Game: Blades of Git'riban : Primal State

Ya'shenn's own -- natural, and still intact -- eyes widen visibly as the Athasian chieftain removes her own eyeball. Clearly the Githyanki wasn't expecting that.

The psion looks from one face to another as she crosses her arms over her chest, clearly disturbed by some of the words she’s hearing.

“Even if the eyes do not contain Sight’s… personality and will…” Ya’shenn doesn’t want to use a word like ‘soul’ in connection to a ghaik. “…They were still the prized possession of an illithid, probably crafted by Its own hands. Such abominable works do not grant true power, merely corrupt and enslave those who would make use of them. If they do contain Its personality, if one of us attempted to wield the eyes… that person would very likely become Sight’s host and thrall. An item as polluted as this should be destroyed, not preserved.”

[OOC: Yep, stoking the fires of anti-Illithid fanaticism over here. ]

Du’minh very carefully skims over the eyes with his auravision, keeping in mind that overwhelming magic might sting through his sense of the Art.

“In that case, I suggest we seek out a portal to where such means may be found: Gehenna, Athas, the Plane of Fire or Magma, there are many options. The crystals need to be destroyed, the taint of ghaiks is heavy about them.”

"If the rest of you have gotten the information you sought," the psion replies, "I am content."

"One more thing, Grazz, before you go. I know you like to sell information...Look me in the eye and tell me you have no intention of relaying this conversation to anyone else."

[i]Got you, chant broker[/i], Ya'shenn thinks to herself, though she doesn't relay that across the mental link. Instead, she looks to each of the others. "Under the circumstances, that may be the best we can expect from him."

While her ears are nowhere near as honed as her psionic senses, Ya’shenn nonetheless cranes her hearing in that direction. [OOC: Listen check]

Once the Accursed has departed, Ya’shenn mentally detaches the tethers that had been connecting the three minds.

“It is my duty as a Githyanki to strike at the illithid whenever and wherever It appears. I would be honored to join you and your brothers in your hunt.”

"Brother Du'minh, I think we should also consider when and how to go after the 'rooms' of Illithid House directly. It's difficult to truly surprise a ghaik, but the longer we delay, the more likely they will realize that their security has been compromised, and the more likely that they will drastically bolster their defenses, or even counterattack."

Ya’shenn gazes meaningfully toward the hole in the wall. "As far as that is concerned," she gestures to the resonance stone, “I would be happy to see the ghaikstone destroyed, but I could hardly suggest using dragon-fire in here. We’d have to try it somewhere else.”

She turns toward Daraz. Given the nature of psionic healing, the psion grimaces inwardly, not being at all fond of the hideous pain of burn injuries. “Questioning the Accursed took much of my concentration, but I have not forgotten you. Let’s have a look at your wounds.”

[OOC: The Grazz – Ya’shenn – Du’minh mindlink is now turned off. Detect Thoughts turned off, as well. Assuming Daraz consents, taking a look at the injuries, then manifest Empathic Transfer/Body Adjustment. If he’s badly injured, not going to attempt to transfer all that much damage at once (i.e. she will be conservative with her OWN hp), but Ya’shenn can at least try to patch him up. EvilDM, let me know if Ya’shenn needs to make a Will save to keep from screaming in horrible horrible pain, or anything. ]

"The ghaik may change thier plans regarding the slaver too if they realize they've been compromised. We should kill Emir Rouge first if it is at all possible to to do so quickly and quietly. If not, I agree that we should attackilthilid house immediately."

“Your zeal is praiseworthy, brothers, but we only know where this Emir Rouge can be found – not where his lair truly is.” I should have asked that, if only to be thorough. “Outside this district, as much as we might like to slay him where he stands, he is probably protected by the graith.”

Ya’shenn nods to the Rish. “That seems sound to me. They may become curious about the… disappearances of their thralls, but that depends on how often the illithids check on them. One thing -- I am not sure exactly where the rest of you stand currently, but if I am to fight the ghaik I would prefer to do so at full strength. Beyond the fact that at least a few of you here are clearly wounded, I’m not sure what your status is. We will have to make some preparations before striking at the House, I’m sure.”

For the first time in a long while, a streak of optimism has replaced the late dark mood that has affected Du’minh these last few days.

“We would appreciate any intelligence your scouts may enlighten us with, chieftess. Hopefully we can locate and eliminate all three spies in a swift series before the House can be alarmed, then shortly after begin the raid on sanctums while their eyes in Git’riban are blinded.”

“Sister Ya’shenn and the rest of us should certainly be at full strength before the attacks, so perhaps we best depart and catch some rest now. I do not suggest we regroup at Haven Port, however, considering the attention we have drawn.”

Cutting a grimace, the warrior of the Band of Steel casts a look at the stone he has put on the table.

“I would rather not retake possession of the resonance stone until we can destroy it, but I shall do so if there is no one who can handle it without falling under its influence.”

"We are going to rid ourselves of the stones immediately, yes? Before anything else?" As she speaks the words, the psion slides easily into a light trance state, clearing her surface mind of extraneous thoughts. With an expression of calm concentration, Ya'shenn reaches toward the resonance stone herself, though she does not touch it as yet, keeping her hand a few inches away. Usually, the effects of a resonance stone are more or less intense based on distance; she's testing to see whether or not her mental protections are actually working. She's all too conscious of the fact that this thing severely altered the judgment of a ulitharid. Accordingly, the psion doesn't want to find out what it might do to her brain.

"I would like to see Sight done away with in a final and permanent manner..." She looks meaningfully over at the cloth-covered severed head. "And it's best to get rid of the resonance stone before it makes more trouble. I'm willing to try the duthka'gith's idea... just not inside this room."

"Ah, you are a death-mage then...? Of such arts I know but little." Beyond what you can't help but observe, by living in Tu'narath, of course.

[OOC: Manifesting empty mind to see if it's actually working to protect her against the stone's influence, or if she's feeling suddenly inflated with ghaik egotism. If I'm reading the description right, empty mind is free, as an at-will racial ability.

Does the stone look like it'd be relatively easy to break/shatter/cook with dragonfire, or does it seem as hard to destroy as Sight's eyes?]

[OOC: You know, I'd written a lengthy post, but first I need to know how much free will/free emotion Ya'shenn really has left, before I can post a response. Did she get the full 'you are god like' hubris-infesting dose when she's taking pains to be careful while testing her defense against the object, and has been warned about its effects? Specifically, I don't know if she'd have the faculties left to recognize and reject the influence.]

Weak-willed cattle, all of them…

...and so deliciously easy to shape to my wishes and desires.

It is a shame to perceive such feeble will in my brothers – the Liberator would weep to see it – but weak-minded fools like these deserve to be dominated and used. If they lack the strength to take care of themselves, I suppose I shall have to do the job for them…

“Gah!” The psion recoils away from the innocent-seeming stone as if she’d just stuck her hand in a fire. “Destroy that thing!”

Ya'shenn turns her back to the others, visibly disturbed.

“Kith’rak,” she says after a while in a low voice, her back still turned, “if I’m ever in possession of that evil thing, please see that I’m separated from it… by force, if necessary.”

The woman looks down at her hands. “Gith’s blood, that was bad…” I am not going to underestimate this ‘Will’ again. Ever. That thing is so much stronger than a normal resonance stone. “Ah… best bet is to knock over the table… go after it with that flail, Du’minh, it doesn’t look as tough to break as the eyes. If you put a hole in the floor in the process… so be it, I am not carrying that thing.”

[OOC: AHHH! it BURNS!!!!! ]

I suggest it be in one of our kips - seeing as how a public place may not be nearly secure enough for talk of so sensitive a nature.

Visibly relieved that he is no longer considered an enemy (for the time being), and in an act of further reconciliation, Rey offers more help.

Does anyone else need healing before we leave?

OOC:
Gy’s suggested meeting time would give Du’minh enough time to give a full report to K’dar and pick up his improved cloak, right?

“Excellent proposition, brother. Mim sounds like the highest priority of the three, as Grazz noted that he only reported directly to a member of the Triad - a point I think we should keep in mind when assigning strike forces to take out the spies.”

“However, we would need some means to signal when all are in position and ready to strike, if the hits are to be synchronized. Could you or Ya’shenn lend some telepathic aid in this regard?”

The psion is visibly relieved when the resonance stone is finally destroyed. Illilthids often littered their lairs with such objects, the same way other races might use houseplants or decorative vases… But the specific intent behind the design of that stone seems especially sinister. She would even have preferred one of the more commonplace ‘terror’ or ‘despair’ stones.

Ya’shenn is silent for a long while, brooding over the thoughts she’d had while in the object’s effective range.

He speaks easily of slaying other githyanki, the psion thinks to herself. Assuming Grazz’s information was accurate, there’s little else to be done for thralls so thoroughly conditioned. It is still an unpleasant task.

“I could, yes. Be aware that once established, I can maintain the link at any range – provided, of course, that we all remain on the same plane of existence. To establish such a link I will need to be in proximity with all of you at the same time, so bear that in mind as you plan.”

A bit of internal speculation occupies Du’minh on Gy-Nath’s distribution of forces – is trust the only motivation behind assigning the Rish as sole agent for taking down the sharpener?
He shrugs it off and gives attention to testing out the mental link, nodding to his companions.

“Now you all have seen what we might face, as it should be. I shall send note when I have tracked down my target.”

Following the lead of Ar’dru, the Rish takes his leave if none have more to say. He heads to the exit of Haven Port and takes a few steps out, then slides through dimensions to cover as much distance as he can towards his home and lose any would-be followers in the process.

Du’minh then walks the last stretch until reaching his kip, follows all his usual procedures to bypass and reactivate safety measures, then heads up to K’dar to check on his condition and provide him a full report.

[OOC: Before arriving at Void Keys]

One person’s sensory input is noticeably missing – if indeed such a word can be applied to a half-graith from Athas. Without actually attempting to communicate with the Black Spear chieftain, Ya’shenn checks whether she’s getting anything from Obsidian Orb at all. Perhaps the Athasian is canny enough to be warded against psionics…

She’ll need to be able to access the chieftain eventually in any case, in order to coordinate the attacks.

The psion’s thoughts had been on the upcoming, and unfortunate, assassinations. Said thoughts, as usual, were not something to be eavesdropped on easily: to do so would require getting through the psionic equivalent of fortress walls, spiked pit traps, poison arrow traps, hungry guard beasts, and so on.

Behind those habitual defenses, two things that she picks up on during the trip cause her thoughts to absolutely seethe with paranoia. (More paranoia than usual.)

Of course, Ya’shenn might feel even more paranoid if she knew that her two companions were both, in fact, githzerai.

At the exact moment that Jhank’kor’s mind mark is revealed to her perception, both Vivec and Daraz see the psion stop dead in her tracks. The woman says nothing, but her body language, at that moment, clearly radiates how disturbed she is.

After some moments, the woman takes pains to relax her tensed muscles and match the pace of the other two, as though nothing had occurred.

Keeping a close eye on that part of her awareness, Ya’shenn notes that Gy-Nath is obviously taking steps to deal with the situation. That is a small relief, at least. It confirms her earlier opinions of him, actually – he seems a good commander, a good son of Gith, concerned about the welfare of his subordinates even at some cost to himself.

As if the illithid psionic seal were not enough on its own, now the paranoia goes into full swing. Ya’shenn knows much less of graith matters than a resident of Sigil ought to, but she knows enough to be wary of the Lady of Pain.

By the blood the Liberator shed for us, what if even this has been incorporated into Will’s planning? Herding us all – githyanki, githzerai, whichever illithids It despises – until we provoke the Bladed One’s wrath? While It watches and laughs from a distance?

Her thoughts run wild with guesswork and speculation. The only thing that seems clear is the apparent interest of the Lady of Pain.

As they travel, Ya’shenn does what she can to read the faces and alien body language of the dabus, doing her best not to be obvious about doing so. Is there a sense of anything beyond that watchfulness of theirs? Displeasure? Anticipation?

Given Gy-Nath’s choice of words when assigning the teams, she suspects that Vivec and Daraz are more practiced at the art of the bloody knife than she is. In any case, Du’minh is not likely to be in position for a while, and she’s not even getting input from Obsidian Orb. She is likely to follow the lead of her companions for now.

[OOC: Sense Motive on our friendly neighborhood dabus, especially to tell if they seem to have any ‘mood’ other than general alertness. Also checking to see if she’s getting anything at all from Obsidian Orb.]

The return to health of his captain brings a smile to Du’minh’s face, and the Rish pulls up a chair by the bedside.

“It is good to see you have recovered some, brother. I bring good news and have much to tell, but the time to strike back at the ghaiks has moved close and I cannot linger for long.”

“We have uncovered what role Grazz has played and bested him in battle. However, a bargain of sorts has been struck…”

The mage hunter provides a quick report of events since he left, keeping in mind that he is expected to act out his part this very night. There is barely any mention of being influenced by Sight’s resonance stone, however – Du’minh feels shamed of his own weakness in this regard. He makes certain to provide K’dar with all key strategic information regarding Illithid House.

“Had we not been stressed for time, I would have proposed that much of these mental recollections I now hold be recorded in sensory stones. Thus, even if we fall in the coming days, others would be able to identify ghaik high-ups and have foreknowledge of Illithid House safety measures.”

“Should you need to contact me urgently, seek out the kip of Gy-Nath – he remains connected to all of us by the psionic link and I will let him know telepathically that he can trust you. I go now to play my part and take down the spy before we commence the raid. As time allows, I shall check up on you again and keep you notified, brother.”

The warrior rises from his seat and stands at attention. A bit hesitantly, he puts another issue he has been pondering to words.

“If… When I return from the raid on the ghaik sanctuaries, I had hoped we could talk more about the Band of Steel’s role in the Silver Eyes. I wish to learn more of what progress had been made to uncover relics of the Liberator, what our disposition is to current state of events, and of what is expected of our warband to further these causes.”