LPDnD: Hazy Shade of Winter

[Whiteness]

Syric stops and gives the dwarf his full attention, " let's just sayI prefer the open air..."

[Blackferne]

Time passes. The dwarves seem satisfied by your repsonses for now though keep a distance from Stavis. After about an hour the inner portcullis raises and a few bowls of bread and wineskins are brought in and left next to the outer portcullis (the gaps are big enough for you to get the food and wine through). The bearers of the food and drink say "You must be hungry and thirsty. Enjoy." before retreating to the inner portcullis and leaving. The guards on the interior still watch.

[Jimer Lins]

"One imagines that Victae is having some difficulty convincing her leaders that she is in fact who she appears to be, given how long it's been."

[Blackferne]

"But they did bring us bread and wine, so there is that." Franklin says before biting into a golden yellow loaf.

[Staris]

With the notice of food being offered Stavis figures this is going to take a while yet so will go to Tony and Trinal putting away his lyre "I'd like to borrow one of the communication stones."

Assuming he is given one will go over to the food and grab a piece of bread and will then look to Syric asking if he would also like some food, "Why don't we go get some fresh air."

"When you all know what is to happen let us know and we will return."

Assuming Syric is on-board with his plan as well as any other that wish to follow will head back to the entrance eating the bread on the way, though will not dispel the door, leaving that to Syric or any others that wish to, stating either open the door themself or triple nock to have Stavis let them back in assuming he can't see through the spell. Once there will give the stone to Syric again pull out his lyre practicing for real. Keeping the tunes calm and gentle to help ease Syric unease though quite enough to not be heard very far from the door.

[Staris]

[OOC thought I would add if the guards are unhappy with Stavis leaving, Stavis would at that point give Syric the stone so at least he could get some fresh air still.]

[Blackferne]

The guards don't seem to mind.

[Whiteness]

"Thanks Stavis, but I'd rather wait here to see what happens. This tunnel has nothing on Silverdeep. he says with a grin.

[Staris]

"If your sure." Stavis with a slight shrug will give back the stone and go back to his silent practicing.

[Furiel]

If I get hungry while waiting Tony will purposely take a meal from his magic picnic basket and not from the food and drink offered...
Then resume my casual vigil of holding up the cavern wall with my eyes half closed.

[Blackferne]

After a while longer the Captain returns the interior portcullis raises and he steps forward. It closes.

"Which one of you is Trinal? He asks. "It seems Sgt. Meneldur has said something which has piqued the general's curiosity."

[Jimer Lins]

Trinal raises his eyebrows. "That would be me, Captain. What can I do for you and the General?"

[Blackferne]

"Sgt. Meneldur said you were in possession of a book which was necessary for the creation of a mission critical element. Please bring the book so we can review it, and be prepared to explain the mechanics of the arcana to our men." The Captain says unenthusiastically.

[Jimer Lins]

"Of course." Trinal hefts his pack and says "Lead on, Captain."

[Blackferne]

The captain has the outer portcullis lifted, Trinal steps in, the portcullis lowers and then the inner raises the Captain leads Trinal inside and the inner portcullis lowers as well.

Trinal's experience behind spoiler tags:

Spoiler:

The captain has two guards follow him, then you, then two guards immediately to your rear. He leads you through a winding passage before opening into an extremely large open cavern which has what appear to be wheat fields and other crops. You hear runnign water and the roof has some arcane illumination orbs which are glowing a warm orange light. A few people are tending the fields and give you an odd look.

After walking through the field for what seems like half an hour you enter a more formal looking hallway. There are patrols and supplies stashed in most free spots. The twisting and turning gets to be a bit much until you finally arrive in what looks like a large war room. There is a large chandalier with candles above, a large wooden circular table with maps, and little blocks. An older elf is leaning over the table reviewing the map. To the side are many other military officers and at the side is an older officer with Victae. She smiles.

The captain presents you to the elf overlooking the maps.

"General Whylune I have brought their arcanist. I believe he is called Trinal." the Captain says.

"Very well Captain, you are dismissed." The General says. "Sergeant Meneldur says you have something of great import from the mortal alliance. Some kind of magic transportation device?"

[Jimer Lins]

Responding in spoiler tags:

Spoiler:

Trinal returns Victae's smile, and nods politely to the Captain as he prepares to leave. "Thank you, Captain."

To the General, Trinal bows slightly from the waist and says "Yes, General. I have the information here, and will be happy to go over it with you in detail, or if you prefer with any members of your staff who specialize in such matters."

He takes the book and places it on the table. "To summarize, we have a plan to construct a large magical gate, which when built and powered correctly, will allow connections between it and another gate so tuned. The technique is a very old one, recently rediscovered and researched by Professor Gladdenstone and myself. With some time and effort, we can build a gate here in the Citadel that will connect to a similar device in Waterdeep, which will allow the transport of soldiers and materiel between- and one hopes, to lift the siege."

He looks at the General. "I'm happy to give you the details of exactly how it would work if you wish."

[Blackferne]

Spoiler:

"Darius will review the text. But if you could in broad terms explain how it works. Assume I have no magical training, so keep it simple. What is needed to make it, and what are the risks to this facility." The General says walking towards you. Darius an older elf wearing dark scholar robes trails a few feet behind him, and upon reaching you takes the book and smiles. "Ah this is a tome I haven't seen in centuries."

[Jimer Lins]

Spoiler:

OOC- Went back to the earlier thread to get the background info. Can you link me the table of materials, it was never posted in the thread.

Back in character:

"Of course, General." He asks Darius to put the book on the table for a moment. "Sir, would you please open the tome to page 10? The one with the table of materials for the gate anchors." Once this is done, Trinal says "The construction of the Arcane gate itself is actually fairly simple. They are linked by the specific elements used to create their 'signature' or 'address'. The gate is powered by elemental essences- think of it as magic power that has a specific characteristic, like fire, water or air, and tuned by the use of specific gemstones.

When one wishes to travel to another connected gate, one simply sets the code or address to it and activates it, the portal opens and you step through. Or your army steps through." He smiles.

He points to the table, specifically to B, D, J, P, I and R, and to Z. "These are the materials we agreed on to use for the link between our two new gates. As I said, this is an ancient technique, but was recently rediscovered by the people at Waterdeep- specifically the Professor, I believe. In order to make the gate function, we will use two rubies, two topaz, five emeralds, one unit of air essence and one unit of fire essence. We have the gems, and can create the essence from disenchanting magical items. We also need a sizable quantity of thorium, which we obtained in Silver Deep en route to here."

[Blackferne]

Spoiler:

I've looked through PMs and gchat and can't find it. We'll move on as best we can remember.

Darius flips through the book and skims a few pages fully engrossed in the text.

"Okay so we build a gate with Waterdeep, what are the risks? If Waterdeep falls or gods forbid we do, what does that do to the other? Can the gates be destroyed?"[/] The General asks.

[Jimer Lins]

Spoiler:

Found it! It was in my Gmail chat archives. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Back in character:

"The gates can be destroyed, yes. I hadn't really given that a lot of thought but it would be relatively simple to remove the runes powering the gate, or simply break the structure. This could be done at either end, as the connection is not permanent, but only established by the selecting the runes at the time one wishes to make a connection. In fact, a gate can be used to connect with more than one other, by selecting the appropriate runes in the proper sequence.

Essentially what we do is create runes using the materials- the thorium, gems and elemental essences. The runes define the 'address' of the gate. You can then select these runes and add more runes later, to connect to other gates which also use those runes.

"

[Blackferne]

Spoiler:

"That seems reasonable. There is one more matter we need to discuss. What are your thoughts on the drow?" The General says.

[Jimer Lins]

Spoiler:

"He is my companion and friend. He's saved my life more than once and fought valiantly through many travails, fighting for the people of Waterdeep, Brackton and the entire mortal alliance against the Chulassa and Bha'al. I would trust him with my life."

[Blackferne]

Spoiler:

"But to many here, those would be just stories, and the distrust and hatred of the dark elves runs deep. He could be a distraction to our defenses, a seed of discord not because of he himself, but what people project upon him. Things I cannot control. What should I do?" The general asks.

[Jimer Lins]

Spoiler:

Trinal, assuming this is a man for whom delicate speech and attempts to flatter are a waste of time, looks at him with a wry, but friendly expression on his face, and says "General, I rather doubt that your command of your defenses and your men is so tenuous that the presence of one man, regardless of his race, should be capable of disrupting it, if you give the appropriate notice to your people.

They will quickly find that he is not a security concern at all, just as our dwarven companions who joined us at Silver Deep have found, and many others have in our travels. Victae can also speak as to his rectitude."

Trinal sighs briefly.

"I am continually saddened by how many times my friend has to either prove himself or hide away from those he has done nothing but try to help for years."

[Blackferne]

Spoiler:

"Those under my command can and do amazing things, but as I've fought for centuries I can tell you that even the most disciplined soldier still has the bedtime story monsters from mother's mouth to their ears embedded even deeper. I need my forces focused, and even one person who isn't on task could be the difference between life and death. Follow me if you will." He leads you out a back door and up a staircase before walking onto a balcony that faces out to the plains. In the distance you see the armies of the chulassa. "They are building siege engines unlike we have ever seen. We are preparing for a force that outnumbers us by 40 to 1 if our estimates are right. Your ally might have earned your trust, but you are only here talking to me because Sgt Meneldur's father said to give you an audience. So I'm going to ask again, what should we do about the dark elf? Would he be willing to be in a cell while the gate is constructed?"