[D&D 4E IC] Residuum Revolution Arcane- Above ground!

Illianthar

The revenant stayed silent through the first part of their journey, looking back and forth with a keen interest in his surroundings and missing most of the conversation going on around him. Mention of the museum caught his ear, however, and he focused in on where Herrod was leading; moving with his signature single-mindedness.

SilverBones

Spoiler:

Moving this on?

Herod – now with a destination in mind – moved into the room with the teleporting shrine in it, speaking in a rough growl of elvish at the guard telling him who these guests were and their destination. Once he was on the teleportation circle, he would stop and turn to the group and gesture with his head for them to stand likewise.

Lacking hands right now, he would have to rely on the guard to send them all to their destination.

“Prepare yourselves,” he warned calmly, “…the city is volatile and filled with people who may take offence to outsiders. I suggest you steel yourself against comments or advances,” He said, turning to look at Shen.

“…of any kind.” He added pointedly.

Anialos

"Don't worry boy. I can take care of myself." Shen chuckles at Herod's warning, he much preferred to hunt that which did not openly present itself to him.

Bhow

Riishi's stomach lurched as the world wavered about her. Thankfully, the sensation passed quickly, and her eyes opened wide in wonderment at the sight before her...

daniant

The group stands in front of a huge plaza. The buildings have floating gardens around the top of their inner spires and loom over you. In the center, in front of a very large half-floating palace, is a massive statue of an Eladrin man. He wears a diadem on his brow and stands in a heroic pose, one foot on the dismembered body of a dragon.

Inside Alise's mind, Enthrexa whispers, "That bastard! That is not how it happened!"

mightyjongyo

I'm not surprised...To the victor, the spoils...and their version of history too. How do you say it happened? Looking up at the statue and the surrounding scenery, she found that she was just as amazed as the night before. They knew how to make things look good, if anything. She wondered idly if the emperor were really as imposing as the statue seemed to indicate.

Illianthar

Persecutus marveled at the craftsmanship evident in the buildings around him. Boarding the teleportation circle he steeled himself for what might be next, but was pleasantly surprised that the jolt was not more...jolting. Looking at his new surroundings his gaze falls to the statue and he nods his head in admiration.

"Quite an impressive feat, to slay a dragon. This man must have been quite the hero."

The respect in his voice is quite evident as he stands before the site.

Anialos

"Either quite the man, or quite the liar. I'll be impressed when I see the man himself." Shen scoffs a bit, a little impressed sure, but he's seen enough statues that overcompensated for their benefactors "egos" to take them at face value.

SilverBones

Herod made an involuntary scoffing sound, now that he was outside of his master’s domain. The idea that one of the despot elves could defeat a dragon so brutally was fiction, given that he had seen them die to one another so easily. His master was not one to escape the political ramifications of making enemies in other houses.

“If you will follow me.” He said sourly, moving towards the entrance of the Museum of Conquest.

mightyjongyo

"Maybe he's compensating for something," Alise quipped.

Bhow

Following Herod toward the museum's entrance, Riishi gave the sculpture a sideways look and a wide berth.
"What do you mean?" she naively asked Alise.

SilverBones

"She means he may have small genitals." Herod replied almost instantly, not missing the opportunity to fake social ineptitude to take a small dig at the race of creatures who held his leash. He let himself have a small smirk as he walked onward, moving to the grand arches of the entrance.

"I doubt I should have to say this, but please be sure not to touch anything. Outsiders doing so would probably killed on sight by the guards if you are caught."

Anialos

Shen can hardly stop himself from laughing at Herod's bluntness. "Don't worry, won't be touching anything that doesn't touch me first."

mightyjongyo

"I was going to put it more delicately...but people only do something like this if they feel like they're lacking something," Alise giggled.

"I'll try to keep my hands to myself..." Alise said, wondering what manner of items they would see inside.

daniant

You walk up the steps of the museum of conquest and as Herod walks up the steps an enchantment wafts off him towards the guards. A brief message from Talansi buzzes in their ears and they move to the side and allow you all to pass.

The first room is filled with a huge statue of the same man from outside, this time holding a staff in one hand. His other hand is stretched high above his head and swirling above that is a perpetually swirling ball of green energy. It separates into six pieces and then re-forms over and over again. The room is filled with green light. The legend next to the statue reads, "Disbanding Enthrexa's Consciousness".

The voice in Alise's head mutters, Well, yes, I guess it was a little bit more like that. She continues, There was no dragon-slaying, we were married and I was of course living in the shape of an Eladrin, not a dragon. One night as I was sleeping he removed pieces of my essence, bit by bit, and put them in containers such as you have in your pocket. But apparently he lost them, or destroyed them, or removed them. I feel some of them shattered elsewhere, but the closest one is a little...angry right now. You sense that there is a deep regret and longing in her tone, and that she still is thinking about reunion.

The next room is huge and features beautiful paintings. Most have a three-dimensional magical element that hovers over the canvas, changing or adding to the scene. Some of them depict the marriage of Thoros and Enthrexa. As you get close to one, you see darkfey, kobolds, dragonborn, humans, and other fey toasting the couple who are standing under a white banner with a crescent and star. Some of you recognize the architecture in the background. This definitely took place in the capitol city of Ydria.

Another painting farther on shows the expulsion of the darkfey from the capitol city. There are men, women, and children, crying and looking back at burning buildings. The caption reads, "After the darkfey unrest, Thoros expelled them, taking their belongings and burning their dwellings. They have been condemned to live in the dark. May they be cursed by the black forever."

Then there is one of Thoros standing before the construction of a huge building. An elf shows him work plans, floating before both of them. In the background, shackled dragonborn heave huge rocks in place. The caption reads, "Building the new temple in the Holy City."

SilverBones

Herod stopped to look up at the picture of the empire being built off of the backs of so many slaves and his face fell slightly. It was a grim reminder that so many generations of creatures much stronger than him were enslaved for thousands of years. It inspired little hope to see freedom himself. Looking forward, he moved on swiftly.

“Let us continue.” He said coldly.

Anialos

"Yes, lets." Slavers huh. Shen was starting to like these people less and less. Sure, they were probably the only help they had against the current tyrannical reign, but would they be much better?

Bhow

"Why would Thoros marry a dragon?"

"Why would he dismember his bride?"

"Why did he exile the darkfey and chain the dragonborn?"

Questions bubbled from Riishi as she moved from one image to the next. She recalled a rabbit she'd once seen: mad with disease, poison or ill spirits, the small fluffball had treed squirrels, barked at a deer until it took flight, and finally had charged and chased a badger into its den.

SilverBones

Herod looked over his shoulder to the girl with questions and answered them flatly and concisely. He did not wish to linger on the subject for too long due to his personal experiences, but it seemed the right thing to do.

“Why would you not want to marry one of the former ruling aristocracies?” Herod asked bluntly. “As for the dismemberment, well there are tales even from today of people murdering and doing odd things to their spouses. Perhaps she was a perpetual nag. Needless to say, it was probably an effort to contain the dragons vast power or make way for a mistress. The reasons are now beyond speculation.” Herod added.

“As for the Dragonborn?” he paused to answer that. “…they were not the only ones enslaved and the Darkfey not the only exiles. This Empire is vast and has many enemies.” He said but quietly added afterwards, “…some of it’s own creation.”

Bhow

After a bit,

"Seems really quiet. Doesn't anyone visit the museum?" Before Herod can answer, Riishi stops before before a door nestled between complexly carved panels. "And what's in here?" Riishi asks somewhat rhetorically, somewhat mischeviously.

daniant

The door opens with a bang, shocking Riishi and making her jump back a few steps. She catches a glimpse of a room filled with dusty parchments and pens floating above new paper, jotting notes. However, that is quickly blocked by the person opening the door, a pristine-looking Eladrin in a long red robe. While a little formidable, a silly hat he wears on his head distracts from his dapper appearance. He also has a little ink on his fingers. Perhaps most shocking is that the words that come out of his mouth are in common.

"Good question, young lady," he says abruptly, slamming the door behind him. "I'm afraid the museum of conquest is merely a refuge for old academics such as my self and school children. It's refreshing to meet...erm...new faces. My name is Stola, and I am a curator and historian. Please, ask me anything you wish. And perhaps I could learn something of you in exchange?" He twirls his fingers and a quill and pad appear, poised to write something down.

Anialos

"Dust and fairies from what I can see." Shen answers to noone in particular, a mocking grin on his face as the Eladrin scholar emerges. "Names Shen, feel free to write it down, I'm sure if we stay long enough it'll be popular enough. Even a shut in like you might hear 'bout me eventually."

Bhow

“Well, Herod here was showing us your kingdom’s history, especially about dragons. Where we’re from, many people think dragons never really existed at all. But maybe you could tell us what happened, first hand?”

SilverBones

The moment the door opened, Herod was ready to fight off a would-be assassin, but seeing the sight of the old Eladrin in a funny hat, he seemed to slump back into his subservient 'guide' stance and shook his canine head.

"Urgh. Scholars." he muttered before moving aside to watch the group speak to the older Eladrin. It seemed that they may have some better luck with getting answers from the lore keeper, but he would not let down his guard just yet. They were still newcomers and the aristocracy was generally pretty xenophobic when not enslaving other species.

daniant

The old man squinted at Riishi. "Dragons? Of course there were dragons. Where do you think dragonborn came from? They were made in dragons' images to serve them. Of course, Enthrexa was the last of her kind. And now she is no more. And rightly so, justice to one whose beliefs were flawed, who could not see the benefit that could be gained from using magic to its fullest potential."

He walked into another room, this one filled with small paintings depicting the expulsion of the fey from Ydria. Barbaric dragonborn, naked from the waist up, carved sorcerers into pieces. In a huge painting in the middle of the room, a circle of Eladrin were producing a gigantic purple and blue fire, and humans, dwarves, and dragonborn were running from it.

"Ah, the chaos fire," sighed the historian. "That's how the Holy City was destroyed, after it was corrupted by worshipers of the Silver Dragon." He spit a little. "Of course, the power to create such a destructive force depleted much of our residuum reserves." He begins to whisper a little. "Our glorious leader did not anticipate that without the dwarves mining the resource, the war would go against them. That's why they fled to a new land and built the city you see today. A new empire, a progressive empire, where magic could be used to benefit the Fey." His voice swells again.

Anialos

Shen stays silent, marveling at the hubris and single minded arrogance that led to this Empires fall. Certainly they would not be much of an improvement over the nk'barra. This also explains why the nk'barra are as harsh as they are.

mightyjongyo

"Magic to its fullest potential? What do you mean?", Alise asked, coming around the corner of one of the displays. So much to look at... "Not so glorious, if he couldn't figure that much out...", she muttered under her breath as the historian regaled them with his tales. Louder, she remarked, "Benefit the Fey...but only the fey, and let the rest of the world figure itself out."

She was beginning to think that asking for help here would be a lost cause.

SilverBones

Herod looked around at the various faces of disgust and disappointment and raised a canine eyebrow. For them to not know what kind of empire they were dealing with was almost comical. Did they realize what kind of peril they might suffer if one of the Fey grew bored with their presence and decided to brand them?

He had to get them away before that happened.

"Perhaps we should move on," he forwarded. "...there is still much to see."

He hoped the slight hint of urgency in his voice was picked up by his wards, and not by the perpetually distracted 'historian'.

Bhow

Herod's voice pricked Riishi's ear like a pine needle, and the historian's fervently patriotic tone was beginning to worry her, too.

Stepping backward, "Yeah, lots to see..."

daniant

The voice in Alise's ear piped up. Do you see what a monster this man is? Even now I can sense his interest in you. Yet we are so close to my other self. He is using it to amplify his power and the power of others. We must take it and flee!

mightyjongyo

Alise frowned inwardly. As much as I would like to...help you complete yourself, I don't see how we're supposed to get past a whole city, its guards, and the king himself, she griped.

Seeing Herod and Riishi's distress, Alise decided it would be best to agree with them and hightail it out of here. "Yes, this is only our first stop, and there is so much to see in your lovely city...so much to see..."

Briefly, Alise wondered if the general populace was more agreeable than the seeming elite that they had encountered so far. Maybe if they were discontent enough... instigate an uprising...

Or maybe they were all this patriotic, and there was nothing for them here. Which left them with...nothing. When she thought about it like that, she wondered if she would have to suffer through this to get what she wanted. As powerful as Enthrexa was, she didn't think it would be enough to overthrow the regime. But if she was restored...that would give them all they needed to look for the old king. And wasn't that what they wanted? Of course, that also unleashes a dragon upon the world...for better or for worse.

Anialos

"Yes, lets move on. I've seen enough of this Empire's history."