Marku looked at Raelis, not bothering to hide his concern.

Speaking a few powerful words over a similarly potent door - unlocking four individual locks as he did so - he lead Raelis into what he'd labeled the Temple of Divination. Esoteric glyphs and strange markings dominated the room, as did powerful lines laid in gold and silver. There was an alter made of alter, a single silver blade upon it, and in the center the various lines of the room converged to make several protective rings.

In the center of the circle quivered a single, bright Callisti.

The change came slowly.  First spikes thrust themselves through the robes that were Raelis, then the robes themselves hardened into metal and the entire form went wild.  Seconds later the five legged, six armed form of Balast stood before Marku breathing heavily.

"Good, the callisti oath has no more hold on me.  However the process has drained my strength.  Could I request we continue quickly.  I need to drain Balast soon."

"Yes, yes, yes.." said Marku, trying to concentrate on the Callisti. He drew the silver blade, pointed it at the Callisti. There was a moment of tension in the room as the Callkisti quivered - Marku commanded much raw power.

"A question for the divination.."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:50, Fri 25 Dec 2009.

Sura appears. To the markets...

"What is the location the prison forged by nine aspect gods to imprison the aspect of destruction?"

BOOM.

Lighting struck down from sky, striking a lightning rod; and when it was gone, Maxilita stood balanced on the rod's tip.

Leaping from the roof, she landed in the streets and looked around, suddenly aware that such an entrance might have not been the best idea.

Balast

Marku coughed, and then, "What is the location the prison forged by nine aspect gods to imprison the aspect of destruction?"

The Callisti hovered for a moment. Quivered. Marku raised the silver blade, directed it towards the Callisti, and Balast experienced something rare: he heard a Callisti scream. A screeching, almost crooning sound, at once beautiful and menacingly horrific, it seemed to shatter the spirit of the room..

The Callisti, typically an orb of shimmering metal, burst into a dozen directions, spikes piercing the air, the cacophony reaching even higher..

Marku went about this for what was almost an hour, asking and asking until he'd broken the Callisti entirely.

Roses at your - at your - feet, Sorcerer.

"Ask.. ask your question once more, Raelis," wheezed Marku, his energies spent.

Sura

There were several Markets in Niborkerese: The Pennyfellow Market, which specialized in souls and slaves; the Free Market Ptah, run by the Apotheosis Circle and specializing in non-Conclave goods; the Gunfield, specializing in illegal weapons; the Divinitus Yathor, which specialized in Divine items; and a handful of minor markets, perhaps not worth mentioning.

Max

Max was lucky - it was midday, and she was not noticed. She stood precariously atop a purple-cobbled roof.

Balast stepped forward and looked at the Callisti.

"What is the location the prison forged by nine aspect gods to imprison the aspect of destruction?"

He waited only a second before continuing.

"I am the tree's knight, its champion, and I need this to assist the tree in its desire!"

She smiled, and leaped from her perch into the street below, keeping a hand on the hilt of her sword. This place was dangerous, especially for a girl. She didn't even know why she was here- she just had this gut feeling something big was happening here, and she need to pull a Big Damn Hero move and stop it, quick.

Feeling around with her intuitive senses, she judged which path to take.

Sura headed to the Pennyfellow Market and looked for a slave trader.

Balast

"What is the location the prison forged by nine aspect gods to imprison the aspect of destruction?" the Callisti mimicked, shattering and rebuilding, screaming all the while.

Sorcerer

He has been hidden beneath the Shrine of Nothing at the Gardens of the Sealed Gate of Alkan. He has been bound with the severest of sorceries, trapped with certain words of power, and guarded by the very Floods which rule the universe..

Sura

There were many, many slave traders. Sura could not suppress his admiration at the market - a huge, open courtyard filled with slave traders and buyers. Each slave trader carried a wand of a certain colour, spanning the entire spectrum, and this, in combination with their lush garb, displayed their profession. Each slave trader - and there were easily four or five dozen - was surrounded by what Sura knew to be hardened warriors, not all human, and above them..

Above them, seventy or eighty great, opaque spheres, each one stained, very lightly, with the colour of a stave. They hovered in the air, like giant Callisti, some small and some large, most filled to bursting with their cargo - slaves, strange beasts, and the like. Some of them were orbited by tiny moon-orbs, glowing darkly in the night, and Sura knew these to be the orbs that contained the immaterial souls.

Max

Max knew that the Tower in front of him contained some great evil within - possibly Balast. It was, however, heavily guarded, both by strange clicking-machines in the sky and by human soldiers below.

Balast shook his head.

"The Alkanites do seem to like their names don't they?  Shrine of Nothing.  Just the place to imprison destruction.  However it does sound like the prison is still of power words and I doubt any have come whose skill there could equal Raelis's.  I need to get there as soon as possible.  What are these floods that guard him?  I was never one for magical lore at the best of time and if Domvoi mentioned them I do not recall."

Sura addressed the trader closest to him. "You, tell me who runs the slave trade around here." Sura was counting on there being a king pin character who he could discuss dealings with.

Mmm. She had no long- ranged weapons, and he armor was purely ceremonial.

She also realized that no place was purely evil. There must at least one virtuous vagabond vigilante within this township.

He- or she- would be there when she returned.

DOOM.

A bolt of lightning arced back into the sky, and Maxilita with it.

Balast

The Callisti said nothing. It had gone from shining silver to a hollow grey.

"Friend, it's done," said Marku, placing a hand on Balast's shoulder. "Callisti-work is easily the most accurate form of divination, but it is also the most trying on the tools. They were created, I feel, to hold information, not to give it. Surely you have your answer."

Sura

"Why, I do," said the slave trader, a thin man with a wicked grin. "What do you need? Humans, beasts, something a little more exotic? Raw souls?"

"True but I still need to get there and from the little I know of the Alkanite's city it's not easy to reach.  I know the defences around Balast well enough but I have no idea what other defences might exist.  Can I reach that location with Methodes gate and is there one I can use or can a portal get me there using my essence to focus the location?"

Sura sized the man up. "I would like human slaves. However, i would like them on a regular scheduel. Do you think we can reach an arrangement?"

Balast

"I currently operate a Portal of Shatters, though it is a pricey thing, built on the deaths of my slaves, and I cannot spare such a cost at this moment. I do not own a Gate of Methodes, unfortunately."

Sura

"Hmmmrmm," said the slave-trader, stroking his magnificent beard. "That depends on how many you need, how frequently you need them, and what you're paying me for it."

"I will be needing 10 each week for now. A price can be reached im sure - be it my wealth or my service."

"So I'm walking to the City of Alkan?  I doubt even I'll make it with the entire conclave out looking for me.  And it s not like I have much to offer now, knowledge of some things, secrets of the age I come from but no resources.  Is there anyone in this place who has one that I might be able to bargain with?"

Balast

"Hmmm," said the sorcerer. "Marku owns one or two, as head of the Athanor. I could arrange a meeting, if you like. Besides that, I'm not so sure.."

Sura

"Ten a week will be fine, as long as the payments are made a week in advance. What, exactly, was your offer?"

"What would you accept as payment? I have gold. Otherwise i can offer you something you need?"

"I probably ought to speak to him I suppose regarding other matters.  The Conclave is betrayed.  Roid has for some unknown reason decided to betray it to Osiris-Ra and Osiris is seeking a way to destroy the tree.  The real problem is there is a weapon he can use to do so and the knowledge to let him wield it exists.  I can't stop him, that was never my role and Raelis's role was as judge not participant.  He must not be allowed to destroy the tree using that method.  Marcento needs to know all that and much more which even I do not know."

Balast

"Brhhhg," spat Marku, "The Conclave are a collection of worms and jackals. There is no honour there, only the vaguest semblance of order. So they are betrayed.. bah. They cannot destroy the Tree, and neither can Osiris-Ra. They are both blinded by hubris. Only the Tree can commit that murder. I can arrange a meeting with Marcento, as I've said, but he might not be so impressed with your claims. I - I accept your existence as Lis, but you are raving."

Sura

"Gold? How much gold? Pure? I can accept gold, yes. Ingots? Artifacts? Magical, theoelectromagnetic, otherwise strange properties..?"

The man suddenly seemed eager. He was filled with questions. Desperate for answers.

"Don't tell him about my claims then.  I just need one trip through the gate and I have memories of an earlier age and I knew Lis.  Tell him that and say I offer knowledge to him rather than confusing issues with who I am."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:34, Fri 15 Jan 2010.