This post has the following content warnings:
View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
An adventuring party recruited from Osirion teleports into Azir on the 8th of Desnus. Rahadoum's recruiting contact in Osirion wrote ahead to note they were expected. Couple of guys he's known a long time - a wizard, a ranger - and a new guy, sorcerer, probably to replace the cleric they usually travel with. They spend two days in Azir getting oriented and head out to the front. The ranger wears an unusually high quality amulet of Nondetection; the sorcerer wears a headband for intelligence, which is a bit unusual as sorcerers usually don't need it to cast, but some variants do; they are otherwise unremarkable. Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, no reading, which could mean neutral or 'hiding it'. They work quickly and effectively, manage resources reasonably well, get recommended to higher-ups for a closer look on that account.
Vanyel stares at her for a long moment, biting his lip and blinking hard.
"Are we. Are we getting him back right away. I mean, I - I have so many diamonds for it..." He looks like he's about to cry.
"There's no body, so it'll have to be a True Resurrection. I don't think the pharaoh has that prepared and Nefreti hasn't helpfully showed up but tomorrow morning."
"I think Aroden was planning to raise them from the dead so he could talk to them. The pharaoh didn't have a way to safely hold Velgarth mages prisoner but Aroden has a way to do anything."
Vanyel nods, shakily. "I - gods, Aroden must be so upset - I'm so sorry... " He's very tempted to take a diamond and Gate to the temple to Nethys and demand to see Nefreti but he's pretty sure she would have showed up already if she intended that.
"Thank you for telling me," he says dully. "I - did Aroden say it was all right to tell anyone else?" He wants a hug and Savil is back in goddamned Valdemar running a government and covering the Web for him, and - she doesn't know, and he can't, right now, imagine being the one to tell her...
"He said he didn't want it widely known because it'd cause panic." She can extend her arms in a hug-offering kind of way. "I'm sure it's all right if you tell your horse but we should be sure it doesn't get known by everyone."
Vanyel will accept a hug gratefully. "C-can - I tell Hagan and his party - Hagan is the pharaoh's brother, they're my friends - they won't tell anyone else..."
She hugs him. She nods. "Yeah, that's fine." Probably Aroden would prefer not that because he's reflexively paranoid but this poor child just learned that one of his close friends murdered another and got executed for it.
"Thank you." He manages a watery smile. "Do you want help finding Leareth's people - I can Mindspeak Nayoki and see where she is?"
Nayoki is in Egorian, in the building Leareth has set up for mages to work out of, which is near the palace.
Vanyel doesn't tell her anything more than that Parmida urgently needs to speak with her, because he's a coward, but she'll wait there for Parmida.
And Parmida will go tell her that Leareth was murdered by the Tayledras in the palace in Osirion and Aroden is there investigating.
Nayoki is understandably pretty shaken by this! She takes it with much more composure than Vanyel, though, she hears Parmida out and asks some questions and then says she would like to hear right away when they have news.
- Oh, also, whoever does end up resurrecting Leareth should be aware that he's likely to be very panicked about all of the occurrences, especially if he doesn't remember anything in between, and they should have someone there he knows who can explain everything that's going on, she's happy to come if they want.
That makes sense, of course he does. He must be so horrified about this. Nayoki really hopes it won't affect diplomatic relations with Osirion too badly. She likes the pharaoh, his magic researchers were wonderfully helpful.
He's in a river. Or something. Floating, anyway. Nothing hurts, but - something is wrong.
He tries to remember where he is and how he got here, and can't. He makes a halfhearted grasping attempt to do magic, a Gate or even just a light to see what's going on, and he can't do that either. He's so tired and confused and he can't remember...
No, he does remember dying.
Scared, scaredscaredscared -
Someone will - Khemet will - Khemet will what, Leareth can't remember, he feels so muzzy and nothing makes sense.
Floating. A river? Where is he...
Vanyel sits in the Work Room for a bit next to his pointless enormous diamond, which can't do anything to bring Leareth back sooner because he can't cast True Resurrection.
Eventually he drags himself out and half-collapses onto Yfandes' neck.
Excavation of Chelish military supply caches from captured documentation about them.
Vanyel gets the location from Taver. It's within his Mindspeech range, if he pushes it, but he has to concentrate hard for a while until he can manage it.
:Fazil?:
:I - I just found out...: It's stupidly hard to make himself say it. :Leareth's dead:
:I don't know. Can you - just - come meet me here: He takes a shuddering breath, still slumped against Yfandes. :Starwind and Moondance assassinated him. In the winter palace. Weapon they got from Urtho's Tower on our trip there: