Marissa calls forth the power of the Sea God, and begins to pray.

Casting Prayer +1 to hit and saves & -1 on enemy attacks/saves.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:31, Fri 18 Oct 2019.

Rath had been nursing a growing headache and he looked miserable. Too much conspiracy, too few people to trust. And now the ghost Drusilla was free from her painting, in some independent form, giving guidance. But if she were ... .

Rath cut off his own circling, suspicious thoughts. "Fine," he growled, disgruntled at nothing in particular. "The political angle, then, Marissa. I'm all in. Where's Ingelbern? He's the old seneschal, right? Retired due to illness. You know where he is?"

Then, the knock. While Marissa prayed, Rathmus was on his feet and something orcish and blasphemous comes out of his mouth. Devilsbane practically leapt into his hands. A part of him wanted to follow Twink right up the stairs. A small part. It was tough to put aside the memory of tentacles burrowing through his flesh and in his brain. But, hells, Rath had worse memories.

He moved to the door and put his hand on the handle. Rath looked to the others for the cue before he opened it.

Inas readies arrows . . .

Once Mari finishes the prayer, she readies another spell.

With the others readying spells, arrows, and whatnot, Rath opens the door.

Standing there is what he expects, a creature, his own height, with fine silk purple robes, and a cowl that mostly covers it's tentacled face.

For the first time, when facing such a creature, there is no disgusting buzz inside his head, that insect like thumming that seems to surround these monsters.

"Parley" is all it says.

Saliq raised an eyebrow at the mind flayer.

'You must admit that is pretty unlikely,' he drawled. Nevertheless he did not move to attack.

Rath glared at the flayer through the tines of his raised trident. He backed off a pace or two, giving room for the creature to enter.

It occurs to Mari that the holy word she considered would likely fail, so she dismisses it and awaits the flayer's offer...for surely that's what it would be.

 Rath makes room, the creature enters, moving smoothly beneath its fine robes, its tentacles curling and twining like serpents, it strange purple skin shiny in the interior light.

"There is a divide in the Quartrillion.  A debate as to your fate.  We look on your kind as no more than you look on livestock, but we are ancient race, and honor our deals. The deal was, the book unharmed, for you being allowed to leave.  The book was found to be missing five pages.  It is holy book of great power.  For this, some believe your lives forfeit, others, myself included, say only if you removed the pages yourselves should you perish."

Inas's arrow remains trained on the visitor.

"You guys can root around in our brains; surely you know we didn't tear any pages outta your book."

The creature merely nods, seeming to agree with Inas' point.

"Then what more can we give you?"

Rath barely restrained himself from skewering the mind flayer envoy, right here, right now.

He had a dozen questions and a dozen more curses for this thing, but none of that would do any good.

"Why are you here, flayer? We're cattle, right? What the hell are you doing?"

The flayer stares at Rath for a minute, blinking is blank sharklike eyes, "Even amongst your cruel race, there a some who treat animals with respect, the druids for one.  Does it surprise you that some few of us do the same?  I come to warn you, we are few, and though I now know you did not harm the book, you made a deal for an unharmed book, they will condemn you for that small detail.  Though I can delay their decision, it will come to be.  I would not come only to give you ill news, if you can retrieve the four pages in time, it would clear you.  I know I said five, but I found one already.  These pages are very powerful, and whoever has them, they would eventually be driven mad, but they also will give that person greater powers.  And worse, the pages can be used to create great evils.  Whoever has them, already used one page, they obviously did not know the full power of the page, as they simply sacrificed it to open a portal for some summoning.  They must of thought it destroyed in the process, but I found deep in the earth, in the woods outside of town, in the center of an old but very large pentagram.  I have it unharmed. "

Mari struggles to understand the creature, watches in in stark fascination, as struck by the incongruity of the current situation as everyone else. It occurred to her that the flayer was setting them up - she was sure the others felt the same - but this could be an opportunity to clean things up in Stormhaven.

Left to their devices, she was certain the others would skewer the ugly bastard, but she had one pressing question that she wanted answered.

"Have you enthralled my mother?"

"No, she was being monitored for a time, as were others of your friends and family, we were searching for you all, and you managed to vanish for a time.  We are hard to hide from so I'd be curious where you went, however, you should not tell me. We suspected you left with the dragonslayer woman, but it was not so."

He continues to stand quite at ease, with a flat tone and flat eyes, only his facial tentacles writhing slowing.

"Alright, fair enough, though it wouldn't be above you to lie," she said. "As for these missing pages, do you have any leads? You said the Fifth was found, what of the others? Any hints where they might be? And what is our reward for delivering them if we find them? I expect a rich one, delivered by someone that doesn't have shark eyes and writhing tentacles."

The flayer moves quick and smooth to stand before Marissa,

"You want a deal, have you consent from the rest to make a deal?   I know where the next page is, and I have an offer to make".

She looks at her companions.

"This smacks of Flayer politics, factions and such. But if retrieving the pages nets us freedom from their schemes, and a nice reward, then I say we give it every consideration. I'm in."

Rath spoke as if he had a tentacle lodged in his throat. "I'm all ears."

"If you retrieve and deliver to me the four missing pages, I will convince the Quartrillion, you are no more important than gnats, and you will quickly fade from the collective.  Unless you cross our paths again, you'll not be remembered of our kind.....but you want something more."


The creature looks at each of you, his eyes unexpressive, and flat.

"I can remove the weakness of your minds, permanently."

"I take it that means something other than eating our brains?" Rath growled.

"And what of whatever you're doing in this City?  And your presence in it?"

"My business in the city is entirely related to yourselves and the missing pages."

"I did uncover more about you though, if you succeed, I'll share what I know if you wish.  It is not entirely positive."

To Rath,

"No, I can make it so your mind may not be controlled by others of my kind, or by similar magics"

"If true, that would be...significant," Mari said. "If true..."


ooc: every time I feel like we've reached a plateau, something else unique and interesting comes along. I'm finding this entire series with the mind flayers, assassins and others to be really interesting, as well as challenging. And the not just on the DM's side. I find myself working harder to be an effective part of this group of players than any other game I'm in, so kudos to everyone.