The Plane of Shadow

Rysmarin

Rysmarin chuckles a little and rolls his eyes.

"Oooh, a chat with the king? Why not? It might be fun, and Kai doesn't seem to be against it at all. Point the way and we'll be on it."

Cas nods, leading Rysmarin and Kai back to the door they entered from, turns the dial and opens the door. The group finds themselves walking through the door into the another place. Kai recognizes it as where he stayed as he was recovering from the wraiths attack.

Cas leads the two down a series of corridors, turning a couple times, before coming to a door on the right, three guards on each side of the door, wearing full chain armor and carrying halberds. Kai recognizes the main hallway that Hilarion brought him, Krod and Korwin down when they first saw the king.

Turning and knocking on the door, Cas and the two wait shortly before a booming "Enter." is spoken. The guards, still wearing their silly grins, quickly open the door and Cas and the two enter.

As before the room is a combination of a bedroom and a throne room. The bedroom, still in the corner, seems recently used, the sheets a mess. The golden throne is still center and large, with the king lounging upon it, apparently unconcerned with his visitors. Six chairs, three on each side, complete the appearance, although the chairs are empty. Advisors still crowd the king from behind the throne.

Finally noticing he has guests, the king straightens up and turns to look at the party.

"Cas, why do you bring these spies into my midst?"

With a sigh, Cas answers the king.

"Your Majesty, you requested I bring these two here when they returned from the Plane of Shadow, so you could talk to them about the undead attacks."

The king looks confused.

"I did. Why? Are they behind it?"

Cas reaches up a hand and rubs his forehead.

"No, your Majesty, they are not. In fact, Kai here," Cas motions to Kai, "helped stave off the last attack. He has been very helpful to our people since his appearance." Cas motions towards Rysmarin, "And, of course, you already know Rysmarin."

The king stares at Rysmarin for a second.

"Ah, yes, the barbarian. Welcome back."

Nobody in the room can mistake the utter contempt for Rysmarin in the king's voice.

"Well then. How can they help with those blasted undead?"

Cas looks squarely at the king. "I believe that these two would be valuable in tracking down where they are being sent from, your Majesty, and help us to put a stop to the attacks."

The king raises his eyebrows. "Really? These two against the whole horde? I have heard tales of ghosts and ghasts and large spiked creatures. How will these two help against that?"

Cas states, "As I explained previously, your Majesty, there is one person behind these attacks, one mage who is sending them out. If Kai and Rysmarin can get close enough to him, they can summon me and I can battle the mage, with their help. Between Kai's abilities at stealth and Rysmarin's spellcasting, they should be able to get close enough to where I can help them. If Lordwyn helping, it will be even easier, once he returns from scouting."

The king turns towards the two and asks, "Well, do you think you can handle this task?"

KAI

"I am willing to do my best. I only hope that it is good enough."

Kai finishes this with a respectful bow to the King.

Its like Imprias all over again...

Rysmarin

Rysmarin remains unfazed by the king's comtempt, instead simply showing a sharp-toothed smile and crossing his arms to emphasize his claws.

"I believe we could out do any of your civil-soft men, your majesty."

Sneering at Rysmarin's act of confidence, the king replies to Kai with an, "Indeed. For if you fail, you will be dead, and no longer my problem."

Turning his head away for the second, the king returns his glance to the group. "Well, what are you still doing here? Go away before I have you killed for spying."

Cas leads the two out of the kings room and back to his quarters. "Well, that wasn't as bad as I had feared."

KAI

"Very pleasant ruler that you have there."

Muttering quietly to himself.

"Not sure if its paranoia or just plain insanity..."

Cas chuckles, seems about to speak, then thinks better of it and quiets down, ceasing the chuckling.

KAI

"So, locate the base of operations, avoid the troops, find the mage, and kill the mage. Sounds... fun."

Kai's voice is thick with sarcasm.

"This place is very quickly beginning to sound like home..."

Rysmarin

Rysmarin grins a bit as he walks out of the throne room.

"Very pleasant indeed, Kai. I always enjoy my chats with wer lodeg daar."

He carefully guards his tone for the last bit, making the draconic phrase sound somewhat endearing. He watches cas chuckle at the kings expense, taking note of it as slightly odd. He tries to catch Kai's eye for a moment before trying to coax the information from Cas.

"Oh, how very excellent to hear you chuckle, Cas... though I'm afraid the joke is lost on me. Would you care to indulge my curiosity, friend?"

((Perhaps... a skill check is in order here?))

KAI

"I may be mistaken, but I believe that Cas has sharp ears and heard me muttering under my breath."

Kai pauses for a moment.

"Wer lodeg daar? That doesn't sound like elvish. What does it mean?"

Responding to Rysmarin's question, Cas simply states. "That answer, my young friend, will have to wait until you return from this mission."

Rysmarin

The wild elf looks at Kai and chuckles to himself.

"And here I thought sharp and pointy ears where the traits of my whole race! Never the less you are almost definitely correct... Though that alone doesn't seem much of a cause to make our stoic and sadly mysterious friend laugh."

Rysmarin casts a wounded glance at Cas before continuing to answer Kai's questions cheerily.

"I should hope it doesn't sound like elvish, for we look nothing like the dragons who would usually use those words..."

Rysmarin pauses a moment, looking down at himself before continuing.

"Well, the ones who's only sharp, pointy bits are their ears, any way... Moving on, the Draconic phrase "wer lodeg daar" is simply a term I've come to know the esteemed elven king by. Roughly translated it means "The insane king.""

KAI

Kai chuckles at Rysmarin's words.

"It would seem that we are of similar mind about some things..."

Kai looks at Cas.

"So, the attacks are coming from the south and the west? Guess we know what direction we're heading in. Has anyone attempted any scrying of the area? Any knowledge of what we are heading into could prove most valuable."

KAI

"Well, than I guess we're going for a trek through the jungle."

Kai thinks to himself for a moment and then turns to Rysmarin.

"We'll need to buy some supplies first, being as we don't know how long we'll be gone."

Kai looks back to Cas.

"Now, you mentioned something about getting close to the necromancer, and ally if there is one, and then summoning you. What do you need from us and how do we summon you once we're ready?"

"I haven't decided that yet. I have a day or two til you will be ready to leave to decide and provide you with the ability to do so. But what I can tell you is, if you summon me too early, the mage may get scared and run away. It's possible he is more powerful then I am accounting for, and I already hold him in high esteem, for a necromancer, in which case no matter when or if I show up, he will make a fight of it."

"What I am proposing is that you make your way to the mage, through fighting or stealth, I recommend stealth, and summon me when you are, at the very least, in the same room as the mage. I just have to make the way to summon me inconspiicuous, so he won't detect it early."

Cas gets of far off look, thinking to himself.

"Well, as I said, we have some time. Do you have any further questions for me, both of you, or would you rather run off to prepare?"

KAI

"Well, in regard to your method of summoning, I may be able to... distract the necromancer long enough for Rysmarin to summon you. I... have some experience in combating arcane practitioners. There are a few tricks up my sleeve that should help keep their attention focused off of your summoning."

Rysmarin

Rysmarin pauses a moment, thinking everything he'd just been told over.

"My only concern is for the soon-to-be rogue undead... What will happen to them once the necromancer's hold on them is broken? Will they crumble to dust? Come to kill their masters murderers? Stay in the necromancer's base of operations, praying on the unwary? Or, as I fear most, come out to hunt?"

The wild elf turns his attention to Kai when he mentions his anti-arcane training, his eyebrows up, but he says nothing for the moment. 'I'll need to ask him about that as soon as we have a spare moment,' He thinks, shaking his head before turning back to hear Cas' answer.

Cas shrugs, turning to Rysmarin.

"It's hard to say. The undead he has created are just extensions of his will and therefore would probably be inert or collapse. The undead he controls would be free of his influence and would probably resume what they were doing when they were "captured". As most undead hate the living, I would probably say for a few minutes, it's going to be hellish. I had planned on bringing us all back, if you all wish it so, upon the elimination of the necromancer."

Turning to Kai, "Any distractions would be good. If the attack is stealthy enough, we could catch him unprepared, otherwise magical wards may surround him. We will have to 'play it by ear', as we elves say."

Rysmarin

"Hm... Well, while I'd rather not let powerful undead roam free, playing it by ear, as you said, does seem to be the best choice. Next, I suppose I should ask about the best way to deal with the undead and constructs, should we be forced to confront them..."

He sighs a bit, shaking his head as he adopts a somewhat faraway look.

"Oh, if only my mother or aunt where here! Corellon's grace or a little extra magic would be a welcome asset in facing these evil creations."

KAI

"I will leave to worrying over the 'undead control' issue to the two of you as it is beyond my abilities. I will work on gathering the supplies we will need."

Kai turns to Rysmarin.

"Is there anything in particular that you would like me to obtain?"

I'm sure there are going to be questions now... Ah well, it was bound to come up sooner or later.

KAI

"If need be, we may have to form a 'task force' to hunt down and eliminate the more dangerous undead. With luck, perhaps they will return to wherever it is they came from. As for the constructs, it has been my experience that avoidance tends to be a preferred option. If need be, I am sure that we could work on slowly dismantling them as well, though it may require a more creative approach than the undead."

Kai sighs to himself at the prospect of what they may be facing. It's useless to worry about it now...

"Pity that we don't have a priest going with us."

Rysmarin

"Hmm... Off the top of my head, the only things I can think of is Holy Water, though perhaps seeking out a priest willing and able to help us wouldn't be a terrible idea..."

Rysmarin turns back to Cas.

"I don't suppose you know where we might find holy water? Likely as not, we find holy water, we find the priests that make it..."

Cas thinks for a second.

"I know what holy water is, but our devotion to Ilian doesn't take that route, although I can check with our clergy to see if a possible replacement is available."

"As for services of a priest, we have so few remaining since we moved here I am afraid Ilian wouldn't have one to spare."

Rysmarin

"Ah, I suppose I should have expected that. Well, better to ask than not know, yes? Your help is appreciated, Cas."

Rysmarin pats him on the back with a large, friendly grin.

"At least for now, I can't think of anything else to ask... So unless Kai has a question, I'm ready to poke around the camp."