Game: Blades of Git'riban : Primal State

Seeing Grazz being led out the door (if I can see it), "Hey, If you want to get Grazz, he's just walked out the front door!" Daraz will jump off the balcony if he is chased. If they buy it, he'll try to escape through a window in the front or somesuch to meet up with the rest of the party.

"Of course milady," Replies Ar'dru to Obsidian Orb, "It would be an honour to assist you in learning more about you peoples heritage, and hopefully their future." The last words are muttered so that OO can hear them but the rest of the tribe should not be able to.

Rey quickly takes Jhank'kor aside, and before he can react, looks firmly into his eyes:

I am Vivec, the Healer...

He puts his hand on the yanki's shoulder... to establish trust...and extend an offer of healing.

Ooooooo.....*slams evil PC into closet and presses hard against the door* What I'd love to do upon the words, "I am Jhank'kor, your killer..." :twisted:

Jhank'kor's eyes flare with malice at Grazz's return. You can hear the knuckles of his right hand snap at the warlock balls his fist in an attempt to withhold the welling fury and siren song of eldritch power. Shrugging off the temptation, he glowers and says in a deathly calm, "Did this bastard child of Zerth get in your heads, warriors? Or are you returning to make this a full warband execution?"

The sudden tug on his arm sends him a bit off-balance, but the warmage scrambles upright with the aid of his staff. Whirling to glare into Vivec's face, the mage snaps his hand to Vivec's throat, theurgy hammering in his veins. His grips tightens for half a moment but then drops his arm to his side. His sullen eyes glance to Gy-nath before boring into Vivec again. "I do not care who you are, dog of a Zerai. I'd rather find a drunk priest of Pelor before I allowed your filthy hands to heal me." The mage raises his voice for the rest to hear as he steps back a pace or two nearer to Gy-Nath. "Any true son of Gith here who can tend wounds?

As an afterthought, the warlock adds toward the bartender with a point of his chin to Vivec, "Oh, here's the man you're looking for."

Intimidate: 28

“Doubtful,” a feminine voice replies from further down the water-damaged hallway. “There’s a daughter of Gith here who might, though. What is it this time?”

One of the doors has opened along the hallway – one of those leading to the private rooms.of the Haven Port Inn. The figure turns, clearly examining the devastation up and down the corridor.

The speaker’s build is not that of the legendary female warriors of the Githyanki: not one to gleefully cleave anyone in half with a greatsword. Rather, this one has the look of either a mage or a psion, to judge from the absence of armor, or the staff, shod with Astral steel, that she leans slightly upon.

But the real kicker is the third eye in the center of her forehead.

A psion, then. Onyx in color, complementing the color of her natural eyes, the gem isn’t actually attached by a cord or any other visible means. If one can get past the third-eye thing, one might notice other details. Long black hair has been elaborately braided and beaded, and multiple earrings hang from the serrated ears. Like most githyanki, she favors bright, strong colors in her dress.

As githyanki tend to go everywhere armed to the teeth, this one also has an ornate dagger sheathed at her belt, as well as a light crossbow and a pair of bolt cases among her effects.

The woman takes her time looking at the various persons present. Hmm. One large, confident warrior with a recently bloodied weapon. One duthka’gith. A badly wounded githzerai. It wasn’t so unusual that he was wounded; given the apparent bloodshed, it was only unusual that he was alive. One with a bandaged wrist, who had spoken. An Athasian gith. And one familiar figure.

“Kith’rak.” Spotting Gy-Nath, Ya’shenn bows with precisely the correct amount of politeness. Assuming, or simply pretending to assume – for the sake of his dignity – that the captain is actually in control of the situation. Her voice had been somewhat sarcastic before, when first opening the door; it is quite polite now. “Perhaps my assistance would be of some help to you?”

One might quickly notice that the female githyanki speaks an extremely ‘pure’ form of the language -- without accent, well enunciated, but also containing some archaic words that aren’t in widespread use these days. For those who have heard it before, it’s a perfect match for the ‘accent’ of the inhabitants of Tu’narath.

OOC: Hello there.
Azure, I’m assuming that she knows Gy is a kith’rak – if not, simply assume that she knows him by name.
Also, need to know if Jhank’s glyph is visible right now and if she’d recognize it or not. (If it’s a psonic seal, it’s likely; if it’s magical in nature, probably not.)

OOC: Zimmerzam, I'm currently disguised as a githyanki (though I am badly wounded)

Alas, had Ya’shenn known that Grazz was leading this group into the same room the Accursed himself had been in earlier, spying on the others, she would have been especially concerned. Perhaps the Accursed is leading them all into a trap or an ambush; perhaps the githzerai has a handy escape route there. The woman does not know these things, however, so she’s not more than ordinarily cautious.

The psion glances at the warlock’s bandaged wrist as he speaks. “Perhaps we can do something about that wrist later." By now, she’s assuming that this group subdued the Accursed – hence the destruction and the injuries. Why was he still unbound and armed, though?

Ya'shenn had just nodded politely to Daraz and taken a step toward him, her two natural eyes narrowing as she visually inspects his injuries, though she doesn’t actually touch him just yet. Ugh, burn wounds! Another drunken knifing between pirates would’ve been far preferable.

The psion’s attention is drawn away sharply, however, at the sight of the severed ulitharid head. Her tone of voice has changed, as well – it’s not particularly menacing, but it has a certain edge to it, not the way she's been speaking to brother Githyanki.

“Friend of yours, Accursed One?”

OOC: Azure, a Psicraft, Knowledge (Psionics), other knowledge, or Int check would be nice here. Since she heard Vivec claim to be possessed by a ghaik head, I’m wondering if there’s anything Ya’shenn would know that would suggest that a severed, apparently dead Ulitharid head would be any more dangerous than an oddly-shaped volleyball. She’s also looking directly at it (cue scary music).

[OOC: Assume detect thoughts active and Sense Motive checks on Grazz as soon as he makes it clear that he’s about to tell his story. Her reactions are assuming that he’s not resisting it and that what he says is true, or at least that Ya'shenn thinks he’s telling the truth. She’s looking for truthfulness, but also for any and all information pertaining to the illithids. (This may have the disadvantage of encountering some nausea-inducing memories of his, i.e., Sight having a square meal.) Oh, yeah, and she'd also be alert for, to the extent she can tell, anything that looks like 'altered memories' or enthrallment. Please lemme know if fairly long periods of time pass, as detect thoughts can eat up power points quickly.]

Once Grazz makes it clear he’s about to tell his story, the psion turns toward him and presses her palms together lightly, fingers pointed downward. The woman's stance straightens and her gaze becomes a flat, intense stare -- almost as if she’s looking through the Accursed than at him, in fact. Most people move their muscles slightly while standing or talking; right now, aside from breathing, the psion is as still as a statue. As if these changes aren't indication enough, Ya’shenn’s two natural eyes adopt a distinct silvery hue, at exactly the same moment everyone in the room, particularly Grazz, feels an odd sensation of ‘static’ inside their heads. The manifested power she’s using isn’t, on an absolute scale, all that powerful, yet the Githyanki is fairly crackling with psionic energy.

Midway through his tale, a faint shadow of a smile actually appears on the psion’s lips. To actually spy on the Enemy! If this outrageous tale is actually true, Accursed, my opinion of you has just changed… to some degree. Suddenly, the reason why Grazz has survived so long seems very clear: he must have been using Sight’s knowledge (and foreknowledge) to keep himself alive.

Another thing that becomes clear is the potential value of a puzzle piece such as Grazz... even in his current state. There is one question that weighs especially heavily on her mind, but Ya'shenn will have a number of questions remaining after this one.

“Many claim that you have gone so far as to sell githyanki, githzerai, or perhaps both to the illithids.” Despite the hideousness of what Ya’shenn is describing, her tone of voice and demeanor are almost disturbingly calm. “Ever since I first heard that rumor, I’ve wondered what would motivate any child of any of the liberated Peoples to commit an act of such utter depravity. Unless the one selling them were enthralled himself, of course. First, is it true that you have sold githyanki -- or githzerai -- or others -- to the Enemy? Second, if it is, what moved you to do so?”

Ya’shenn breaks her rigid posture for a moment, looking over at the dead-not-quite-dead ulitharid. “Any chance that Sight, in its… reduced condition, is able to communicate with others of its kind? I’d rather not have the illithids aware of this conversation… and neither would you, Accursed.”

OOC: At the risk of sounding like I'm sucking up to the DM, this whole Grazz-the-Accursed thing is an awesome plot twist. AWESOME. Wasn't expecting it at all.

The Nor’mujin warrior introduces himself to Ya’shenn as “Du’minh the Rish-I-Chal, warrior of the Band of Steel”, keeping formal but forthcoming, then joins to hear Grazz’ narrative.

Du’minh sits patiently through the story, though his reaction and body language clearly indicate that he finds the tale outrageous and astounding. When the story falls on his possible reason for being in Git’riban, the mage slayer keeps a straight face and doesn’t comment.
When Grazz elaborates on the negative consequences of the resonance stone, however, Du’minh rethinks the safety of holding on to it. His vigilance and discipline wrestling with his arrogance and ego, the Rish musters his willpower to put the stone on the table away from his presence but into view of all collected.

At conclusion of the tale, Du’minh glances back and forth between Grazz, the fellow githyankis, and the severed head of Sight, looking for answers to dull his scepticism.

“Loathe as I am to admit it, these words make sense of the greater picture we are trying to form. We still have pieces to put together, however, and we are not quite done with this interview, Grazz. “List of contacts. Fellow traitors. Half the rooms in Illithid House.” These are your words and what you assured to give us, and with the… “insightful” experiences you speak of, you should have no trouble doing so. You must have seen an abundance of recognizable locations in Sigil that Sight has frequented with his tentacled peers. Rendezvous points for ghaiks, portals for getting into their safehouses, and more, we need everything you got.”

Going by her allegiance to the Double-Edged Mind, the Rish-I-Chal’s sight returns to the newest face in the flock:

“Ya’shenn, I trust Gy-Nath’s judgement when he places confidence in your abilities to discern the truth. What do you make of the Accursed’s story? I would not worry about possible mental eavesdropping via the remains of Sight, the lead sheeting and wardings of Haven Port should still keep out divining forces.”

[OOC: Keeping up detect thoughts and Sense Motive checks on Grazz, of course.]

Ya’shenn glances over at Du’minh before turning her focus back to the Accursed. “Oddly enough, he’s actually telling the truth – at least, the truth as he believes it to be. I sense no direct falsehood from him whatsoever. He’s holding back to some extent, but that doesn’t surprise me.”

Whatever image Grazz is referring to, it’s more than enough to make the psion turn away from him, visibly nauseated. Rubbing her eyes and the bridge of her nose, as if doing so could actually dispel the sight of the Illithid art form known as ‘performance eating,’ the Double-Edged Mind mutters a response:

“Could be worse, Accursed. You could have ended up wishing for Sight’s sense of taste.”

Eventually, and having to resort to the trained self-discipline of a psion to do so, Ya’shenn manages to push the image back and regain her focus. She does manage to notice the sudden appearance of the stone, and Grazz’s references to one. “How, exactly, did Sight end up in possession of that stone, especially without knowing it?”

The woman follows up with additional questions. “You sold others to the illithids, then. Did you do this through a ghaik contact, or a third party? Furthermore, did you ever encounter the ulitharid known as ‘Will?’ If so, what exactly do you know about It?”

The woman seems to be about to add something else, then glances over at Obsidian Orb. Turning toward the Athasian gith, she’s careful to speak in as polite a tone as she can manage – for the Athasian probably won’t like what she’s about to say.

“I wish that we had had the opportunity to meet under less… pressing circumstances than these. Am I correct in assuming, by your presence here, that you have chosen the Great Enemy – that is, the illithid – as your own enemy? Some of this information is… sensitive, to say the least.”

[OOC: Assuming here that Ya'shenn knows enough about Athasian gith to know or guess that they might not have an insane hatred of mind flayers like ‘civilized folks’ do. If not, ignore. Also, if she knows Obsidian Orb by sight, she’d preface her question with ‘Chieftain Obsidian Orb.’

Also, would githyanki in general, or Ya’shenn in particular, know about the existence of Illithid Creeds? If so, it might come up either in this scene, or sometime later.]

"I highly doubt that plan will end well, Du'minh," says Daraz, "But it's your head and you are free to do with it what you will. In any case, Sight's head is still *there*," he says pointing. "We've got to make sure it can't cause any more problems before we do something barmy, like irreperably breaking our head-smasher's mind." He points his crossbow at the head to emphasize his point.

“It’s within my ability, yes. If we decide to do that, though, I’d prefer it be toward the end of this meeting, rather than immediately. It’s a bit taxing, and may or may not be our highest priority.”

[OOC: Ya’shenn is simply conserving her psionic strength until she/the group decide what to spend it on, in case Grazz mentions other subjects that should also be explored thoroughly. If Grazz makes more noises about ending the meeting, she’d be willing to mindlink the three of them for that information before he goes.]

The psion’s eyes flash with wrath – literally! – when the word ‘mindbender’ is spoken, generating bright silver sparks. The anger on her face begins to cool, however, as Ya’shenn listens carefully to the rest of what the gith chieftain has to say. “Obsidian Orb, the rest of your words are spoken with wisdom, so I choose to assume that you called me that word out of ignorance, not malice. No Githyanki would wish to be referred to as a ‘mindbender.’”

[OOC: ‘First Contact’ situations are fun. ]

Nevertheless, the psion appears to accept the Athasian’s presence – or at least to tolerate it. She looks to each of the others, but particularly to Du’minh. “Any of you may ask questions of the Accursed, if you have them. I can still verify the truthfulness of his answers, and your asking them won’t break my concentration.”

After some mental hesitation, Ya’shenn asks the question she was (and is) reluctant to ask in the presence of an alien.

“Grazz,” suddenly he’s not ‘Accursed One’ anymore it seems, “I’d imagine that the ghaik continues to plot against the Githyanki, and for that matter, the Githzerai. How much damage have the Illithids done so far, and what do they have in mind in the future? What future attacks are they planning?”

Du’minh takes his time to soak up the information, making sure to memorize names, descriptions and other important notes.

“We shall follow up on these contacts and leads, handling those involved according to their involvement with Illithid House. The overview of ghaik operations and campaigns is also beneficial to our cause, though their extent gives many concerns to priority of when and where to strike next.”

Taking a look around the table, Du’minh folds his arms.

“I find this intelligence quite sating for us to work with and have no need for further inquiry on the matter, for now... At least not by way of words.”

The extent of ghaik manipulations is… alarming. Not all that surprising, really, but disturbing to hear about nonetheless. What Grazz has to say about illithid operations against her own species is bad enough, but she had thought it would have been even worse.

Ya’shenn nods in agreement, taking note of the Rish’s mental signature for future reference. She already has Grazz’s. It seems to her that the Accursed has much more information to be harvested, but it’s quite clear that Du’minh has something to say that’s better conveyed mind-to-mind. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, the psion patiently fashions a mental tether between the hunter’s mind and her own, then repeats the process with the Accursed.

~There, Ya’shenn sends to both of them. ~Grazz, the Mage Hunter may be able to interpret what you’ve seen of Sight’s magical activities.

A slight pause, then,

~And do try to keep the gratuitous brain-eating to a minimum this time.

[OOC: Mindlink between Du'minh - Ya'shenn - Grazz. DM, please let me know if Ya’shenn’s power points start looking dangerously low; she won’t drain herself completely (though I think she still has a ways to go yet before that happens).

Make up the visible manifestation of the Mindlink power of your choice, but the "ephemeral translucent goo" that the Psi Handbook describes is just a tiny bit too weird and gross for me.

Poor Du’minh, only telepaths and species with secret sign-languages get to have secret conversations. ]

When the process starts out, Du’minh is thoroughly horrified by the experience despite his attempt to prepare himself. The Rish grips tightly at the edge of the table with his eyes widened in shock, almost beginning to hyperventilate. Fumbling to discipline himself, he closes his eyes and gradually finds control, taking deep breaths and easing his mind to let it all flow into place.

The warrior furrows his brow when memories glide in with visions of mighty mages and rituals, concern and traces of fear playing across his face. A tiny fragment of sympathy for Grazz manifests after a while, especially at the notion of what horrors Du’minh is being spared from.

The mage hunter sits patiently through the session, sealing every mind-fragment away in his memory, going through them methodically in turn to make sure he will never forget. When the process is complete Du’minh rises to his feet, visibly burdened by the intrusion of alien recollections.

He turns and points a shaking finger at the head of the ulitharid, dread and exhaustion cycling through his frame.

“ Sight… Ugh… It… It tried to possess its own eye-crystals… I think it failed… time and time again… but… if successful… its spirit could still reside in them… capable of possessing other life forces!”

OOC: