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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 9277731" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong><em>Interlude:</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>The Arc of Reida</em></strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Note: As we have ended adventure 10, I thought it would be the right time to include this interlude that will be needed to understand some part of the upcoming story. We played it somewhere in between the next sessions, but chonologically it is meant to have happened some time after the coronation of King Gabriel. Right before time seemed to be running out every other second <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">The background of this short part is that Gabriel Carlyle got the Arc of Reida from Kasvarina when we met up with her again, as he wanted to use it in order to reconnect with his past life. Most importantly, he wanted to uncover the culprit behind the assassination of the Vantrys family, the event in which he died five years ago. </span></p><p></p><p>When Gabriel finally decides to use the Crown of Reida to find those responsible for the massacre of the Vantrys family, he first wants to discuss the matter with Lord Vantrys and get his approval. So he announces his visit alongside Auryn in advance to not shake up things too much. The Lord and Cecilia Vantrys are initially very excited about the high-ranking visitor, bowing down to their new King. Gabriel on the other hand accepts this gesture, appearing to be a tiny bit irritated at first. He then gestures for the pair to rise up again and make themselves comfortable in their home.</p><p></p><p>“Alright you two. Now that the formalities are over, I expect my future visits to be less.... formal the next time.”, he states with a wink and a smile.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(now see who has changed... Seems like someone has taken a liking to some of Aodhan's mannerisms)</span></p><p></p><p>Gabriel then states that he came to finally close this very dark chapter in both their lives, and that thanks to the Arc of Reida, he now has the means to do so. He briefly explains the workings of the crown to Nathaniel and Cecilia, but Nathaniel seems pretty afraid of reliving the worst day of his life and longs for peace from the horror of seeing his whole family being brutally murdered. Gabriel nods calmly in return.</p><p></p><p>“I understand your wish, and I understand your feelings. Still I humbly ask to use 'the site' to gain answers. And please, Nathaniel... stay as far away as possible. This won't be pleasant.”</p><p></p><p>As he and Cecilia leave, he takes on one familiar scent and suddenly realizes that the Lady Vantrys is probably pregnant. From her mannerisms, he deduces that she doesn't seem to know it yet, so he decides to keep this knowledge to himself for now, as this is neither the place nor the time to reveal the news to her.</p><p></p><p>“Um... I guess that you are the first Deva to use the Arc of Reida, right?”, Auryn then points out as Gabriel is about to get ready.</p><p></p><p>“So... no one who died has ever used the Artifact on the moment of their own death. I mean, I survived the attack on Launga, but I wasn't her, so we don't know how dangerous this will be for you.”</p><p></p><p>But Gabriel merely shakes his head, pushing away her worries.</p><p>“I am not the same man I was back then. I have grown much stronger since then, and I am sure that these wounds won't kill me this time.”, he assures his partner.</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, Margit is welcome to stay around to check on his health, as Auryn will most likely take on a more observant position. Auryn agrees and the two set out a plan to get their eyes on as many details as they can in order to get as much information as possible.</p><p></p><p>Then they all get into position and Gabriel finally puts on the Crown. This summons a scenery of broad daylight, as sight that hasn't been seen for quite a while now. The Vantrys family are busy having breakfast in the garden while Gabriel tends to the family. From her elevated position, Auryn then realizes that cloaked assailants are gaining access to the compound by jumping over the wall and causing panic by firing a blunderbuss directly at the dining table. One by one, they gun down members of the family and some of the servants, while their butler Carlyle desperately enters melee and puts up a surprising amount of resistance. He manages to kill some of the attackers, but more hooded figures storm the mansion and start shooting. When one of the assassins finally takes aim at boy Nathaniel, Gabriel throws himself in front of the young Lord to protect him and is fatally wounded. Nathaniel also suffers a severe head injury and loses consciousness.</p><p></p><p>Current Gabriel still is about to lose consciousness when he sees a torn figure wrapped in a hooded cloak, carrying ritual implements, looking eerily like another deva. The figure seems disturbed by the scene, as if he had expected a different outcome. Auryn sees the same figure from her position, who is about to flee as the memory ends. We hurry to heal Gabriel's wounds and talk about the mysterious person that we just saw. But unlike Auryn, Gabriel actually knows the Deva from the vision, as it is no one else but his old friend Eddie. This triggers several previously seldom seen emotions in Gabriel, as he is similarly first disturbed, then angry and deeply worried. He now realizes that the attack was probably aimed at him, not the Vantrys, and that the Vantrys, whom he had sworn to serve and protect, were probably only killed as a distraction to get to him.</p><p></p><p>Since we do not know for sure, we set out to find the missing scroll that Macbannin once entrusted to Morris Dawkins. We ask Milena to look through her husband's documents, but unfortunately we can't find anything. Then it occurs to us that the scroll might be too dangerous to keep in a safe inside his home, so we search the garden for remnants of the old faerie crossing to the Dreaming.</p><p></p><p>To our surprise, and despite the Dreaming being torn from the Waking, we actually find what we are looking for and soon find ourselves in a crumbling pocket dimension. In its center lies an old scroll, sealed away with a powerful seal. Auryn manages to reach into the light and retrieve the scroll, transferring the seal's druidic power to her. We escape the small demiplane before it collapses and then examine the mysterious scroll.</p><p></p><p>Upon analyzing it, we realize that this scroll contains ideas for a ritual that could have originally come from the library of Alais Primos. The scroll itself is characterized by different manuscripts, as if it had several authors (or one very schizophrenic one). The ritual itself is meant to derive and transfer the divine essence of a Deva, which finally gives Gabriel certainty on his theory. Even if he wonders why Eddie would be pursuing this plan at all, or whether the poor man would even be aware of what he is doing.</p><p></p><p>However, he is much more affected by feelings of guilt, as he now knows that the Vantry family was killed because of him, or rather his existence as a Deva, and that someone as observant as himself should have seen it coming. Auryn tries to take the burden off him, as what happened was certainly not his fault: he did everything to protect the family and did not consider himself to be important. She explains that he has lived in a continuum of service for 500 years and has therefore kept an eye on all the direct and hidden dangers of the family itself, while considering himself to be secondary. Especially since he had certainly saved various members of the family from certain doom more than often enough.</p><p></p><p>“It is always this way with those who are special...”, Gabriel states with a cumbersome tone.</p><p>“They attract others who either want to destroy what makes them special or want to own it, to get it for themselves.”, looking at Auryn, knowing very well that she understands exactly what he is talking about. She bites her lips in reaction, not really knowing how to respond to his statement.</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, he agrees with Auryn that he was trapped in an unchangeable continuum and would probably still be if he had not died that day. And that it was this fateful death that made him who he is now. Auryn can agree with that, even if she didn't want to be the first one to confront him with the assumption of this being “his fate”, as she didn't want to hurt him.</p><p></p><p>Gabriel understands her train of thought, but pulls himself together for now and brushes the matter off. He then tells her that he will definitely have to explain all this to Lord Vantry, even if he is somehow glad to have found the scroll with this ritual. After all, this might be one of the pieces of the puzzle that could bring him closer to his goal of removing Srasama's divinity from Nicodemus. But first he'd have to find Eddie...</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Now... I believe that many of you will now ask yourself "Who the eff is this Eddie? Did I miss someone?" - and you are right to ask. Eddie is one of many of Carlyle's original NPC who undeservedly were underused for much of the story. Believe me, he has a whole host of very fitting guys and gals, who I'd so insert more into the story should I ever do a novelized version. Starting with Gritta Gorlani, the yellow-press columnist, to some brutes, to previous Vantryses and old comrades of his squad who got turned into Deva. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">But now, a short description of Eddie per Carlyle's player before the start of the introductory adventure: </span></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Private Edward "Eddie" Bearington</strong></em> (Deva, seeming to be wandering aimlessly):</p><p></p><p>Eddie was the last member of the commando. He was a sensitive and companionable guy who always tried to lift the spirits of the squad and build team spirit. Eddie despised Draids (the guy who tortured eladrin prisoners and tried to kill Carlyle's commander) for his behavior and actions, but didn't have the courage to do anything about it.</p><p></p><p>He was in the field with Gabriel when the battle and Alais Primos took place, and was caught in the wave with him and turned into a deva. However, he suffered considerable mental damage in the process. Since then, he has wandered seemingly aimlessly through Lanjyr. He pops up here and there, and has even been to Flint. Whenever Gabriel meets him, he tries to look after Eddie, but after a while he disappears again to pursue his traumatic plans...</p><p></p><p>After Gabriel's last death, he brought Eddie to Jasper Smithee to help him deal with his gift. Jasper has managed to take some of the pressure off Eddie so that he is no longer tormented by a longing for death. Nevertheless, Eddie is always somehow absent and a poor fellow.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 9277731, member: 6816692"] [B][I]Interlude: The Arc of Reida[/I][/B] [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)]Note: As we have ended adventure 10, I thought it would be the right time to include this interlude that will be needed to understand some part of the upcoming story. We played it somewhere in between the next sessions, but chonologically it is meant to have happened some time after the coronation of King Gabriel. Right before time seemed to be running out every other second ;) The background of this short part is that Gabriel Carlyle got the Arc of Reida from Kasvarina when we met up with her again, as he wanted to use it in order to reconnect with his past life. Most importantly, he wanted to uncover the culprit behind the assassination of the Vantrys family, the event in which he died five years ago. [/COLOR] When Gabriel finally decides to use the Crown of Reida to find those responsible for the massacre of the Vantrys family, he first wants to discuss the matter with Lord Vantrys and get his approval. So he announces his visit alongside Auryn in advance to not shake up things too much. The Lord and Cecilia Vantrys are initially very excited about the high-ranking visitor, bowing down to their new King. Gabriel on the other hand accepts this gesture, appearing to be a tiny bit irritated at first. He then gestures for the pair to rise up again and make themselves comfortable in their home. “Alright you two. Now that the formalities are over, I expect my future visits to be less.... formal the next time.”, he states with a wink and a smile. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)] (now see who has changed... Seems like someone has taken a liking to some of Aodhan's mannerisms)[/COLOR] Gabriel then states that he came to finally close this very dark chapter in both their lives, and that thanks to the Arc of Reida, he now has the means to do so. He briefly explains the workings of the crown to Nathaniel and Cecilia, but Nathaniel seems pretty afraid of reliving the worst day of his life and longs for peace from the horror of seeing his whole family being brutally murdered. Gabriel nods calmly in return. “I understand your wish, and I understand your feelings. Still I humbly ask to use 'the site' to gain answers. And please, Nathaniel... stay as far away as possible. This won't be pleasant.” As he and Cecilia leave, he takes on one familiar scent and suddenly realizes that the Lady Vantrys is probably pregnant. From her mannerisms, he deduces that she doesn't seem to know it yet, so he decides to keep this knowledge to himself for now, as this is neither the place nor the time to reveal the news to her. “Um... I guess that you are the first Deva to use the Arc of Reida, right?”, Auryn then points out as Gabriel is about to get ready. “So... no one who died has ever used the Artifact on the moment of their own death. I mean, I survived the attack on Launga, but I wasn't her, so we don't know how dangerous this will be for you.” But Gabriel merely shakes his head, pushing away her worries. “I am not the same man I was back then. I have grown much stronger since then, and I am sure that these wounds won't kill me this time.”, he assures his partner. Nevertheless, Margit is welcome to stay around to check on his health, as Auryn will most likely take on a more observant position. Auryn agrees and the two set out a plan to get their eyes on as many details as they can in order to get as much information as possible. Then they all get into position and Gabriel finally puts on the Crown. This summons a scenery of broad daylight, as sight that hasn't been seen for quite a while now. The Vantrys family are busy having breakfast in the garden while Gabriel tends to the family. From her elevated position, Auryn then realizes that cloaked assailants are gaining access to the compound by jumping over the wall and causing panic by firing a blunderbuss directly at the dining table. One by one, they gun down members of the family and some of the servants, while their butler Carlyle desperately enters melee and puts up a surprising amount of resistance. He manages to kill some of the attackers, but more hooded figures storm the mansion and start shooting. When one of the assassins finally takes aim at boy Nathaniel, Gabriel throws himself in front of the young Lord to protect him and is fatally wounded. Nathaniel also suffers a severe head injury and loses consciousness. Current Gabriel still is about to lose consciousness when he sees a torn figure wrapped in a hooded cloak, carrying ritual implements, looking eerily like another deva. The figure seems disturbed by the scene, as if he had expected a different outcome. Auryn sees the same figure from her position, who is about to flee as the memory ends. We hurry to heal Gabriel's wounds and talk about the mysterious person that we just saw. But unlike Auryn, Gabriel actually knows the Deva from the vision, as it is no one else but his old friend Eddie. This triggers several previously seldom seen emotions in Gabriel, as he is similarly first disturbed, then angry and deeply worried. He now realizes that the attack was probably aimed at him, not the Vantrys, and that the Vantrys, whom he had sworn to serve and protect, were probably only killed as a distraction to get to him. Since we do not know for sure, we set out to find the missing scroll that Macbannin once entrusted to Morris Dawkins. We ask Milena to look through her husband's documents, but unfortunately we can't find anything. Then it occurs to us that the scroll might be too dangerous to keep in a safe inside his home, so we search the garden for remnants of the old faerie crossing to the Dreaming. To our surprise, and despite the Dreaming being torn from the Waking, we actually find what we are looking for and soon find ourselves in a crumbling pocket dimension. In its center lies an old scroll, sealed away with a powerful seal. Auryn manages to reach into the light and retrieve the scroll, transferring the seal's druidic power to her. We escape the small demiplane before it collapses and then examine the mysterious scroll. Upon analyzing it, we realize that this scroll contains ideas for a ritual that could have originally come from the library of Alais Primos. The scroll itself is characterized by different manuscripts, as if it had several authors (or one very schizophrenic one). The ritual itself is meant to derive and transfer the divine essence of a Deva, which finally gives Gabriel certainty on his theory. Even if he wonders why Eddie would be pursuing this plan at all, or whether the poor man would even be aware of what he is doing. However, he is much more affected by feelings of guilt, as he now knows that the Vantry family was killed because of him, or rather his existence as a Deva, and that someone as observant as himself should have seen it coming. Auryn tries to take the burden off him, as what happened was certainly not his fault: he did everything to protect the family and did not consider himself to be important. She explains that he has lived in a continuum of service for 500 years and has therefore kept an eye on all the direct and hidden dangers of the family itself, while considering himself to be secondary. Especially since he had certainly saved various members of the family from certain doom more than often enough. “It is always this way with those who are special...”, Gabriel states with a cumbersome tone. “They attract others who either want to destroy what makes them special or want to own it, to get it for themselves.”, looking at Auryn, knowing very well that she understands exactly what he is talking about. She bites her lips in reaction, not really knowing how to respond to his statement. Nevertheless, he agrees with Auryn that he was trapped in an unchangeable continuum and would probably still be if he had not died that day. And that it was this fateful death that made him who he is now. Auryn can agree with that, even if she didn't want to be the first one to confront him with the assumption of this being “his fate”, as she didn't want to hurt him. Gabriel understands her train of thought, but pulls himself together for now and brushes the matter off. He then tells her that he will definitely have to explain all this to Lord Vantry, even if he is somehow glad to have found the scroll with this ritual. After all, this might be one of the pieces of the puzzle that could bring him closer to his goal of removing Srasama's divinity from Nicodemus. But first he'd have to find Eddie... [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)]Now... I believe that many of you will now ask yourself "Who the eff is this Eddie? Did I miss someone?" - and you are right to ask. Eddie is one of many of Carlyle's original NPC who undeservedly were underused for much of the story. Believe me, he has a whole host of very fitting guys and gals, who I'd so insert more into the story should I ever do a novelized version. Starting with Gritta Gorlani, the yellow-press columnist, to some brutes, to previous Vantryses and old comrades of his squad who got turned into Deva. But now, a short description of Eddie per Carlyle's player before the start of the introductory adventure: [/COLOR] [I][B]Private Edward "Eddie" Bearington[/B][/I] (Deva, seeming to be wandering aimlessly): Eddie was the last member of the commando. He was a sensitive and companionable guy who always tried to lift the spirits of the squad and build team spirit. Eddie despised Draids (the guy who tortured eladrin prisoners and tried to kill Carlyle's commander) for his behavior and actions, but didn't have the courage to do anything about it. He was in the field with Gabriel when the battle and Alais Primos took place, and was caught in the wave with him and turned into a deva. However, he suffered considerable mental damage in the process. Since then, he has wandered seemingly aimlessly through Lanjyr. He pops up here and there, and has even been to Flint. Whenever Gabriel meets him, he tries to look after Eddie, but after a while he disappears again to pursue his traumatic plans... After Gabriel's last death, he brought Eddie to Jasper Smithee to help him deal with his gift. Jasper has managed to take some of the pressure off Eddie so that he is no longer tormented by a longing for death. Nevertheless, Eddie is always somehow absent and a poor fellow. [/QUOTE]
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