Unusual Activity: Eastern Citadel

*Valerion seems to stagger for a moment, his concentration distrupted he turns to the dwarven priest and  lays the thumb of his right hand onto the ring he wears on the index finger of his right hand, gently rubbing it as he bows to the dwarf*

"What? Oh...excuse me I have been deep in thoughts."

*He holds out his hands in a dignified gesture to almost touch the case, concentrating on his senses.
Whatever there may be in, it might be magical, and it was best to check before opening, always, no matter the gifters intention*

"I thank you for this gift, but please illuminate me, what exactly is it?"

At his words, the dwarf snaps open the clasps on the front and reveals an intricately carved knife, of the same design and strange metal that the pyramid seems to be made from.

"This was found nearby the pyramid, when it appeared in this temple a few hundred years ago. We've never known what to make of it, though we haven't wanted to keep the two together or too far apart."

*Hovering the hand with the other ring above the dagger he slowly nods as he closes the case with a hand* "How far away has it been so far, as you know, my tower is on Vestalla on an island rather far from here, also, why should I be the rightful owner, the pyramid appeared in your temple, this is yours, aswell as the pyramid, also, what do you know about the pyramid? " *The other thumb rubs along the finger of his ring*

((Note passed on from Rag: The three druids would not be able to see the knife yet, as Val is in the way))

Grace suspected she knew what was being handed over. Her tail flicked again. What ever this knife was, what ever that pyramid was, she disliked the idea of Valerion possessing any power it granted.

Could the three of them take them if it came to a fight? If he didn't flee, and stayed to fight that is. She doubted it. Perhaps if they avoided being frozen in time, or having golems set upon them, and she avoided being pierced through by flying shards of silver...

Could she get the knife away from him? Possible. She was fast. She'd out run him before, she could do so again- if she caught him off guard. He knew she was there.

She really didn't wish to negotiate with the man. But Dru's method might not work, and she had no idea how to predict the seer's movement.

[Be ready. I don't like how this is going.]

"So, something noone could explain, a dagger that does not remain with the one who holds it, returning to the pyramid, what happened with the former holders, and still, why give it to me? This pyramid is yours, and since noone knows what it does would it not be safer to let it remain in your halls? I might be able to track down what was stolen...and then we could find out more, but otherwise...." *He rubs his chin slightly*

"I am dignified by your gift good priest, I shall hold it in honored regard, and perhaps it shall serve the purpose to find those culprits who attacked the citadel, the heads behind this"

*Valerion bows very slightly as he slowly moves a hand smiling to wrap around the hilt of the knife, but first a word is heard muttered from him, then he grabs the knive's hilt firmly* "Vartempla"
*His right hand in the meantime still is free, rubbing the ring with his thumb*

Drurazhor keeps glancing between the other two druids, Valerion, the priest and the pyramid, he's ready if it really needs to come to a fight, but he doesn't think its necessary. Grace's apparently very nervous, and she has shown a strange behaviour towards the strange wizard. He's still sit, frowning at the situation, he just sights at Grace's comment, but doesn't say anything.

"Alas, it is time for me to go, I have done what I came for and wish you and the city the best, if necessary, tell me if you need golems for the construction, I will summon three then and control them while they work"

*Valerions then turns towards the exit of the temple that leads to the tunnel towards the surface, staring directly at the druids, grinning as his form disappears in a flash of light*

Grace's fur settles down.

Valerion had left, the knife was gone- great. As in, honestly great. Now they could focus on the pyramid- and hopefully this would mean the knife would not be here to unleash hordes of demons.

[Never mind him. At least the knife won't be here to allow the vision to come true- unless Valerion is even more mad then I suspect. Once the priest is gone, let's see what we can make of this all]

The priest blinks his surprise away, yawns and heads back down his corridor for some well deserved rest.

Drurazhor's the first to step foward, nodding to Grace, and frowning at the other druid. He approaches it, looking the pyramid up and down, still in cat form.

Grace keeps an eye on the surroundings, cautiously sniffing the air around her.

Dru may not have lived among other dwarves and preferred to stay in the wilds, but he did know dwarven- although by the sounds of it, the pyramid is from another origin, something fall older and connected to demons, if it was part of a ritual to unleash a horde of them. Although a ritual would need the knife, bodies, blood...

Still, if they could destroy either the pyramid or the knife, perhaps...

[See if you can figure out what is is, where it's from- and most importantly, how we destroy or break it, prevent it from being used.]

Grace looks around the hall, at the statues of dwarven gods, and the faint sound of the waterfalls nearby thrumming through the earth.

[Destroying the hall and flooding the remains might be easier then coping with the pyramid, but it'd only offer a temporary situation. And no doubt the dieties would be angered by the destruction of their place of worship...]

The cat pauses again before thinking out loud once more, [The knife may be easier to destroy than the pyramid, but we'd have to recover it from the Archmage, and that would be daunting enough by itself. I'd say we need a cleric, yet this infernal thing has been sitting here, among priests, for a long while, and they've done naught. Can you remember what Lia said was taken? a chest? A chest from inside the pyramid?]

//Could Grace get spot and listen checks on anything that might approach? Cat's have see invisibility, and animals can generally smell anyone/anything in the immediate area, unless the area is 'very smelly', which I'll let the DM decide upon.

Drurazhor glares at the pyramid, his ears standing up, he looks at it up and down, looking around the halls aswell, at the dwarven deities' statues.

He frowns at them, wondering how his 'kin' liked to live in those kind of places.

"[The place is shrouded by darkess and shadows, the air is cold. Would I be confortable in this place if I had a "normal" dwarven life? I don't know, but I don't like here, and I'm not confortable now. Let me see if I can identify something on this pyramid, and let's be over with it...]"

He glances at the side where the priest was gone into, and then back at the pyramid.

The two druids notice nothing off about the pyramid itself, other than the design, which is quite odd for this environment.

Even magically, there isn't much to sense. The pyramid itself doesn't radiate any active magics, though you do feel the area around it being unstable. Not that it would affect your druidic spells.

You get a sense of neither good nor evil, the perfect neutrality of a tool designed to do it's job and nothing more. It seems to be missing a large gemstone, similar to the others that are present on each side. In the indentation left behind, there is a two inch slot for something a less than an inch thick.
There is nothing more, as a cat, to be learned.

Drurazhor sights, frowning at the empty hole in the pyramid, he looks at Grace and shakes his head, before turning his back to the strange structure, and heading to the exit.

He steps closer to the third druid, the one that has been quiet all along. He looks at him with a raised eyebrow, and speaks;

"[You have been accompanying us all along, you really does not have anything to say? You know nothing that could be of use to us?]"

*Frowning, just outside the inn inside the citadel, Meldran Turingskar would fold his arms in a shadowy corner, his armor of red dragonhide with steel rings sewn to it was not the most comfortable one and he was getting impatient.

His eyes drifted over the place near to the temple entrance, another time he frowned, he was no bad man, but also no religious person, and he always had despised to go into temples, it always had burnt.

Again his eyes drift over to the market place, then back to the dark sidestreet where he had seen a man sneak into, and finally what he expected happened, he heard the muffled screams of a young woman, struggling to get free from the second man that pulled her right from the inn's entrance into the sidestreet, a slight grin flashes over the slightly pointed teeth as he protrudes a wand from his belt, pointing it right at the entrance of the street, where an area of absolute silence unfolds, rattling chain armor and small metal plates can be heard throughout the place as he runs from the corner to the street, a solid twenty metres and as he enters the bubble of silence all sound ends aprubt.*

*Chuckling as he runs he pulls off his cloak and tosses it aside, right before he enters the dark sidestreet, his eyes adapt in a moment thanks to his nature, he grins widely, three silhouettes, a man busy trying to tear cloth, another holding the woman, how he hated such weak creatures, how he hated those pathetic little rats, and how he valued beauty, again he grinned an inhuman smile, those two were too busy to even notice, it was so silent that they took it as a sign of her consent...or defeat...not realising their sounds where also not heard,"Let's teach them fear.", was all Meldran said into the silence as he appeared right behind the man who was trying to tear the womans dress apart, his wings, although unable to unfold in width, could unfold in height, and they did, his splitted tounge hanging over the edge of his pointy razorsharp teeth he hissed and growled something unintelligble in infernal, that not being enough, as he grabs the man with both clawed hands by his neck, the claws dig very slightly into his skin, not wounding but unmistakeable as a sign of warning, that if he would move he would surely die.

"Startling little girls are we?", escapes the Tieflings throat he abruptly pulls the man he grabbed to the left while kicking him into his knees inside, hammering his head on the wall once, leaving the man unconcious, and probably with a broken nose or jaw.
Turning to the man that held the woman, who, first stood in shock by the suprise, now wailed in terror as he turns and runs like a fruitbat out of hell, just wanting to get away from that bloodthirsty demon, screaming in terror as he leaves the bubble of silence.
Grinning Meldran take out some kind of stamp, although it was no stamp, as in for ink, but for blood, it was bladed and very sharp, not wasting any time he pushes it onto the forehead of the man, who although unconcious stirs for a moment as blood pours ouf ot letters that formed the word "Maidsoiler"
The woman in that moment had slumpted down now missing the man whom she had supported herself on while she tried to kick the other one off, she aswell looked up terrified to the figure of the tiefling who looked like he would jump and eat the man who was still running away in a moment, although now the Tiefling changed in behaviour, drawing the split tounge back into his mouth, folding his wings and smiling warm, but still with pointy inhuman teeth, bowing slightly.
She draws her dagger, holding it towards him shaking heavily, stumbling backwards, shouting "Stay back!" "Demon!" or "Devil!" as he himself slowly withdraws from the sidestreet,, picking up his cloak, leaving the bubble of silence as he hears the terrified shouts of the woman who must now have also left the bubble of silence.
Just one problem, NOW people would go looking for him, and if he flies NOW he will most likely then be shot down by crossbows, his chance was to run but where?
With the dawn nearby and with armor on not the best decision, specially since he was no sneaky person, he just had a few good trinkets, hiding, outside no, inside, where?
Every person would scream and even the lifestock would dash the moment he enters, the only place that was leftover was....,"Oh hells, I need to think better next time", wasting no time the Tiefling dashes and runs, wings fold, cloak moving in the air he makes for the temples gate, hoping it was still open, hoping his father was right when he said, most temples are open at all times to provide safety for every believer and to give them oppurtunity to pray, beg, and donate at all times, and hoping he was not yet seen but all guards would concentrate on running where the screams come from...VERY hopefully*

Hacatsu wrote:Drurazhor sights, frowning at the empty hole in the pyramid, he looks at Grace and shakes his head, before turning his back to the strange structure, and heading to the exit.

He steps closer to the third druid, the one that has been quiet all along. He looks at him with a raised eyebrow, and speaks;

"[You have been accompanying us all along, you really does not have anything to say? You know nothing that could be of use to us?]"

The cat shifts quickly back to the Eagle from earlier, flying up and perching on the pyramid, near the indentation.
Cold, piercing blue eyes lock with Dru's.

Grace's ears twitch as the seer changes form suddenly, and she glances between the two other druids. Perhaps the seer was showing Dru what he now sees, like he had shared his vision with Grace. Perhaps Dru would cope better than she did.

Grace's ears twitch again, as another sound echoes through the stone hall, and she tries to narrow down the cause and direction.

Drurazhor eyes locked at the seer, giving one step back as he changes into eagle and flies to the pyramid. Dru hisses a bit, he would prefer a straight answer, but so be it. Drurazhor walks back to the pyramid, he gets close to the indentation where the eagle is now, and sits in front of it, looking into the seer's eyes.

"[So, do you have anything to show me?]"

*Almost flying down the steps, rattling all the way, hoping noone would notice him, and surely hoping no priest would be there, aswell as no divine presence that was meaning harm to him, he was a Tiefling, and one who had a not so far ancestry of demons, and therefore was far easier to identify, although his father was human, his looks where easily identified as those of a demonic being, he would not want to risk a confrontation with trained guards, or worse.
Having troubles to come to a halt the Tiefling almost crashes into the dwarven statue but is agile enough to grab one of the legs of it and just swing himself around it, slowly coming to a halt jogging, looking back through the darkness of the descent he just left behind him he could not make out anyone who has given chase, and therefore felt more safe...but also knew guards MAY take a look in the temple, however unlikely that may be, and even if not...he would have to camp here for a few hours, might aswell do a little sacrifice, perhaps their gods are not as angry as they might be now*

"Oh well...might aswell take a look around, let's see where this tunnel leads", with that he casually begins to walk through the tunnel that leads east to the gate which has the pyramid a few metres behind, trying not to be as loud as he was jogging down the stairs, his cloak around his shoulders, barely covering his wings, he puts on his helmet, and steps fourth towards the gate, his eyes quickly adapting to the darkness"*

OOC/:(Crossbreed between 3.5th and 4th edition looks of a Tiefling)

At his first step onto the stones of the tunnel, the Eagle breaks contact with the dwarf's eyes and hops up from the top of the pyramid, making as if to fly off then dispersing and fading into a mist in the room.

Grace and Drurazhor do not notice the sound of any footsteps until he is about halfway through the tunnel, giving them just a minute.

Drurazhor suddenly stays motionless, eyes wide open, ears pointing backwards, fur raised. He glares blankly at the pyramid, or something pass it.

He appears to be in stuck in a trance, and doesn't react to the eagle suddenly flying away.

*Slowly, Meldranim stretched his head out of the darkness, looking towards the yet a few dozen metres away gate, there was no shadow, yet simply stepping int the middle of it might not be the best idea, and so, he slowly, not really silently, but slowly with his back towards the wall, with small steps he sneaks along the walls, to the gate which still appeared to be open.
First his clawed fingertips could be seen as they drive around the edge of the gate frame, then the tips of his horned helmet, then the whole head appeared, looking about, after a few seconds, of considerable silence, the person seemed to have decided it was safe to enter, for he did, slowly, one step after another, continuing to watch his surroundings carefully.
His gaze first lands on the pyramid and then goes over to the altars, passing the pyramid he drives with a claw along the reliefs and gems, walking towards the altar of Clangeddin Silverbeard, leaving a few coins and a hammer in the sacrifical bowl and repeating that at each altar before looking around again*

"Might be safer to remain in the shadow until the racket has dies down...", speaking silently, his tounge slithers about as he moves towards the shadows behind the great pillars*

Grace remained where she was, ear's perking up and eyes widening, looking much like a startled cat, when the seer decided to evaporate into mist as the approaching person came closer. Dru seemed... off. Likely he was still seeing what ever vision had been shared with him.

This 'mission' was going rather poorly.

She was surprised to see who the new comer was. Or rather, what he was. Tiefling. She was familiar with them, their scent, their nature. She had mixed feeling towards them. Like it was hard to hate Ne for his mixed heritage, Grace wasn't keen on judging tieflings for theirs. Grace firmly believed planar beings belonged to their own planes. Only beings from parallel planes, like the fey, or feuranians, were acceptable, as they were still connected to this plane in her eyes. Fiends and celestials could damn well mind their own business. And aberrations should simply be purged.

But while a half-breed's parentage was out of place, growing up with half-elven siblings left her slightly more understanding of the individuals own plight. Belonging to neither and both worlds, both human and fiend.

Still, considering the current situation, Grace was not willing to give this half-fiend the benefit of the doubt. Especially considering his odd behaviour. Was he trying to be stealthy? What was he hiding from?

The cat watches the man sharply, as he gives offering to the gods and slips into the shadows.

*Standing in the shadow, one knee bent the man drives with one hand over the pillar's surface, as if searching for something, always eyeing the gate, staring and listening, after a while he moves to the next pillar, and the next, and the next, further away from the gate, continuingly driving his hands along the pillars or the ground directly behind the pillars, as if searching for something*

"Rats, I guess there is no other way out then..."

*Looking around he frowns, no other escape but through the city, he would have to wait until the racket died down, and hope that noone would come down here, and that dawn was still far enough away for people to be asleep when he dares his escape*

"Is that a cat?", the Tiefling silently whispers to himself, licking his lips for a moment, he was slightly hungry after all, but then decided to just walk towards it, slowly like a normal human would try to come close to a cat to fondle it.*

"Here kitty kitty....kit...." *blinking for a moment he looks at the exit, then at the pyramid, then at the cat, canting his head slightly to the side looking at the cat* "That is an odd behaviour for a cat...", he whispered silently to himself*