At this point as the party moves forward, a swarm of angels flies toward the party, creating a perimeter around the party.

The leader, who is a male angel who appears to be healing from a recent battle, holds up his hand. "Sonliin of Ioun, greetings, and greetings to your companions. We would have words with you.

"A small army of devils from the Nine Hells has just infiltrated the realm. They appear to have had assistance from residents of the realm--certain dragonborn who were members of an order called "Restorers of Order," a name and ethos which would go unnoticed in this plane but clearly with ulterior motives.

"We would know, however, why they attacked you. Our strong suspicion is that they were targeting you."

Zog bows politely and says, "Judging on their ambush laid for us and concerted effort over several minutes to try and destroy us, I would judge your suspicions correct.

"It is reasonable to assume they attacked us because we seek to undo a great wrong done by un-doing the death of Bahamut, if it can be done. We seek the keepers of the Seal of Erathis in a nearby marketplace to complete our errand. We require coordinated help from there, from the keepers of the Dawnbell Bastion, to whom we have spoken and a few others with whom we also have already spoken.

"If you aid us, we can complete our errand quickly and ensure that we are not the cause of any further incursions."

"Welcome." Sonliin replied to the leader "Just had a little workout for the day with a batch of devils, sorry for the mess we made to the buildings."

At the mention of a group called Restorers of Order, he tried to recall any information on them.

OOC:History?

Martha nods at Zog and Sonliin'w words. 'Helped by residents of this realm is unfortunate. Sleeper dragonborn agents, hmmm.'

'You could round up all the dragonborn in Hevestar into camps, in order to keep the city safer,' she suggests, providing advice from direct experience. She glances at Darratheir, and reconsiders. 'On the other hand, some people might think that a little draconian', she puns, 'maybe we should all just be vigilant instead'.

"No offense." answered Darratheir to Martha. "Those who have chosen to follow Tiamat aren't my brothers anymore and I will fight them with the same energy than any other devil." He looked back above his shoulder, where he left the beheaded Dragonborn. "Look at this one. I didn't spare his life nor gave him a chance to remorse."

Sure, History checks would be appropriate. As soon as someone hits 40, nobody else needs to roll.



The angels nod. “That would violate the way of our divine patrons, so we will do no such thing. We have already begun interviewing all members of this order, though, and disarming them should they be armed.

The angels turn to Zog. “Yes, we will escort you to the marketplace while several of our order go to verify your story at the locations you named. Come.”

The vast market square teems with activity. Dozens of stalls and carts cater to the tide of citizens brows- ing or just passing through. A force of Erathis’s exalted soldiery patrols the square at all hours, keeping the peace and ensuring thievery remains remarkably uncommon.
They immediately take note of you as you approach with an honor guard. The exalted human who is the captain of the guard approaches you and asks your business.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:50, Mon 18 Apr 2016.

"You know, I think I remember reading something in one of my books...one tic..." He proceeds to start to flip through the tomes, even as the glowing orb besides him causes several other books to float before his eyes as well, opening themselves so he could read them.

OOC:
09:05, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 34 using 1d20+18 with rolls of 16.  Assisting history roll.

That should give somebody else a +2 or so, right?

'Your right' Martha grins at Gromley. 'Well remembered - that would have slipped right past me until you mentioned it'.

The Restorers of Order are some sort of sinister sect, if I recall right. Tiamat had me do some research on them a long time ago, for some scheme or other of hers; HA! it feels like almost a lifetime ago'. She chews on her lip as she tries to remember, but her old brain is cloudy, and memories that she spent so many years trying to forget are hard to locate now.

'They certainly might have had something to do with dragonborn and/or the Nine Hells. I need something to jog my memory. Sonliiin, Agon; do either of you think you have heard of something like this before?'

History Check: Rolled a 34 (with GoP & M1000L) +2 from Groms = 36. Need two more assists! Could just use a bennie to hit the 40 but this way more people are involved!

16:01, Today: Martha rolled 30,32,2 using d20+23,d20+23,d6 with rolls of 7,9,2.  History (Guidance of Past, Memory 1000 lifetimes).

In the back of Sonliin's mind, a piece of knowledge came to the forefront concerning the Restorers of Order. it was a rather shadowy group that he had ran across in the past concerning a magic item that had been stolen from the temple.

---

OOC:18:03, Today: Sonliin rolled 46 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 20.  History.

When the guards approach, Zog, who has maintained his divine-looking form, greets them and debriefs them honestly, though he emphasizes the cooperation of the librarians and the Bastion a guards perhaps a bit for emphasis.

"So, to summarize, we need to deactivate the Seal for just a short time so we can retrieve the artifact in question briefly and save Bahamut. Everything is in readiness and with your assistance, we will be done quickly.

"I might add that the Nine Hells have already broken the treaty in question by sending a strike force here."

Diplomacy check for Zog.

If any of you want to contribute a non-Intimidation Charisma check, do so by tomorrow evening in real life.

Sonliin tried to help Zog in dealing with the guards, pointing out "The devil did state during battle that quote "I said my MASTER sent me. Tiamat is a mistress, and not mine." end quote before disappearing on the first of three trips off the plane."

---

00:49, Today: Sonliin rolled 19 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 7.  Aid Zog w/Diplomacy.

40 before assists w/ a Benny.
21:24, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 40 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 14.  re-rolling until 10 or better.
21:24, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 30 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 4.  Benny.
21:24, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 32 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 6.  Diplomacy.

The guard looks flustered. "Well, what you makes sense. But the only trouble is that I have no idea how to shut off this symbol. It was put here by Erathis himself. Perhaps you could figure out how. I certainly can't let you permanently harm it."

How do you propose to discover how to shut the symbol down for a period of time? Propose your line of thought and make an appropriate skill roll. Make sure it's a skill your'e good at, as this is another skill challenge.

Sonliin looked over the seal to see how it was placed and if there was a way to deactivate it for a short period, calling upon his knowledge of Divine and Arcane magics.

Religion 41 and spent a Benny

23:40, Yesterday: Sonliin rolled 41 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 15.  reroll.
23:40, Yesterday: Sonliin rolled 32 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 6.  once more.
23:39, Yesterday: Sonliin rolled 35 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 9.  benny Religion.
23:39, Yesterday: Sonliin rolled 32 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 6.  Religion.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:02, Sun 24 Apr 2016.

"Now why would Erathis pit this seal in the middle o' a marketplace?  There must hae been some reason for it an' if we can figure that oot we may be able tae work oot how tae shut it doon."

Harald tried to force himself into the mindset of Erathis to see if he could solve the problem.


01:59, Today: Harald Gaptooth rolled 31 using 1d20+18 with rolls of 13.  Insight check.

"Erathis is a powerful god, but all magic must obey certain Laws." Agon pronounced. He attacked the seal straight on. Magic sizzled and crackled, with glowing runes, unearthly ringing noises, eldritch spells and inexplicable emotions as the archmage manipulated the seal to create the quantum null flux zone that he had described to the angels.

Arcana +51

Not really on par with his companions when it came to this kind of magic, Darratheir couldn't really find a way to help them. Nonetheless, the Dragonborn decided to try to change his point of view and he started to climb on the closest building to see the scene from above. However, it seemed like it wasn't of real use, seeing how Agon seemed to be performing well.

14:11, Today: Darratheir Burnedbear rolled 27 using 1d20+23 with rolls of 4.  Athletics, climbing on near roof.
14:12, Today: Darratheir Burnedbear rolled 33 using 1d20+23 with rolls of 10.  Athletics, benny.

Zog winces when he sees the archmage Agon working openly on the seal. He moves quickly among the crowd, admonishing them to calm, reassuring them that Agon simply wishes to TEMPORARILY shut down the seal and that all else will be well, that the timing of the shut-down will be carefully considered and timed, etc.

Critted the diplomacy check, woot.
13:01, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 46 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 20.  Diplomacy to keep people calm.

Martha agrees with Harald's approach, saying 'I like the way you think, Harald' and helping out as best she can.

At Agon's unplanned seal attack, she stops what she's doing and immediately rushes over to help Zog save the situation. 'Oh no it's not what it looks like', she assures everyone. 'Like Zog said, he's certainly not trying to zap the seal with magic - oh my! Gosh no, not at all. He's just using an unusually high-charged very hot and sizzling ray of information and assessment. It's quite normal for archmages.'

18:25, Today: Martha rolled 24 using 1d20+17 with rolls of 7.  Diplomacy check, avert disaster Agon!
18:24, Today: Martha rolled 27 using 1d20+26 with rolls of 1.  Insight check, following Harald .

Despite the rather spectacular nature of his testing, Agon's pyrotechnics are what Martha declares them to be--a rather impressive display of magical research. Darratheir puts himself in a position to answer periodic questions for Agon from his perch, while Harald is able to offer insights to the mage to help direct his lines of questioning at some points.

Agon is able to learn the right combination of magical triggers to shut down the seal at the right time, and happily from a bit of a distance.

However, the party has attracted a lot of attention. There is quite a crowd around Agon, all looking at him for an explanation.

Time to explain yourselves a bit more to the crowd and get past them.  Social skill checks--Diplomacy (including Agon's Arcana-as-Diplomacy), Intimidate, Streetwise etc. Good roleplaying will earn you lower DCs and maybe even a success to supplant a roll. Need a roll from Gromley at minimum.

From his perch, Darratheir looked attentively at the crowed gathering around his partners. Still covered with his bear skin, he would jump in the middle of the mob and then reach for Agon, placing himself next to the archmage and showing himself to everyone in an attempt to intimidate them.

14:35, Today: Darratheir Burnedbear rolled 42 using 1d20+34 with rolls of 8.  Intimidate if needed.
I can't lose with a 42, can I ? :p

In reply to EpicOne (msg # 283):

"Gentlebeings, if I could have your attention!?" Gromley said, standing on his floating disk to draw eyes to him. That and he was floating slightly higher than normal thanks to Baldrick, the glowing orb which floated around him, telekinetic abilities.

"Please give our good mage some space if you would. We are clearing up some magical flux in order to keep things...well, normal. Last thing you want is to have your bag to turn into a pursefull of rabbits, eh?" He paused and rubbed his chin.

"Not that free rabbits would be a bad thing-but you may have some things in your bag you might want more than rabbits. Anyways, if you could just give us some space so the man can concentrate, that would be most helpful. We will clear this up very shortly, and you can go about your day..."

OOC-10:29, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 39 using 1d20+28 with rolls of 11.  Diplomacy .

Zog held up his hand just next to Darratheir and says, "We promise you that we are not going to destroy anything of value to you. Allow us past and we assure you, in the name of Erathis, Pelor and Ioun, that we mean no harm to anything here. We would rather honor the memory of Bahamut. Does Bahamut mean nothing to you?"

He looks into the eyes of each native of the plane as he passes through them, nodding to each and causing the crowd to part like waves on a rock...


Diplomacy 43, Streetwise 35.

13:15, Today: Zog the Faceless rolled 43,35 using 1d20+26,1d20+23 with rolls of 17,12.  Diplomacy, Streetwise.

Agon used a lot of big words, but the gist of them were "safe", "clean up", "minimal risk" and "return to your homes."  Hopefully some of it got through.


12:50, Today: Agon rolled 38 using 1d20+34 with rolls of 4.  diplomacy--arcana.