for a fake.. and we ..&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I believe that seals that particular topic. Do continue.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">The inquisitor looks somewhat exhausted.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Are you certain? You look understandably pale. Is your discernment spell still active?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;It is. Continue, Archivist. The recent events don't sit well with me, but everyone from your branch can attest to as much&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">As an aside, should have been whose law, rather than what, but that's minor.

Miron:<font color="#000000">As an aside Malcanthet is the abyssal queen of Succubi

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Indeed. Well. By the time I found the good lieutenant and had returned with him to the archives, someone had come by and loosed the kyton. I had barely turned around before Inquisitor Hanson entered the room with a summons for me to speak with the commander posthaste.&quot;

Liatai:<font color="#000000">So Google told me. Hence why Lyle said &quot;good one, I'll have to remember that.&quot; :B

VAE:<font color="#000000">hahah

VAE:<font color="#000000">(ofc. Miron is waiting for him to continue)

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;When I arrived, he reprimanded me for 'keeping fiends in the archives where anyone could stumble across them,' and began to assign me many cases, dubbing them all higher in priority than the insomniac inquisitors. Fortunately, I did not go in unprepared, and a simple 'protection from evil' effect was able to ward off the erinyes' spirit that was waiting in my bunk when I returned to it. It took a sleepless night, but with the help of the lieutenant and several other agents who had not yet been possessed, we managed to gather the necessary materials to create a warded area to meet and slumber. In the meantime, we began to investigate while maintaining our outward duties, seeking the sources of corruption, determining who was possessed, who was a Hextorian, and who was safe.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Much to our current shame, many of us doubted Senior Inquisitor Simtherzairvin, for he had taken it upon himself to investigate us quite thoroughly, and we were constantly dodging his attempts as best we were able. Many of us suspected he had been duped into serving the Hextorian faction.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;... It was roughly a week ago that we found the shrine, beneath the very inquisitorial barracks.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;What was the outcome? Especially, any unpossessed Hextorians you found? For that matter, any inquisitors who haven't-&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Disregard.. do continue.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;The lieutenant would best be able to provide a list for you of our findings, no doubt bolstered by Sheythsanthi's reports.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Good. What did you find in the shrine?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;For that matter, did it appear a recent construction?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;What conclusions were you able to pull from its existance.. I recall you do have a dwarven inquisitor among your ranks.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Aha, heard about Horm, hm. He is an archivist, good inquisitor, not an inquisitor. Quite the potent magus, as a matter of fact. It was indeed a recent construction. No more than six months old, he said, from the sharpness of the engravings.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;A dwarven archivist? Most unusual.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Summoning diagrams, an altar, Hextorian scripture and idols, several osyluths guarding the place. Luckily we had many able combatants with us that night. In any case. The lieutenant, quite understandably, had had enough.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Did you find any evidence linking the shrine to your branch's members?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;He decided to confront Whitaker with the evidence. If the shrine had truly been built without his knowledge, then he would be a powerful ally in eradicating it. If not... the lieutenant planned to arrest him, and bring him before the High Commanders to stand trial.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;What happened?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;For that matter, have you given any thought to the possibility it might have been Lieutenant Stanford, or some of his colleagues who have orchestrated the whole &quot;finding&quot; ,to lead you on?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;After all, your lieutenant does maintain some extremely unsavoury allies, from what I have learned.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;... Naturally, we all planned for the worst, and prepared a plan for exodus. A very good thing we did, too. Someone had, to use a colloquialism, ratted us out. Hextorian paraphrenalia had been planted in the archives, and in the lieutenant's quarters. The lieutenant was attacked that evening, and nearly killed; the commander's power has grown... frighteningly. Or, perhaps he has been lulling us into a false sense of security this entire time, downplaying his own strength.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;When we fled to our little sanctum, we found the wards disabled, and the place crawling with devils.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Without exaggeration, if we had not been found by a pair of patrolling black-cloaked Pelorites, we would all have been dead or worse within two days.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Right... well, if the kython hasn't lied to you, that probably settles the matter,given the circumstantial evidence at hand.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;It is still a pity that there seems no direct proof.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;A few things more. First of all, there seems to have been an order to seal the lands of Yoriver, which are understandable. However, what isn't, is the fact that this has applied to fellow inquisitors sent here to aid with maintaining order. When was such an order issued, and by whom? Was it the count, or your commander?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">*is understandable

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Jointly. Once the opposition was removed, the two cousins began working in much closer concert. Were you here when the erinyes and her thrall appeared with two inquisitors as escort?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Opposition? And.. I believe I wasn't. I came to town with the explicit purpose to arrest Altonor and his accomplices, something that my command has arranged with Commander Whitaker himself. The local inquisitors have proven .. less than helpful in the matter.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;And.. Two inquisitors, a thrall and an erinyes? Who were they? Were they possessed, as well?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;The pretense used to seal the order, unfortunately, was our fault. Perhaps we played directly into their hands. 'If we cannot trust our own inquisitors,' they said, 'we certainly cannot trust outsiders.' I'm not certain if you've noticed, but Yoriver is rather... xenophobic.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;The &quot;Butt off, Braxtons&quot; as a reaction to us trying to fucking arrest a criminal of Altonor's rank was rather telling.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen gestures with his cigarette. &quot;One of them was Senior Inquisitor Simtherzairvin; you can ask him yourself for a more direct account.&quot; (What's Igor's rank again?)

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;... Criminal? Hmm. I suppose that's a valid misunderstanding.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">Inquisitor Igor Drechsler. He didn't quite get promoted thanks to the whole messup surrounding his death.

VAE:<font color="#000000">I think I told you his backstory, and how he ended up in Yoriver.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;The other was Inquisitor Igor Drechsler. A blood magus, I believe. Some of the other inquisitors call him Bloodmouse.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Drechsler..hmm... that name seems familiar. A young man with thick, long hair, a beard, and poor eyesight?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Older, balding, but yes, poor eyesight.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">If the GM remembers his token right. |D *BRICK'D*

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Probably not him then.. the surname isn't common though. The one I recall was from Jones's Rock.. one of the folks I have trained.. but he wasn't a blood magus either.&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">Yeah, you did. It's just.. when you are of Miron's lifespan, you don't quite realize people get older.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Mm. Maybe. But life does have a tendency to make one old and bald with time.&quot; |3

VAE:<font color="#000000">And yes.. there's a bit of lore there. Hardy, and later Miron and his students spawned a wave of very spellcasting inquisitors that'd likely have been archivists if trained by anyone else.

VAE:<font color="#000000">as in, by Mace rank

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;... now who was this who told you to 'butt off?'&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Eh, perhaps... Still odd for him to be here. But regardless. It was a half-elf&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Definitely elven traits to him, rather pale.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;There were two others with him, a nervous looking young woman, and someone I don't recall.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;... Did this elven fellow have dark hair? Glasses, perhaps? A slightly whiny, grating tone of voice?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;He did wear a cape of some sort... but the voice does fit.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;If the situation wasn't stacked against us, I'd have explained him the meaning of complying to fucking orders hands-on.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;As it were.. Eh. I suppose you'd have been stunned too, having teleported across half the fucking Veld to help, and being treated by your fellows like what a dog left near the milestone.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen frowns. &quot;Oh, I know who that was. Or at least am 90% certain.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;An idiot, I believe you're about to say. But, name?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Worse. A brown-nosing weasel.&quot; :| &quot;Inquisitor Mordecai Cyral. That wannabe glabrezu attaches himself like a lamprey to anyone who shows a promise of power and influence.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Wannabe glabrezu? Good one.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;That said, I suspect that after the fuckup he has caused, there's gonna be lamprey soup at the headquarters.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;For fuck's sake, had he actually followed through with the agreement, I'd be back in Braxton with Altonor in irons your branch would have Raerael and Tomiko Lazarus closed down on...&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'm fairly certain he's either possessed or a Hextorian. He would certainly make an excellent toady for someone of that persuasion.&quot; :\ &quot;The first time we met he asked me if I could summon a demon to kick the asses of some punks at the local bar for him. Naturally, I said no. He's treated me like a piece of refuse on the bottom of his shoe ever since.&quot; =w=

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;And of course, we wouldn't be talking right now... Hmm, what is he skilled in?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;An inquisitor that can't stand his own in a pub brawl is a rather amusing sight.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Wizardry. Which makes me concerned for the future of high arcana.&quot; =w=#

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;You know... back in Castleton, I briefly heard about some pauper with minor divine powers claiming to be a &quot;true wizard.&quot;, and raising a commotion wherever he showed up. He disappeared from the town before I could have interrogated him.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hearing about your dear wizardly colleague, I can't help but compare.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Either way.. there's another matter to deal with.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;You mentioned that there was but one malconvoker among the sanctioned summoners, and that she is dead.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Who was she, and what were the circumstances of her passing? For that matter, what about the rest of the students? We have captured and exorcised one of them.. hell, have I not seen the devil leave her body on my own sight, I'd still have you for a renegade.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">Sure, make the DM come up with details on the fly. =3= *BRICK'D*

VAE:<font color="#000000">XD

VAE:<font color="#000000">Sorry about that.. but eh. Be glad he isn't speaking about their common history with the dwarf :3

VAE:<font color="#000000">We'll likely have to handle that at a different time

VAE:<font color="#000000">not like after receiving a confirmation under this sort of oath, Miron would hae that much will to engage in idle chatter of that sort.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Paula Peyton. I knew her, during her academy days, before the count got his hands on their graduating class.&quot; He exhales some smoke. &quot;... She showed such promise. I would have recruited her to help with my own research, or as an assistant, in an eyeblink. She was hung as a 'heretic,' without trial, shortly after being hired.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Given the thrall's situation... my current hypothesis is that she successfully resisted possession and got too close to the truth for Montclaire's comfort, and was an easy scapegoat.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;An accusation of heresy is a grave matter... are you sure it couldn't have been her to taint her fellows by a botched summoning or worse?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Completely. She was freshly graduated from the academy, and for that matter, a very careful Pelorite. She could not have cast a calling, and would not have cast a summoning without the proper wards in place.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;After all, an incursion of these proportions is something unheard of for a long time. Hmm, a Pelorite malconvoker?&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I have seen a lot of things, but that's about as likely as a monk of Erythnul.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen gives a raspy chuckle. &quot;It's more likely than one would think. The former, I mean.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Most pelorites, Brother Lazarus including, would rather fuck a goat than ally themselves with the spirits of the abyss, or for that matter, the nine hells.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Speaking of which... given how our ally has behaved itself on the latest mission, I'd have been happier with a vrock.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen dons a look of sad reminiscience. &quot;I remember she used to have an act... she showed it to me once when she was practicing her bindings. She would pretend to be an innocent schoolgirl, a sweet devout Pelorite, who had just begun to Fall, and had summoned the fiends to do her bidding because the 'good gods' had done nothing for her... ahhhh, they drank it up beautifully, believing they were corrupting a pure and innocent soul just with their presence!&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">*snerk*

* Miron checks that his Discern Lies spell is still in place.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">Still in place, no lies.

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;TIamat's three arses...&quot; *bursts into laughter*

Miron:<font color="#000000">*calms himself down after a moment* &quot;Curious habits of your colleagues aside, this implies the rest of the sanctioned summoners were diabolic thralls from the beginning.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;My, but you're a regular font of creative oaths.&quot; He chuckles. &quot;If I may ask, Inquisitor Miron Segras Ironwrit Steelsprocket, what is your specialty?&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;True. Given the clandestine nature of many of their agents thus far, it would not surprise me if they planted Hextorians within their class as 'seeds' to tempt others to their employ.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I have mostly dealt with matters of the undead. Not much of a necromancer though, Egon was good at those things.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;I can manipulate necrotic energies just as well as those of heavenly origin.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Interesting... Perhaps if we live through the night, I should introduce you to Leila. Provided you don't have an objection to tieflings, of course. She is our branch's resident dedicated necromancer.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Seems like someone I wouldn't mind meeting.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Speaking of which.. there's a story that's almost as good as the Pelorite schoolgirl.&quot;

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;I'm certain she would get quite a kick out of your creative turns of phrase.&quot; :3

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Back in Jones's Rock, it happened. See, Egon was a necromancer and quite the ladies' man... always with his &quot;Egon Goldsmith, Witchhunter&quot; to just about every skirt that passed by.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Well at that time, him, and Eli, Analyst Feldmann, loved each other like a goat loves a knife.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;It was her who came up with the &quot;Bitchhunter&quot; nickname, enough to say.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen snerks, but it turns into a soft cough after a bit.

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Ack, Ghost is calling for DF to start. Could we shut down after Miron finishes his story and pick up another day? ^^;

<font color="#0000ff">Dr. Hatari has connected.

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Well hello, doktor. :.

Teeny Rin:<font color="#FF0000"> &gt;:O

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Sorry! D8 I forgot DF was today!

Liatai:<font color="#000000">And then -- MINI happened! D| *brick'd*

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Well, back then... see, there was an inquisitor who asked her out a few days from then.. and she said she'd rather kiss a rotting corpse. Well, I think you can see where this took off once myself and Egon heard of it. Next day, she's sitting with a pint in the pub, poring over some glyphs of hers, and this absolutely stunning halfling fellow comes by, asks if she minds sharing a drink, and remarks something about the remarkable geometry of her spells. Well, the cogs began turning, as it can happen. The next day he shows up again, they end up discussing something about the principles of abjuration... remarks on her hair... Well, they ended up sneaking away... and then, there was this beautiful scream followed by a blast.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;See, Egon summoned a ghoul, and we cast... hell, over a dozen spells on it to make it look like a person.. and then he took over for the talking, with me pitching in for a bit of advice.&quot;

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;So yes. She did kiss a corpse first.&quot;

* Lyle Petersen is shaking with quiet laughter, trying not to break into either a fit of laughter or a coughing fit, who can tell?

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">&quot;Ohh, yes. You do need to meet Leila.&quot; ^^

Miron:<font color="#000000">&quot;Hell, later on the three of us were the best drinking butties and colleagues you could find, The Bourbon Triad, the folks called us... but that one prank is something I'll remember for years. Sure, the ghoul went in a blast ,and so did the wall of the room...but you should have seen her, gargling holy water for an hour after coming down ...&quot;

VAE:<font color="#000000">And yes. That was a pun on ebon triad, and on the drinking habits of the trio. Also, the shunned inquisitor may or may not have been Miron himself, he won't tell.

Lyle Petersen:<font color="#000000">Oop, yep, there's the laughing fit, followed quickly by the coughing fit. &quot; -- hrmm, pardon, excuse me. &quot; Cough.

VAE:<font color="#000000">(She is a halfling, after all)

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Mmkay, the DF crew is practically dragging me off, so we should shut this down for now. ^^;

VAE:<font color="#000000">kewl

VAE:<font color="#000000">TIME FREEZE

VAE:<font color="#000000">so, say, tomorrow?

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Would Thursday be better? I'm slated for clinic time and minis with Ghost and Meany tomorrow.

VAE:<font color="#000000">Yes it would work, too

VAE:<font color="#000000">unless something unexpected comes by

VAE:<font color="#000000">In fact, seems great.

Liatai:<font color="#000000">Mmkay -- now I've gotta go ^^;;;

VAE:<font color="#000000">See, I thought thursday was when DF happened