RP:A Dramatically Ironic Alliance
Part of the Agitation Arc
Summary: Kovl, Gevurah, and Turin all chance upon the same portal in the swamp north of Gualon. Gevurah, having had experience with a similar portal before, explains that the portal leads to a castle in the chaos realm where Alithyk Caluss, a cult of necromancers, and an army of the undead plan to wage war against the living. Kovl and Gevurah agree to collaborate in secret.
Little does Gevurah know that Kovl was on of the three people responsible for the attack in Trist'oth Arena which killed hundreds of drow and the matron of the fourth house. During the attack, Skylei, disguised as Gevurah, framed Gevurah for the attack. Kovl knows the entire truth of that episode, and has been traumatized by his role in killing drow children.
The Swamp, Gualon
House D’Artes spy in Gualon heard it at The Grogshop. Deep in the swamps, hidden behind a thicket of thorny bushes was portal as long as an elk and oblong in shape. An inky black substance that looked viscous to the touch (though no one dared touch it) filled the portal. Deep purple current swirled in a whirl at its center. White and purple crackling energy lines the perimeter of the portal. Gevurah left House D’Artes quickly as soon as she heard. She had a hunch she knew what this portal was and to where it led, and knew that her spy in Gualon was a loose-lipped sellsword who would reveal this information to anyone with spare coin. And besides, others had seen it too. The news would spread quickly. She wanted to get there first. She rode alone and astride a giant black lizard. The sun hurt her eyes and she shielded her brow with a flat hand like a visor. At the edge of the portal she dismounted and opened a black parasol to protect herself from the hateful sun. She wore a thin piwafwi over a simple, full length and corseted black dress. To avoid the muck, she levitated a few inches over the swamp and grimaced at what she found there: a dark portal. The thing which has been scaring her for months now is spreading. How to contain?
Kovl flies hurriedly toward the swamp just north of Gualon, donning his mud-stained clothing designated for play. The Provost Esoterica had only just entered the Guild tower to gather a tome to read in the grass when he was notified a strange portal had suddenly appeared in the bog's mire. The portal is reported to be eminating dark magic, and the pixie's quick mind shoots to the dark storms in Xalious inspired by treacherous Guild necromancers. Having no leads on the Xalious monster's whereabouts only justifies the adventurous illusionist's bold curiosity to investigate. Could the portal be connected to the attacks on Xalious by the -creature-? Perhaps another necromantic cult is rising in Hollow. Kovl scans the swamp as he arrives, keeping his keen ears attentive for surrounding threats. The reported location of the portal was vague at best. The seasoned illusionist tunes into his senses, occasionally landing on moss-covered branches to scan again. Flitting branch to branch, Kovl organizes a search grid in his head, crossing off sectors of the swamp he is sure he searched. The pixie stops again to rest and catches a glimpse of purple. The pixie glides closer to the object and immediately opens his wings to slow himself as his eye catches a silhouette investigating the purple source. The pixie lands atop a rock, hoping he hadn't entered the scene with the volume of an elephant, and cautiously he hides himself in case the stranger did not see him or hear him. Is that the portal? Who is that? Kovl squints.
A single archipelago dots the swampy landscape running past the dark portal and disappearing into the fog beyond. Should an observant fellow scout along its trail, they would soon notice the remnants of a campfire and a single brown tent resting atop an island there. As the spy approaches the portal, a tall figure emerges from the tent clad in dark robes casting stark contrasts against its sickly pale skin and gleaming white teeth flashing from behind a wicked grin. “Welcome, my friend,” the figure offers, bringing attention to himself as he makes his way across what is clearly a fresh, if makeshift, set of wooden bridges connecting the miniature islands. The voice belongs to a male and the accent is decidedly Rynvalian. “I’ve been expecting you… Twas only a matter of time before someone else found this beautiful piece of real estate.” The man whips a hand out from beneath his robe and gives a bow with a flourish. “I am Turin the Wanderer. The pleasure is all mine, I’m sure.”
Gevurah doesn’t detect the stealthy pixie. Instead, she pulls a folded map from her enchanted satchel under her piwafwi and a charcoal pencil. She flips to the swamp and draws an oblong with two drow characters inside. During the map flipping, Kovl may notice a sketch of the dead caves with the same symbol she drew now already drawn on in the dead caves. That’s when Turin makes his appearance. The priestess hastily tucks her map away and turns her scowl upon him. “And only yours,” she says. Civility doesn’t come naturally to her, it is often forced. “What do you make of this,” she speaks her question like a statement as her hand gestures towards the portal. “You seem comfortable with it. Why so.”
Kovl recoils into any nook of the protruding rock he has been using as an island amongst the muck. The pixie, for a split second, is worried the dark figure is talking to him. No, no. Two silhouettes stand before the portal. Both of them are unknown. Kovl peeks his head from behind his fortress of a rock to determine who these figures are and whether they are friendly enough to approach. Details fill the canvas of the artist and the illusionist. Kovl is both. The pixie's eye catches glimpse of parts of the symbols Gevurah draws on the map, but as Kovl gather's details, one particular detail draws his breath. The drow woman. He recognizes her. The pixie begins to shake, craving a high from the drug at the bottom of his satchel. Kovl bites his lip and denies his need, knowing he is near the woman he helped frame for murdering many of her race. The pixie chooses to continue eavesdropping the pair.
Turin squeals with delight. “Comfortable? I should say so!” He moves his hand near to the portal where a single purple and white tendril swirls out to meet him. As the tendril wraps itself around his outstretched fingers, Turin clucks as one would when comforting a beloved pet. In fact, it seems almost sensual for the man. “This magick is harmless. Enlightening. Beautiful!” he insists, “Within, one can discover things they never knew – could never imagine!” Having noticed the sheet of paper, but not what’s on it, he turns toward the Drow with interest in his voice, “What’s that you have there, friend? What business have you here?” Having made his way across the land and structures, he’s as close now to the spy as he can be without stepping into the bog.
Gevurah winces at the squeal. This is why she hates surfacers. They’re so...animated. “The magic you say… you’re a chaos mage then.” It would seem she knows something about the portal, but nothing about Turin himself. Kovl still goes unnoticed. What more, even if the priestess had seen him, she would not recognize him as the pixie who helped slaughter an arena full of drow in their home city, who then framed her for that massacre! To this day, Gevurah does not know who framed her. She ignores Turin’s question about the map.
Kovl draws in a long breath, trying to control his shaking. The pixie attempts to draw his attention away from his thoughts. 'Here and now' he thinks. Emerald eyes lock onto the portal as the strange man begins to cluck and coo at his portal. The man seems to know more about it than the drow, and this draws Kovl into the story. The pixie needs a better angle. Branches and weeds hide the portal's tendrils partially from his sight. Eyes scan for a vantage above the pair. Spotting his preferred spot, the illusionist takes flight, first hugging the muck below him without touching it, then to a tree trunk for cover, and finally up the trunk and to a high branch. The pixie prays to Xalious he isn't spotted or heard.
Any chance of noticing Kovl that may have existed elsewhere is completely drowned out by the incessant buzzing of insects around them and howling of various other creatures in the distance. Continuing his conversation with Gevurah, he replies, “Oh, don’t be mistaken, my friend. I am not he… Or her… Or it…” he seems momentarily lost in thought before, “Ahem! I am not the one who opened this portal. And judging by the looks of it,” he eyes Gevurah for a moment, “I don’t think you are either.” His eyes light up. “Let’s make a deeeeal,” he suggests, “An answer for an answer. I’ll even let you ask the first question.”
Gevurah maintains her eternally unpleasant scowl, especially when Turin calls her ‘friend’. “I know you are not the one who opened the portal, for I know who did.” Kovl makes a small sound and she looks over her shoulder in his direction but sees nothing. Returning her attention to Turin, she grins malevolently as he proposes his game. “Very well. Why are you interested in this portal? Do you know where it leads?” Fun fact: Gevurah does know where it leads, but she plays her hand close to the chest.
Kovl freezes as Gevurah looks in his direction. As she turns back to Turin, he continues to ascend. Upon reaching a high branch and creeping to its outer section, he looks down on the pair. Another deep breath is taken by the pixie as he continues to focus his thoughts on his current situation. So, neither of these people are the cause of the portal. They are all investigators like he is. Kovl cannot gather all the information he needs by eavesdropping only. He needs to examine the portal, touch it, experiment with it, stake it out... Plans begin to form in the pixie's mind. Should he reveal himself now? When he deems it safe? After the two leave?
Turin waves his finger at Gevurah as he insists, “Uh uh uh. One question at a time,” then says, “Lucky for you,” as he theatrically points toward the Drow, “I can answer your first question with the second. I am interested in the portal -because- I know where it leads.” It will quickly become apparent that the man thrills in theatricality and seems that the game will be one in which both participants, while answering truthfully, will attempt to reveal as little about themselves as possible.
Turin’s theatrics remind Gevurah of Ynhaldei. The drow doesn’t like Ynhaldei. The showboating elf didn’t ask a question of his own, and the priestess isn’t about to remind him it’s his turn. Instead she asks, “So you know of the army, then.” The portal does lead to the chaos realm, but more specifically a location within the realm. “Are you ally or foe to the cult?”
Kovl widens his eyes as the drow's response pushes the questions about when to examine the portal aside and brings a new set of questions. What army? The cult? The pixie may finally have a lead on the creature summoned by the traitors in Xalious. That is, if this is of the same cult Gevurah speaks. Whatever the answer to these questions is, Kovl deduces the portal is for an evil intent and must be closed. The pixie's eyes dart to Turin's tent and more questions raise regarding Turin's allegiance and intent as well as how long he plans to stay with the portal.
Turin appears genuinely thrown off. “Army?” he asks, “What cult? I know where this portal leads because I’ve seen similar magicks before, not because I’ve been through.” He shakes his head, then says, “Forget that. My question is this, “What do you know of the one who opened this portal?”
Gevurah laughs mockingly at Turin. “I thought you knew where this led.” She quickly appraises the situation and decides there is no harm in telling. “This portal was put in place by a creature named Alithyk Caluss. Caluss possesses powerful necromancy magic the likes of which this realm has never seen.” Which, coming from a member of House D’Artes is saying something, as that house and the drow are ruled by a famous, powerful lich named Tiphareth. “He was summoned by necromantic cultists who belong to the Order of the Shade. Surely you heard about the summoning in Xalious. It was difficult to miss, but perhaps you wandered too far and missed it, Wanderer.” She waves a hand dismissively then asks her own questions, “You have seen portals like this? Where and when?”
Kovl thinks. The drow seems to know more about the portal for the specific instance it was created while the man knows generally more about these portals than the average person. It is clear, if both parties are speaking truthfully, that neither are directly aligned with the cult involved in the creation of this phenomenon. The Provost Esoterica gazes into the magical pool. Its tendrils beckon the pixie while its dark origins urge caution. Kovl's skin crawls and adrenaline rushes at the same time. His body gushes with clashing desires to enter the realm of the unknown. Gevurah's answer causes the illusionist to shake his head and dive toward the two below him. He has heard all he needs to know revealing his presence is the best way to get answers. "Sorry to interrupt." Any sense of timidity shown by the pixie is gone, or at least well hidden. "What do you know of Caluss? Why did it open these portals? Where is it?" The questions come before any introduction from the mage. Once his gaze meets Gevurah's once, his eyes bounce away, avoiding the familiarity of the drow before him.
Gevurah recoils from the pixie's entrance and narrows her gaze on his short stature. She does not recognize him, a fact to Kovl's benefit. His demeanor assures her that he does not mean to attack, an assessment all drow make before speaking. Indeed, in Trist'oth, it's likely strangers jumping out of hiding places seek to stab, not speak. Before Turin can answer, she barks at the pixie, "Who are you."
Kovl allows his eyes to bounce from the face which recalls terrible memories to Turin. "I come in the name of the Mage's Guild of Xalious to investigate rumors of this portal. My name is Kovl, Provost Esoterica." The pixie turns to Gevurah once again, searching for signs of recognition in her face. "Now, what do you know of Caluss and the portals?"
Gevurah makes a quick mental calculation to share what she knows. Afterall, the Mage's Guild would likely seek to stop Caluss, and so does she. "This is the second portal I have found. The first I followed to the Chaos Realm, a castle there. Surrounding the castle are hordes of undead, of every species and beast you could think of. The portals are used to feed the army. Corpses that come in contact with or are dumped into the portal are transported to the chaos realm. There, the Caluss creature, which looks like a cross between a humanoid skeleton, an insect, and a black slug. It slides its body over the corpses, absorbs them, then spits them out as undead soldiers. Within the castle are a group of necromantic cultists who are trying to ressurect The Order of the Shade. Have you heard of them?"
Kovl tilts his head as Gevurah reveals paragraphs filled with bits of information which seem like tips of icebergs to the Provost Esoterica. His facial expression seeps of distrust and curiosity at every other word. A creature who absorbs others and spews undead threats in their places? A stew of emotions twist within Kovl: excitement, adventure, fear, distrust, guilt. "I have heard of them." The Order of the Shade - whispers and rumors about the traitor necromancers who were expelled from the Guild brought about that name. The pixie doesn't dare reveal his lack of deeper knowledge surrounding the name. "How do we stop him? How do we close the portals?" The pixie hovers at a cautious distance from the inspiration of Skylei's disguise for a mass murder framing. Can he trust her and does she know?
Gevurah continues to be oblivious to Kovl's role in the attack on Trist'oth Arena. Skylei never gave him up when Gevurah tortured her for information, lucky pixie. "That I do not know, but I am do want to stop him and close the portals. Patron Tiphareth served as Archmage in the guild for a long time. An alliance between the drow and mages is not unheard of, and I am willing to work with you--if you are in a position to speak for the guild--to stop Caluss. What say you. Shall we keep each other informed pertaining to all matters Caluss and work together to defeat a common threat?"
Kovl's eyes appear to look through Gevurah as he contemplates her proposal. Of course an alliance between the drow an the Mage's Guild was not unheard of, but it was made abundantly clear to Kovl to keep the matter of Caluss inside of the Guild. But how can he keep the matter on the inside now? The creature was summoned by members who were thought to be trustworthy within the Guild who turned out to only be traitors. Who knows how many portals will be appearing in and around the world because of the Guild's neglect? This matter has spread much wider than the pixie could have imagined. "We cannot form a public alliance, but I am willing to exchange information as needed." The pixie has no intention of sharing much of the Guild's knowledge to Gevurah, but perhaps his dance around words will lead her to share what she knows. Kovl cannot risk being called a traitor or fool by his superiors. Perhaps this isn't a wise choice...
Gevuah waves a hand dismissively at Kovl's concern and scowls. She is not ignorant of the opinons surfacers have about the drow. So be it, then. "As you will. Do not send communication through the drow's embassy. It may be stolen. I will have my man contact you to set up a safe channel of communication. Can you scry?"