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The Carnelian Mysteries

Scene details

  • Start date: Feb. 23, 2025, 6:14 p.m.
  • End date: Feb. 23, 2025, 8:58 p.m.
  • Location: Oradia - Rosia
  • Participants: Reize Seatlan, Ivo Galvan, Daiby

Setting: Placeholder description of scene plz change k thx bai

Log


 One would think that our heroes' report would cause a stir. A seemingly mundane investigation of some dubious rumors about lurkers in an innocuous unused waterway beneath Rosia's Hanging Gardens revealed a nefarious plot, still little understood, backed up with real firepower. The evidence implicates the worshippers of Ankhiale, an obscure spirit whose folk religion has little influence in a city famous for welcoming many competing sects. It so happened that the Star Chasers had already chanced upon their apparent leader in the marketplace when visiting the stall of a clockwork merchant, and she had spoken opening of her people being persecuted and suppressed, yet few residents seem to have even heard of her people, let alone of any oppression. It is impossible to say with any certainty if that confirms or disconfirms her claims, and even if she were to be found again and interrogated, the party would have to contend with her advanced fire summoning magic, which might be imprudent at this juncture. The clockwork merchant, for his part, has left without a trace. Already overstretched and with the Vampire Ball on the horizon, the Vanguards simply acknowledged the party's report
 "That's more or less all we know so far," Ivo concludes, standing at the head of a dusty table of mangrove wood. The party has gathered in the most convenient space available for discussion and safe magitech modification and experimentation: a little-used conference room within the ornate but decaying Oradian Vanguards Association HQ. There are some tea and snacks on the table, suggesting that even if there isn't much the Vanguards here can do to help, they at least want to support. "I stopped by some local archives, but the Oradians are more culturally inclined towards speech than writing: there is more of a national focus on performance than record-keeping." The unbroken rule of the royal family for so long may also have deemphasized the writing of histories. "So far, I've only pulled one seeming reference to Ankhiale: a reference to some practice known only as The Carnelian Mysteries."
 He looks down. Upon the table surface gleams a set of bracers that appear to be intricately carved from breathtakingly sizable chunks of red quartz, molten gold drizzled into their florid patterning. Those with a keen eye for aesthetics might not that it is reminiscent of the Ankhialean beadwork on display in the lobby.
 "And we've got some carnelian mysteries right here," he quips. "I don't know how these were used as a locus for those fire-earth elemental hybrids, but the more we understand about them -- and these -- the better. We might have to face them again."



 There is only disappointment on Reize's face as he looks around the headquarters. This one is definitely not as professional as the one in Granse. However, Granse is one of the places where they have more of a presence. Reize grimaces, but he does take the time to enjoy some of the snacks.

 Nomnomnom.

  "'The Carnelian Mysteries'?" He cants his head to the side and then he looks over the intricately-carved set of bracers." He reaches to the gauntlets, curiously placing his fingers over to them to feel them out.

  "...Let's see if we can make use of it!" He furrows his eyebrows, "Maybe it'll react. These types of items tend to react when I touch them for some reason." Maybe, maybe not. However, Reize can't help but to be facinated with it. He even decides to take it and try it on, removing his own gauntlets to slip it on!

 

  • Character: Daiby
  • 2 weeks, 2 days ago


Daiby is, for once, in an outfit that is not all flowing and willowing and showing more skin than one expects to see in your standard-issue lady! It is a plain cloth apron over a sleeveless tank-cut top and a pair of slightly flowy slacks. (This counts as non-wispy by the standards of her preferred clothier.) (Who is probably not Cosmopolitan UNIQLO.) (But may have some similarities.)

"They're certainly bright, and I can see why they might be revered if they're a local mystery," Daiby muses. "Especially if some competing culture group targetted the gems for their gold inclusions... though if the elemental connection is organic, not cultivated, those miners might have gotten a rude surprise! And that gets us back to reverence again." And then Reize volunteers! "Oh, good idea!" Daiby says, taking two steps away from Reize and a half-step to get catty-corner on the table. She also sinks down an inch or so as she prepares to dive under the table, despite her encouraging tone!


 Ivo, still standing authoritatively at the head of the table for the purposes of delivering exposition, glances to Reize. Then he looks to Daiby. Then he looks back to Reize.
 Then, without a change in expression, he ducks.
 The result is... that Reize looks very fancy.
 "They would go well with that outfit," Ivo murmurs, slowly standing up again. But he doesn't say that too loudly. After all, Reize thinks that the Garb of the Harem Master has been returned to the shop. "Your courage is an inspiration, my friend," he then says, at a normal volume. "At least it seems that they aren't dangerous. But I can't tell at a glance what effect they have, if anything, or how to activate them, if that's necessary."
 He taps at his chin.
 "As a last ditch effort, I could try just cracking a fire elesphere over them and seeing what happens, but I'd rather not waste our distilled aether," he muses. "It'd be nice if we could try some things with a fire elemental, like those we deal with in the market." Then he blinks, and glances back to Daiby. "Say, Daiby. Are you still getting along with that salamander?"
 It seems that Ivo is assuming, reasonably enough, that the carnelian bracers will interact with fire magic somehow.



  One would expect something no short of disastrous upon Reize wearing the bracer. However, nothing actually happens. "..Hm." The young boy deflates, looking a bit disappointed. He looks over towards Ivo and then Daiby, "Looks like nothing happe---ah." He pauses upon seeing that the latter made sure that she got into a corner to keep clear for the probable destruction.

  His antenna hair droops as his voice flattens, "Your vote of confidence brings me comfort.."

 He looks back towards Ivo while he slips the other bracer on. "Oh! That is a good idea! We can try to see if it reacts to fire!"

 

  • Character: Daiby
  • 2 weeks, 2 days ago


"Oh! Yes, they're settling in fine," Daiby informs Ivo. "I had to go scrounge up some stone wool, are you familiar with that? It's perfect bedding for those fellows, after one lick of extreme heat it doesn't smoulder at all! I think he's, she's, I'm really not sure -- either way, not eating JUST yet but that's typical."

A snake pokes up from her hair and looks at Reize, dubiously.

"I do think that we could probably tempt them to do a little bit - I think I saw some food-/seeking/ behavior the other evening as I was settling down... perhaps they're nocturnal, naturally? It's so exciting," Daiby enthuses. Then to Reize, "Yes!" Back to Ivo: "We own these things, yes? I lost track."


 "I could try channeling a fire elesphere through Hauteclare," Ivo is thinking aloud as he watches Reize go full guinea pig, "but no matter how dextrous the fencer, a longsword is not the most suitable tool for sustained detail work, especially when channeling an element through it."
 He tilts his head.
 "Reize, would your pendant be able to call upon fire? I know that it's undergone some changes since Kernunnos dwelled inside... I haven't asked you in a while what it's capable of now."
 Its capacity to store spirits within has hypothetically increased due to the development of Reize's bond with Kernunnos over their prior adventures, though that has not yet been tested.
 "We've borrowed them, at least," Ivo then asides to Daiby, grinning. "Rui and Reize and I were accosted by some elemental summoners up to dangerous business in the tunnels beneath the royal palace. Each of these bracers seemed to serve as a kind of supplementary core for a powerful fire elemental that was able to fuse into the earth and lurk within stone walls. They were formidable opponents. It's hard to say what power the bracers themselves possess beyond the function they seemed to serve, but it would be good to know..."
 He hesitates a moment.
 "Do you think, ah, the salamander is calm enough at this juncture to be... summoned here? If the bracers have something to do with fire elementals, and you've begun taming one through your affinity with, er, reptiles, then..."
 Ivo's curiosity gets the better of him.
 "...stone wool? Really!"

  • Character: Daiby
  • 2 weeks, 2 days ago

Daiby rolls 1d20.
Roll(s): 5. Total result is 5.

  • Character: Daiby
  • 2 weeks, 2 days ago


"Oh certainly. At most you'll have to do a little chin scratching," says Daiby, with absolute confidence.



 Upon the question about his pendant, Reize looks a bit puzzled. "Honestly, while I have a better idea about the pendant's ability, I don't think I can draw it out. I generally have to be in a desperate situation, then it reponds to me." He looks at the pendant below. "Though, maybe I can draw upon its power with another being inside of it this time."

 Then, there is a grin. "Oh! All that I'll have to do is give him chin scritching? That should be fine! I'll do well with him!" ...Nevermind the boy's history with the surly tortoise, the Doom Chicken, the shadow cat, the boars...

 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Charisma check to avoid losing reputation with Vanguards. For no particular reason
Roll(s): 11. Total result is 11. This is a success (by 1).


 "I see," Ivo ponders, his tone solemn, his countenance grave. "So what you're saying is that we have to put you in a desperate situation."
 He may have gotten the wrong message here.
 "Great!" He brightens as soon as Daiby speaks. She's the expert, after all. "Let's go get the salamander, then. Reize, keep watch over the bracers, would you? This shouldn't take long."
 CUT TO
 "*So* sorry about the hair!" Ivo is calling out towards the lobby as he eases back into the conference room, dragging a stubborn big red lizard that, like a dog refusing to leave the park, appears to have flipped upside-down to make itself as difficult as possible to budge. "You look great, I promise! Smoldering, even! You've got the desk situation under control? Good, good! Such professionalism! Ha ha ha!"
 As soon as the door can be shut with everyone inside again, he collapses against the wall, panting. His own new and lighter cloak appears to be singed, though perhaps that blends in with the singing from their waterway encounter.
 "As anticipated," he gasps, "more or less."

  • Character: Daiby
  • 2 weeks, 2 days ago


"Maybe you can hand feed them," Daiby encourages Reize. "Have you ever fed a lizard-type before? It's much easier than with a snake!"

SOON

Daiby rubs the salamander's belly. "Oh you were so brave! So braaaaave!"

"Go ahead, get out the meat pieces," she encourages Reize, again. Same face. Same expression. Almost no hair singe.



 There is a large sweatbead over the back of Reize's head as he hears the sound of chaos in the form of Ivo. It looks like the creature is going to be more than a handful. Unfortunately, that is expected. Reize lets out a sigh, then he frowns before reaching into his satchel to get the meat pieces.

  As Daiby keeps the creature pacified, Reize kneels down next to the salamander and he gives a smile. "Good lizard! We'll be fine friends." He gives a smile as he offers the salamander a meat piece. He's being careful for it to take a nice bite.

 

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Animal Handling
Roll(s): 7. Total result is 7. This is a failure (by 3).


 Ivo stays leaning against the wall, thank you very much, as Reize approaches the salamander currently being lavished with praise by Daiby. It is difficult for anyone not attuned with reptiles to discern its mood, but for all that it does not seem to want to be here, it is also clearly in no hurry to get away from Daiby's belly rubs. Maybe this will work out.
 As Reize kneels down and offers the meat, he will notice that the carnelian bracers have begun to faintly glow, seemingly as soon as he approaches the salamander. A pleasant warmth is issuing from them. The salamander stirs, perking up, and opens its mouth.
 "Oh?" Ivo says to himself off to the side.
 A great gout of flame then bursts from its mouth, engulfing Reize.
 "Oh."
 On the upside, it is somehow not *quite* so painful or burn-inducing as one would expect it to be. The glow of the bracers are intensifying as well, visible even through the ongoing jet of fire. On the downside, none of this stops Reize from catching fire.
 But through the heat and the haze, he can likely feel something, perhaps just from his keen sense of his inner aether as a martial artist. The portion of the fire's damage that is being mitigated is flowing into him, somehow. Should he try to contain it, he will feel himself gradually become more fiery in nature, whether through anger or passion or some similar sentiment. Should he wish to express it, he may feel as though this aether can pass out through his bracer-clad hands, invisibly, toward some suitable target. Like, say, the salamander.



 As expected, Reize is immediately consumed by flames for his trouble. The flames erupt and combust around Reize as the roaring flames crackle in the air. On one hand, Reize is not feeling the burning sensation tearing against him. This is thankfully mitigated by the guantlets as it seems to absorb the flames. On the other hand, it doesn't stop the fact that the entire body is on fire.

 He lowers his head as a trail of tears flow his eyes. "..." That is short lived upon realization of his current state. "Whoa... I can feel the flames... imbuing me with a strange feeling." There is something drawing that power, his passion. He almost feels like striking the salamander back for the flame, but he manages to suppress the feeling.

 "I feel like my emotions are becoming one with the fire!"

 


 Ivo has heroically reached for the hilt of his sword, to-- use the aetheric sensor he installed in its hilt to track what is happening, his eyes widening in surprise.
 "Incredible," he breathes. "This sort of fire resistance will definitely be useful when we encounter the threat of Purgation again. And to think that you could absorb it..."
 He sways his hilt in the direction of the salamander, who has at last ceased to bathe Reize in fire and instead blink in mild perplexity at the boy's continued endurance, and then back to Reize.
 "It's not just that. There's a slight but growing flow of aether from you back to the salamander. It's like... if you released all that aether, all the energy from that continued breath attack could be stored up by another flame-wielder. Imagine..."
 He looks to Daiby now.
 "If Reize were wearing the bracers and was struck by flame from an enemy, he could pass that energy off to the salamander, and you could release it!" he exclaims, eyes now shining. "Or you could wear the bracers yourself and focus on support! This gives us some new options in future confrontations with the worshippers of Ankhiale."
 Smiling, he looks back to Reize, before faltering.
 "Ah, Reize, your scarf... is on fire."

> Relic Identified: The Armbands of Ankhiale's Anointed. Formed from pure carnelian quartz and embossed with gold brought only barely to its melting point by the heat of a sacred hearth, it attunes one to the secrets of flame.
> Passive Ability: Carnelian Mysteries. Allows the wearer to partially absorb ambient fire aether either from oncoming attacks or nearby fire elementals. This may be released either as inner aether, through fire-imbued strikes, or as outer aether, as a support spell to supercharge an ally's or familiar's fire elemental attack.
> Ivo's Note: Absorbing fire aether may temporarily shift the wearer's personality toward more choleric sentiments, like rage or pride, and cause them to feel very warm. Overdressed, even. (Especially if their clothes are on fire.)



  "Eh..?" Upon realization that his scarf is on fire, Reize is off into a panic. "AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! NOT MY BABY!"

  As Reize is running out into the main lobby, there is a sound of swears from the receptionist! "TACKLE HIM!" There is a sound of rough noises in the background.

  Out in the lobby is heard the cry of the boy. "My back!"