usir | March Event Log B: Einjar Excursion

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🜙 Mod Note

The Einjar Excursion's resolution is dependent on the choice of players who are participating in it. After you have read through this post, if your character is going to be part of the Einjar Excursion, please respond to This Comment as soon as possible with the choice that best matches the one your character would choose. The resolution is not dependent solely on players choosing one side over the other, but also on the actions they choose to take.

🜙 Preparation March 8th

Einjar's population is small in modern times, but the people who remain in the vast cavern city to maintain and protect it are usually in constant contact with Preciposte via falcon. None of the falcons Preciposte has sent to Einjar have made it back in months. The round trip to Einjar and back will take at least 8 days in total and no one is certain what they will find there or if they will even be able to get through the massive, heavily warded doors that can only be opened from within. But if something has happened to the people of Einjar, the threat needs to be discovered before it progresses to Preciposte and Krimnos.

It is sure to be a harrowing adventure for those willing to brave the treacherous cliffs to reach Einjar but the kobolds and dwarves residing there might be harboring even more secrets than anyone expected.

The excursion organizers recruit a company of Knights from Krimnos, as well as a variety of volunteers to fulfill multiple roles on the journey. Supplies are gathered and divided out among the large company before the journey starts out on foot, and three densely wooled llamas are loaded up with the spare supplies. The excursion team consists of*:

⤛	16 Knights of Krimnos, kitted out in their full armor and well-armed. Eight of the Knights travel at the back of the line while the other eight travel near the front. Twelve elves, three dwarves and a young snow leopard beastwoman.
⤛	6 Preciposte residents (3 tieflings and 3 dwarves) who are acting as guides and trackers for the mountain paths and Einjar respectively.
⤛	Healer & Cook: Christine
⤛	Hunters & Trackers: Katsa, Lauralae, & Robin
⤛	Survivalists & Scouts: Katsa, Trevor, Jon, Lauralae, Majima, Strange, Allen, Nike, Daud, & Robin
⤛	Guards & Defenders: Alucard, Katsa, Trevor, Jon, Majima, Allen, Daud, & Robin
⤛	Stealth: Alucard, Majima, & Lauralae
⤛	Linguists: Daenerys, Nike, Robin, & Tony
⤛	Wards & Trap Removal: Christine & Strange
⤛	Animal Specialist: Daenerys & Lauralae

*Other player characters can still be added to the team, multiple roles both listed and unlisted are filled by multiple characters.

🜙 A Journey's Beginning March 9th-12th

The trek through treacherous mountain paths is a dangerous and difficult one. The high altitude and freezing temperatures require the company to make frequent stops to rest their lungs and the llamas. Camp is made each night in five shared tents. The Knights split up between two tents, the Preciposte citizens in a third, and the excursion team split among the fourth and fifth tents. Meals of hot stew and stuffed breads are shared around several small magical fires before everyone hits their bedrolls for a rest. Night watches are broken into four rotating shifts so no one is out in the night cold for longer than 2 hours.

The night of the 11th the company makes camp atop the impressive ruins of the ancient temple of the mountain giants. The sheer scale of these ruins is humbling and daunting. Scorch marks from dragon fire still mar some of the marble and stone pillars. The descent down the mountain has brought the company to a lower altitude and the ruins themselves are devoid of snow or ice, almost warm under the midday sun.

The height is still dizzying and the land is a little more open than is comfortable. The company will have to fend off and defend the camp from cliff hawks, a tribe of porcupine-like carnivorous cave spindles, and a colony of six-foot-tall venomous cave spiders that make the ruins their home, all to get past the ruins to the massive stone and metal doors that bar the entrance to Einjar.

🜙 Friends in High Places March 12th

During their journey through the ruins, the company is ambushed multiple times. One elvish knight is lost to a cave spindle attack, one of the Preciposte tieflings and one of the llamas are carried off by cliff hawks, a Preciposte dwarf loses his footing on some unstable rocks and disappears off the edge of a cliff with the second llama, and another elf knight is severely injured during a cave spider ambush. With only one llama and two tents left and night quickly approaching things begin to look bad for the company and only get worse once the sun sets. A pack of dire wolves appears from within the ruins, distant howls making their numbers impossible to guess but making it quickly evident the company is surrounded by predators still out of sight. As the oversized pack of dire wolves closes in to attack, a family of kobolds armed with slings and small hammer axes appears from the cliffs above. Their ruckus of calls and the metal-banging noise of their hammer axes against their shields drive back the hunting pack.

The kobold family scampers down from the caverns above the ruins and joins the excursion company, inviting them back to the warmth of their cavern home, breaking bread with them and sharing a friendly conversation. One member of the family is a strange sight among the short kobolds, towering above his siblings, but the entire family seems to be cheerfully good-natured and happy to share what is theirs with the excursion company. They don't know anything about the recent silence from Einjar, but they offer to lead the company along a safer path to Einjar's doors in the morning.

The knights seem uneasy in the cavern, keeping to themselves and discussing maps with one of the regularly sized kobolds. When questioned by one of the elf knights on what exactly he is, the taller kobold gives the company a confused look.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asks, head turning almost vertical with a wide, toothy smile and a confused expression. He clasps a hand on his four-foot-tall brother's shoulder, towering above the smaller creature by a full three feet and thinking nothing of it. "I'm a kobold of course." And were it not for the genuine pride on his tongue it would seem a bold-faced lie even to a half-blind dwarf.

🜙 The Doors to Einjar March 13th/14th

The next morning the kobolds press on through the mountain path leading the company of strangers after them with cheerful conversation and horribly off-key dwarvish mining songs. Several of the knights fall behind exchanging hushed whispers between them. Conversation around the campfire that night is tense and muted by all but the cheerful family of kobolds passing around mushroom and egg drop soup and a savory mushroom grog with a powerful, fiery kick. Distant animal sounds are heard throughout the night, along with occasional roars of a larger beast, but nothing attacks the company.

The taller Kobold's name is learned to be Monty, and he explains that their family hasn't lived in or even been to Einjar since shortly before the war due to a distaste for the rising demand for crafting armor and weapons and a disagreement with the dwarves that ruled over the city. They consider themselves artisans and jewelcrafters rather than smithies and call themselves 'people of the wild mountains'.

At dawn, the company realizes the doors to Einjar are within sight, and less than an hour's distance away. However, It is discovered that sometime during the night the remaining dwarves from both Krimnos and Preciposte have disappeared.

🜙 Open Sesame March 14th

The doors to Einjar are behemoths of metal and stone, built to keep dragons out of the massive mountain cavern city. A river runs at a high force out from beneath the stone doors in two channels, roaring over the cliff in a waterfall not far from there. Stone bridges cross the rushing rivers on either side of the path to the doors, eroded but sturdy. The doors can't be open by force and are covered in ancient dwarvish runes. The dwarves who built Einjar preferred working with their hands and tools over magic, and the Gates to Einjar were no exception. Usually opened from within, they remain silently shut to the excursion company.

A large circular depression in the door matches up to a pieced together symbol on the ground before it. Heavy pieces of a solid iron shield broken into seven segments sit in a depression on the path before it. Each is the same size and shape and can be slotted into any of the seven slots on the door.

The segments are labelled with the dwarvish runes for Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Birth, Sanctuary, and Death. To either side of the large door are two armored dwarf statues. The one on the left is a female dwarf standing on a carved rocky platform, wearing a winged helm and carrying a shield in her right hand. The statue on the right is a male dwarf holding a blacksmith's hammer and an axe in either hand, the platform beneath him is worn away by the rushing river. The runes around the depression in the doors reads down from top to bottom:
Within
Cycle
Horizon
Beneath
Below the depression is the symbol for "Pair".

🜙 Einjar's Halls March 14th/15th

Once the puzzle is solved the doors open to reveal the empty, silent city of Einjar. The great bellows and roaring furnaces are silent and cold and the halls are empty. No bodies, no sound, and no living souls. Food is left untouched and cold on tables, weapons half forged remain on anvils or partially melted into cold furnaces. Everything is left as if abandoned in the midst of a day of work.

Deeper in the caverns beyond Einjar's main city buildings, kobold mining tools are scattered about and carts partially filled with raw minerals and gems are overturned, footsteps disappearing unexplainably mid path. An open cavern recently blasted open sits in the deepest point of the mine and within it is a bizarre scene. Dust and lime covered life-sized statues depict a battle between much smaller dragons and very short dwarves with many of the faces carved into expressions of deep rage. At the center is a deep, black pool of water, devoid of reflection or ripples. Around it are the bodies of the missing dwarves that had disappeared from the excursion company earlier in the trip.

The depth of the pool can't be measured with sword or stick, and an uneasy sensation overcomes everyone within the excavated room. The beastwoman knight touches the liquid, attempting to examine it, and in that moment a low, ringing sound builds in the room. Chaos breaks out as the elves and the kobold family that unwillingly escorted the company into Einjar burst into a full-scale violent assault on one another, the origin of the sudden fight impossible to determine.

The water stills from the rippling touch several minutes later and the fight is broken up, but with both parties convinced the other side started the fight. The elves claim the kobolds know more than they are saying, and the kobold family insists they have never set foot inside of Einjar. The arguments escalate until one of the knights accuses them of harboring a dragonborn, pointing to Monty. They say that Monty needs to be taken back to Krimnos for questioning, to which the kobolds bare their teeth and threaten that Monty will only be leaving with them over the entire family's dead bodies.

Whatever decision is made, the overall agreement is that they need to leave Einjar and return to Krimnos with their findings before anything else happens.

🜙 Journey Back March 16th-19th/20th

Following the discoveries within Einjar's halls and some free exploration by the excursion company, everything is divvied up between the survivors and the trek back to preciposte begins. The trip back is tense and uneasy with larger night watch groups and tighter rations. Hunting is necessary to feed the company, and new tents are made from fabrics taken from within Einjar.

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[ Strange continues to look annoyingly smug and annoyingly pleased about the whole thing. Part of it is because Alucard's annoyed and generally speaking, Strange has found that whatever annoys the dhampir, he'll likely enjoy. But most of it is his obsession and focus on the dragons. Because Alucard can justify this however he wants, this is just more proof in Strange's mind that he's right.

He will answer the question, though. There's no reason not to. ]

I don't honestly remember. Polished, I think? There was something else that the cat gave me which drew my attention at the start—though it certainly wasn't as interesting as the mirror turned out to be.

[Alucard's fingers drum on the bookshelf, for lack of anything else that he feels he can do at the moment beyond continue to hiss and spit in the back of his mind.]

Polished means either new or in the hands of someone who genuinely cares and has an investment in this. [He scowls at the thought.] Not comforting, but it's an important detail. If I recall correctly, these kinds of things were rare in my lifetime, so that speaks to someone of wealth or of clever means. Neither is new or exciting, but it is useful.

[He tugs his coat closer to himself, arms folded over his chest.]

It's all coming back to dragons though, that much cannot be denied. The question is is it at their behest, or at the wills of mortal things that have other ulterior motives?

You know my theory on the matter. Mortals in this time have all but forgotten about the dragons—there's barely any books on them available for study! [ As Strange annoyingly found out when he tried to research the dragons. He's obviously miffed about that whole 'lack of books' thing. ]

The people of this time wouldn't act on behalf of our dragons, of Logistykon and the rest. That's why I think it's the dragons themselves acting.

[ As he talks, the air around Strange shifts. There's the smell of electricity as the air around him starts to crackle slightly, thanks to the static he's starting to generate. ]

Forgotten is not the operative word. [The correction is automatic, and devoid of any particular fire for once.] The aftermath of the war is within living memory, for those long lived enough to experience it. They've chosen to deny those things the worship and reverence they recieved prior to everything breaking apart into a thousand pieces. It isn't surprising.

[If anything, it is as is right from Alucard's perspective.]

There's no evidence of dragons having the ability to act from the realm of the dead. If they could, why would it not have been done before, with other dragons? I suppose if you think about the types that use blood magic, vampir and the like, there's a thin connection, but that's all it is. Thin.

[Genuine question, not Alucard being salty and furious. His eyes go over to Strange, smelling the shift in the air. There's a softer noise, one steeped in memory]

Why do you smell like the house after an experiment?

This is assuming the dragons are dead to begin with. And yes, I know we've seen their skeletons, but who's to say that they can't be revived through other means? And even if they are dead, I'm certain there are means to talk to someone even in the afterlife. Ghosts can linger and necromancy is more powerful than people realize.

[ The air continues to crackle with electricity as Strange works himself up into more of an emotional state. If Alucard comes closer to him, he runs the risk of getting a little static electricity shock...because Strange unfortunately does not realize what he's doing at the moment. ]

As for your other question, I've no idea what your house after an experiment smells like to begin with.

[ he gives Alucard a slightly confused frown. Seriously, that's a remarkably specific comparison and Strange doesn't really know how to respond to that. ]

Let us say for the sake of this discussion, in which we have both walked around and within their bones, they are as dead to the eye as one might understand the concept to be. That doesn't preclude spirits or other afterlife nonsense, but it establishes a few key definitions.

Ghosts and necromancy would seem to go hand in hand, but we can possibly argue that there is a distinction between a spirit who is restless by it's own account versus the dead who have been dreadged up due to the actions of others.

[Alucard knows it's a specific comparison. He realizes it the minute the words leave his mouth, and the explanation is immediate.]

My father was...a scholar in his own right, and the technology of present shows some similarities to what he was experimenting with in my lifetime. There was much to do with electricity, and that brings certain smells with it. [He walks as he explains, crossing right over into Strange's little static field, and with the shock, there is also the spark of lightning.

Alucard jumps back, just slightly, then looks at Strange.]

...He was more controlled than that, though.

[ As soon as Alucard says 'electricity,' Strange realizes exactly what is happening. He closes his eyes for a moment and starts to take a few deep breaths, trying (and kind of failing) to calm himself. ]

Recently, my magic has changed in unexpected ways. This was one of them. [ There's a pause before he admits, ] It changed after I found a white dragon scale in the middle of my courier.

[ Which is something he's certain Alucard is going to absolutely hate to hear. ]

That's another reason why I believe that the dragons, our dragons who left those messages, have something to do with this.

[That's magic connected to emotional states. That's interesting. The word nearly leaves his mouth, then dragon scale gets said.

Surprise, Alucard looks like he just bit down on a lemon.]

Fantastic, Logistykon is shedding scales and giving people magic based on electricity and emotions.

[He says the words quickly and bitterly. It's the first time he's named any of the three since this all began, and that in and of itself feels like bringing down some kind of greater curse.]

I'm not convinced they're doing it of their own will though. Not with the additional rumors of another of those things emerging from the seas.

[He saw it, he was there, but that's a very private matter at the moment. That horrible adventure involved a group, some kind of dragon cult, and that has the dhampir's teeth set on edge.]

[ Oh, how to phrase this... ]

Some people I trust were down in the pit in the bay. I don't think those things emerging from the seas are rumors.

[ Christine had said there was a dragon down there. Strange trusts her opinion and she has no reason to lie. Ergo, Strange believes there was a dragon down there. It's as simple as that.

He's standing still as he talks, going back to deep breathing after he finishes talking. Slowly, the static starts to lessen as the air returns to normal. ]

[Strange's words are met with a tired sigh. Alucard knows that in fairness, he would not be wrong to think of owing Strange additional confirmation of the truth. The man was honest enough about dying and the liminal spaces between life and death, but Alucard can't. It was something he's taken too personally, not just because of how it touched himself, but by how severe Trevor's reaction was.

He is aware of the static decreasing though. That's good.]

Did they say anything else?

[ Completely unaware that Alucard was also in the pit, Strange continues to explain. ]

They said there were cultists down there. They had bound those kidnapped and somehow blocked their magic. The cultists...for lack of a better term, I think they somehow fed the energy or souls of other captives to the dragon? But then everything went pear-shaped and those kidnapped had to make an escape.

[ He's frowning a little as he tries to remember everything. This is all second-hand information and he doesn't want to outright say something that would implicate Christine. She seemed perfectly fine talking about this matter with him, but Strange can't help being a little cautious overall. ]

Cultists. That's a good word for it, I think. Fits what we witnessed in that skeleton. [Fits how the dragons were in life, for that matter. Great gods who should be worshipped, and whose adoration brought ruin down on the world.]

Cultists who want a dragon. To me, working on two different sets of dragons makes much more sense. It might even be competing groups.

[Which is the worst thought the dhampir's had in a while.]

Have you tried to work on how to channel all the electricity you generate?

[ Competing groups? That's fucking amazing. Strange's eyes light up at the thought of two sets of dragons out there. The more the merrier! That means more dragons for him to study, to focus on, to analyze. He could...hell, maybe he could write another book! They could bring this world back to the way it used to be!

and oh yeah right, Alucard's asking about his magic, better answer. ]

I've got the start of something. If I concentrate and keep my emotions steady, I can draw the electricity in towards me.

[ And he starts concentrating. The electricity moves towards Strange as he generates a field of static energy around himself. What Strange doesn't yet realize is that the static field is powerful enough to knock back or stun any creatures who touch it. He'll find that out at some point. ]

[Alucard will, in time, develop a theory that the man isn't going to be happy until he's a dragonborn himself. Such as it is, the way Strange's eyes lightup are met with a less happy expression on the dhampir's face.

Thank the gods for magic.]

That's drawing it in towards you. What about directing it to a single point, or into something? Metal reacts to electricity, after all, and that is the thrust of the modern age.

[Krimnos' invention quarter is, like the airships, one of the few genuinely wonderful things about being back. Such a place was in it's infancy a century ago, stifled by war. Now though, now what wonderful thoughts and spirit ran through the streets, ever inventing, moving ever forward. Wedding magic and technology, bringing so much good and ease into the world in a way the dragons never could.]

Yes, but what would I direct it into? After all, I'd want it to be something fairly large.

[ Alucard mentioned directing it into metal, but where would he find any? They were in a house, he wasn't going to direct the electricity near the silverware. Besides, this was someone's property and and oh dammit, they were in a house next to a mine. There's probably tools outside! Strange swears under his breath as he goes to head towards the house's front door, gesturing for Alucard to follow him. ]

I want you to watch me as I attempt to direct it. If it looks like I'm about to electrocute myself, knock me out.

I'd be more concern about the amount that you expend at a single time. A continuous flow that moderates the energy, rather than just a big burst would be much saf--

[Well, apparently they're going outside. Alucard follows after, careful as he exits the house to ensure that nothing has been well and truly disturbed.]

I can do that.

[Honestly that sounds delightful.]

Edited 2019-03-14 02:53 (UTC)

[ Strange is not going to do a continuous flow of electricity. Nope, we're going straight for a big burst because Jonathan Strange takes the concept of 'doing things safely' as a challenge and not a recommendation. ]

I'm going to aim for that shovel over there, [ Strange explains, as he backs away from Alucard a little bit. Concentrate. Draw the energy in towards you, and then out through your hands. You can do this. There's a moment where Strange pauses and takes a deep breath before stretching his hand out and gesturing towards the shovel.

It kind of works? A large burst of electrical energy moves towards the shovel. It misses slightly, part of it scorching the ground. At the same time, Strange gets flung backwards a few feet, hitting the ground with a thump. Obviously his control needs work. ]

[For all intents and purposes, the shovel is....hit. But the final result of Strange falling on his ass is both not surprising at all and extremely satisfying to bear witness to, although Alucard manages to not let the second one show on his face beyond a simple raising of his eyebrows.]

I take it that was all the energy released at once then. Impressive but...

[Well. Butt.]

Perhaps a second attempt is in order.

[ Yeah, he knows exactly what that eyebrow raise is supposed to mean. Strange responds to that with a little scoff as he picks himself up off of the ground and starts brushing some dirt off of his trousers. ]

Yes, that was all the energy released at once, [ he grumbles, mimicking Alucard in kind of a jerk way. ] And yes. I'm all for a second attempt. Let me just try and call the electricity back towards myself.

[ Which is another thing he hasn't done before. And, as Strange concentrates a little, he's found that it's harder than expected. Most of the time, he's just naturally generated it after getting worked up about something, getting excited, or getting into a fight.

...wait a moment, he's talking to Alucard. That should be easy. Strange continues to concentrate, but he'll start idle conversation as he does so. ]

They say there was a dragon in the pit. I doubt it's the only one out there, [ says the man with a dragon egg tucked inside the bottom of his rucksack. ] It would be wonderful if we ran into some more.

Mm.

[Alucard is careful to make sure that he's far back enough where any rebound energy is going to take real effort to strike him. As it is, he watches, and it's hard not to wonder how conversation is going to help with control.

With dragons though, there's a predictable scowl.]

Big, scaly vampirs and nothing more.

[He's been thinking about blood magic lately, and there has been a particular parallel that stands out from where he sits.]

Big scaly vampirs that used to rule the world. I wonder...raise one up enough and give it proper guidance and maybe we'll have something like that happen again.

[ Strange has no designs on megalomania, of course. But 1: it's something they can argue about and 2: he's pretty certain it'll help push Alucard's buttons and get him worked up enough again that Strange can call the lightning. ]

Why would do you want that so much?

[The question is snapped, but there is at least a genuine note of curiosity.]

After all they've put the world through, what makes you think that their return is a good thing?

Because this time, we can help them be on the right side of history. We can guide the dragons, make certain that they choose the right paths and not let themselves give into temptation.

[ The more he talks, the more excited Strange gets...and the more he can feel the electricity start to generate as the static field slowly starts to reform. Ha! He's a genius! ]

[Alucard is absolutely not convinced.]

How do you account for martin of error then? Natural personality of the dragon that may very well rebel against such guidance? Such a hope could put many thousands of lives in danger if there are errors - as even tiny ones can stack up to another war.

[ He can feel the electricity gather around him. A continuous flow instead of all at once. If he concentrates on releasing just a trickle of the electricity at a time then maybe it would work... ]

There's hundreds of corpses on the battlefield and yet they chose us. Why would they do that if we weren't trusted?

[ Strange thrusts his hand out towards the shovel again as he releases the energy. This time, it's a continuous bolt of lightning which arcs from his hand to the shovel. He brightens up, gives Alucard a smile, then closes his hand into a fist: the bolt stops. ]

There we go! It turns out your argumentative nature has a use after all!

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