The First Breath Ordinarie — The Mind of Nox

The Beginning (part 2)

Scene:

Level: Difficult ← (1d4+2: [2]+2 = 4)
TP: 9
Weather: Thunderstorm ← (1d10: [7] = 7)
Season: 1d90: [64] = 64th day of Summer ← (1d6: [2] = 2)
Day of the Week: 1d7: [3] = 3 Wednesday
Phase of the Moon: Full Moon ← (1d8: [5] = 5) (day 1)
Shift: 1d6: [1] = 1

Shifts on the (day):

The First Breath Ordinarie was an ordinary room, though the furnishing were foreign. Three long family style table with benches instead of chairs filled the room. For a gathering place it was rather quiet, but there were parties sitting at the table passing strange dishes.

I recognized some of the food, but it was mixed with strange fixings.

The boy tugged on my arm. "Come on, follow me."

Q: Does anything catch my eye as I pass through the common room?
Oracle
DC 15 → 6 » No, but
Possession, Obstinate, Beast

I didn't want to take the Lenses off, but I wanted to see how the Iron Veil looked without them so I peered over them again watching as the patrons obstinately shoved their food into their gullets. I watched a small spark of magic tie itself to each person as they consumed the meat from a strange beast. Not that I knew where it had come from, only that I didn't recognize any of the signatures I was seeing.

Eating here might become a problem.
I followed the boy through the common room, up stairs and into a small study.

The room was lined with flora I recognized and a tiny Phoenix Sprite sat atop a perch on the desk.

Q: Is there anything else of note in the room?
Oracle
DC 15 → 9 » No, but
Disguise, Storage, Delusional

The room looked ordinary through the lenses, but their signatures said something else when I removed the tinted spectacles to catch the magic flowing in the room.

Nothing was as it seemed and I would have thought I was delusional had I not seen the flows for myself.

A man stepped out from behind an illusionary wall with a bright smile on his lips. Though his teeth were clearly of the fey, his features spoke of nothing but human. Sometimes it was hard to glamour the simple things like your teeth when you opened your mouth.

"Sit. I am Lachlan Ashglen, High Priest of the Order of the First Breath. Miss Thornheart said you would be joining us in the Iron Veil today. I knew the lanterns would draw you near. I will have Simon fetch them. The denizens find their smell and look ... unsettling." He grinned at me.

I sat down and offered my name. "Ci... Nox Knight." I corrected myself. Ciaran Nightscale was my name, but here to blend in I choose to take a more human name.

Q: Does the priest have more than a 'welcome to the iron veil' reason for luring me here?
Oracle
DC 12 → 20 » Yes, and
Persistent, Impact, Hairpin

Priest Ashglen sat down opposite me and continued to smile as he spoke. "The Mother of All has told me of your coming. You know you are here to fight the forces of evil and free the Iron Veil from the darkness that is The Nether. But what you did not know is that you are the key — the hairpin we will use to unlock the win. You are The Herald of the Darkness demise."

Alex chuckles in my head. "I'd like some of what he's smoking."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "I'm here to fight — nothing more. If you would be so kind as to point me to Naoise I would appreciate it."

"Wait." He stood and intercepted my path. "Please just listen."
I turned back around and waited for him to sit down, instead he leaned on the desk this side of it and looked up at me.

"I realize that is a lot to take in. We can discuss it later. But the Mother of All sees All and tells me things. You must help us."

I rolled my eyes but helping people was the whole point of being here. "What can I do?"

Q: Does he want me to do his personal quest?
Oracle
DC 15 → 9 » No, but
Noxious, Talk, Incongruous

Priest Ashglen leans forward and his breath is noxious. He speaks in hushed tones, "I need you to hunt a Shadowed Darkling for me. I need its brain — its psyche to cure a terrible plague."

Task: Knowledge Check — Shadowed Darkling

eased by Obsessive recorder, bounty hunter,
Task
DC 6 → 14 » Success, and
Calm, Stale air, Force

I knew what a Shadowed Darkling was — a changeling with toxic breath, they hungered for flesh and granted wishes to unsuspecting victims. The false calm and the stale air gave everything away.

But as he spoke of the terrible plague just inches from me I knew in that moment what he was. He was the darkling and Priest Ashglen was somewhere in this building dying a slow horrible death.

Alex sighed. "It thinks you a dupe."

I smiled, more for Alex than for the darkling before me. "I will kill the Darkling for you." I said, drawing the Blink dagger from its sheath and stabbing the creature in the throat.

Task: Attack with Blink Dagger

eased by surprise, improvisation x2, surgical skirmisher x2
Task
DC 0 → 7 » Success, and
Whoosh, Insight, Surprise

Whoosh. It was a perfect shot, right to the brain — there would be no salvaging that this time. And that was probably a good thing. I always had a problem butchering humanoid things. And while a darkling was an evil creature, it still looked like one of us.

As it died the magic faded and even through the Aetheric Lenses I could follow the path where the actual Priest of The First Breath lay under the floorboards.

If I'd been prepared I could have captured the blood but by the time i found space to lay the workshop down, the blood would be congealed and unusable in anything but necromancy spells. And I didn't do those.

"The Priest is dying." Alex echoed in my ear as I yanked the dagger from the innards of the darkling.

Task: Pry the floorboards up

eased by improvision x2, fracture points
Task
DC 3 → 5 » Success

I pried the floorboards up and pulled the real Priest Ashglen from his bounds. He gasped for air and slumped to the floor exhausted and broken.

Q: Is the Priest okay?
Oracle
DC 15 → 11 » Yes, but
Temporary, Armies, Toss

Ashglen is pale and barely breathing, I tip the lenses from my eyes and put them on top of my head and look at him with my real unhindered sight.

Task: Is there anything I can do?

eased by aether-bound and handle with care x2
Task
DC 3 → 17 » Success, and
Music, Guest, Midnight

Before I can finish my assessment the noise from downstairs echoes in the room. The people down stairs are no longer possessed by their meals — the darkling is dead and its control is gone and now they are reacting poorly to the enchantment.

The priest points to a box on the desk. "Help."

Q: Do I recognize how the box can help?
Oracle
DC 12 → 11 » Yes, but
Unseen, Few, Boisterous

It's a music box — a device that was currently running in reverse. I'd never seen anything like it before. I couldn't just stop it and start it right. But the crowd down stairs was getting louder.

I laid the man down gently and stood up. "Alex, we got this."

"Always, Pretty Boy. I got your back."

And I would need his strength as I let the box use my raw natural power to heal itself and return it to its rightful direction.

Task: Use our raw power to right the music box and begin healing again

eased by We are One, Turns magic awry
Task
DC 6 → 9 » Success

I placed my hands on top of the box and let the power flow through me. Alex's mind inside mine hummed a tune, it was the right tune. Somehow he knew exactly what the box played and the gears inside turned and gnarled to a stop before righting their mechanisms and flowing forwards.

The sound was hauntingly beautiful. And the magic was felt the moment it started. It pulsed out from it in one giant wave and the calm of the people down stairs was heard with a sigh of relief.

And the man on the floor heaved a content sigh as his body relaxed and the color returned.

"Help me up, boy," the priest requested.
I knelt down by him and helped him to the chair the darkling had occupied once.

"How did you know?" he asked, his eyes wide as he sat down and the Phoenix Sprite hopped over to him and perched on his shoulder.

I shrugged. "Just knew." It was more than that but it was hard to explain.

"Naoise said you were talented."

"Did she now?" I rolled my eyes. Naoise never had anything good to say to me. But she was supposed to be a hard ass.

"The Mother of All says good things too."

"So you are going to ask me to take up that mantle too?"

"What mantle is that, son?"

"It's Nox. And the whole herald of darkness' demise bullshit." I scoffed.

"Ah... It said that did it?" Priest Ashglen sighed. "Well, let's just forget that for now. We can revisit the words later. I am just grateful you came when you did."

"So it's true then." I growled.

"Free Will is something the God of Souls gave us all. What the Mother of All wishes and plays her cards does not mean that things will go as she desires. You heed it no mind. You do as you do, and I will be the buffer from the words that seek to push you in one direction or another."

He gave me a tired smile. "I have a request for you, a boon for saving me and my little safe haven, a gift from the mother of all."

"I need you deliver a message for me to my daughter and high priestess on the Surface. It is of no rush, but I can narely leave my flock, 'specially now. Will you do me that favor?"

I nodded. "Yes."

The priest handed me a folded letter. You can find her in The Gate, just outside of the Iron Citadel at the Ordinarie there.

Lachlan Ashglen plucks a tail feather from his friend's tail with little more than a squawk from his companion and hands it to me. "This will save yours or someone else's life one day."

The man tried to stand and sighs, "If you would." He waved for me to present myself to him at his side.

I sighed but did as I was bid tucking the feather in my belt for the moment as he took his hands in mine.

They were warm — much warmer than they had been. His voice was soft as he started chanting. I knew the words, though he spoken them too softly for me to fully register the exact prayer he as offering.

There was a soft white light between our hands as the Goddess of Aether bestowed her gift upon me. Though I didn't know what it was, I felt her presence on me — in me. She would be with me always — not that she was ever far before.

Receives [The Mother's Boon]

Tier 1: Nether Knowledge
Tier 2: Defense Against the Nether
Tier 3: Strategical Attack the Nether
Tier 4: Close the Door

Priest Ashglen pulled away and patted my hands. "The Mother Bless you. I will have Simon take you to the Warden's Watch where Naoise will meet you."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Insights
DC 15 → 15 » Success
Found a Clear Lead. Roll for Subject/Modifier. Mark 2 tallies.

This insight reveals information about a [New] [Faction] regarding its [Leader].

"I'm going to take the body off your hands."

Q: Will Priest Ashglen allow it?
Oracle
DC 15 → 20 » Yes, and
Henchman, Fluttering, Slice

The priest gave me a knowing nod and even had one of the men from down stairs help me carry the corpse out back leaving me alone with the fluttering cape to slice and dice as I saw fit.

Q: Is there room to layout the workshop?
Oracle
DC 12 → 5 » No, but
Sleep, Sleep, Crack

There was no room to layout the workshop, thankfully I didn't need tools to extract the essence. I could do it in my sleep — twice.

Task: Harvest Time Essence

eased by handle with care x2 and anatomical precision x2
Harvesting
DC 0 → 18 » Success, and
Successfully harvested the item and your next harvest check is eased by 1

I used my hands to carefully extract the magical essence of the darkling and placed it in an uncracked flask the man had found lying around. It would do till I could get into the workshop proper and store it right. Time could fetch a good price — well at home it would. Here I wasn't so sure.

After extracting the essence I used what was left of the congealed blood in the body to draw the sigils on the ground around it and ignited it with fire.

Task: Case Disposal Fire Ritual (free cast)

The Warden's Watch

Shifts on the (day):

I find Simon inside talking with a serving woman. He waves at me and heads over.
"Now that was weird," he exclaims as he leads me out the door and back up the path I traveled down, the lanterns are gone. The path was no longer a walking billboard for any others of the order. It was a lure for me.

"Did Priest Ashglen actually want me to come see him?" I asked.

Alex chuckled. "Always the skeptic."

Q: Does Simon know the answer?
Oracle
DC 15 → 3 » No, but
Message, Fair, Blood

Simon shrugged. "I don't know. But he did have a message for you, and for his daughter so maybe?"

Simon lead me back to the Tangleroot Tree and towards the smoke that lifted towards the trees.

Q: Does the smoke originate from the Warden's Watch?
Oracle
DC 15 → 1 » No, and
Mammoth, Sleep, Reflect

Simon looks up and frowns. "That's not good."

"What's not good?" I asked.

"That smoke. It's coming from The Sleeping Mammoth."

"And?"

"And that means there's a raiding party on the way." Simon looked at me and at the smoke and then down the path the way we'd come. "I better warn the Ordinarie. You go that way." He pointed in the direction of the smoke. "I'm sure Naoise will be wherever the danger is." Simon rushed off the way he came and I was left staring at the same choice I had before. The path, the smoke and the way back home.

There wasn't really a choice — I headed towards the smoke.