One of the neat things about doing downtime over discord is it’s all already text! So rather lazily I’m going to copy paste a neat chunk of it right here.
Everything in a block is me, the rest is the player.
The next day, a messenger finds you when it is time and tells you to make your way to the ruby promenade. There you are met by 4 black rose knights on horseback, who act as your chaperone across the narrow cliff road toward the gates of the castle. The gate is set into a wall that spans the entire cliff. High above triangular flags dance, the 5 white stars of the lawful council, the red ruby of The Ruby Crown, The crown above a crescent moon, symbol of House Cecily, and a circle with a cross inside. One of the knights yells to the gatehouse and the great iron portcullis is raised enough to let the horses and you inside. Up the path stands the magnificent castle solemnity, black stone towers capped in black tile rooves. The castle is imposing, and seems to reach the rain clouds high above. Two irons gates carved with knights facing each other are opened at your approach and the knights take postions on the side of the path. Another knight within the castle chaperones you through a courtyard dotted with marble statues and rose bushes, away from the main entrance to the castle and around to the side. A Parthenon looking hallway lined with pillars leads to two great brass doors that open into the foyer of The Court of the Lawful Council.
You are greeted by a man in a white robe and a magnificent iron statue, twice as tall as you, depicting the divine court of Korianis upon the celestial mountain. On the left, Duke Tenebrous the warmaker, a muscular man holding a great two-handed sword stands next a man cloaked entirely in a robe, his face hidden behind the shadows of his hood, a man you know to be Duke Ohash, the count of solid stone. On the right, a squat old man with a long beard that melds with the clouds surrounding the mountain. Sitting upon a moon suspended next to the statue by a long chain from the roof is a thin man with spectacles and a large book stretched out on his lap. This is Aldash the Sage, father and creator of your patron. The platinum dragon Valor sits atop the mountain, his outstretched wings encompassing the other gods.
And it is here you wait for around an hour, the silent man in the white robe watching over the room. The domed ceiling is painted with likenesses of several of the most famous saints of law - The Sun, Sarath; The Chancellor, Soviah; The Advisor, Rana; The General, Zoshk; The Leader, Pyxis; The Spear, Hydel. Eventually the man in the white robe comes up to you and says "It is time." and he leads you through great brass doors beyond the statue. You come into a dark chamber, you cannot see the walls or ceiling, giving the impression of an incredibly vast room. Illuminated by a single candelabra is a wooden chair in the center of a raised stone platform. When you are in the room, the white robed man closes the door behind you, and you are alone in the silent room.
Ill sit in the chair
You hear the flickering of the candle flames, and then a voice enters the chamber, deep and echoing.
"You sit in the presence of The Lawful Council of Solemnity. Speak no falsehoods here, for the gods hear your every word, and all lies die in their light. Submit your will to them, for they are benevolent and all-seeing."
You feel a sensation like you felt at the ruined tower when the bishop cast his spell. You do get a CON save, but you can choose to fail it
i’ll fail it
You feel a pervasive sense, your divine soul flickers like a breeze bumping candlelight. 10' above you, a chandelier ignites, basking a stone platform in light. 5 great stone thrones in a semicircle look down on your chair.
this shit like firelink shrine from ds3
In the rightmost chair sits an incredibly old man, who looks extremely feeble. To the left of him sits a man with piercing eyes, around 40. The man sits with his chin upon his fits, leaning sideways in his throne. He is studying you. On the very left sits a man not in a white robe as the other council members, but in a fancy gown of white, gold and purple. He has long stringy hair and wears a golden necklace and bracelets. The chair to his right is empty. Sitting in the primary chair is Bishop Yened-Alnar-Oland. He speaks: "In the light of the gods, state your name."
“Balthazar”
"You are the one that collapsed the tower of Lord Clayton-Reids-Slade?"
“Correct”
"You will speak with respect, here. This is a holy place. You have committed a serious crime, the deaths of many innocents are the result of your actions. Ordinarily you would be put to death. Perhaps you still will be."
"Ludo Discognia. You have said he is a fiend of the hells. This has been verified in the light of heaven. Tell us all you know about the fiend. Spare no details."
they're gonna grill you on everything to do with Ludo, I assume you'll tell them everything, they're gonna question you until they know absolutely everything there is to know, is there anything you wanna leave out?
nope ill tell em everything
you talk mostly about the night of his defeat, and you go backwards to earlier details, as they get toward the end of getting a list of events, the bald one with the piercing eyes, silent up til now, leans forward and asks "It seems The Fiend knew of you before your first meeting. Why?"
“I destroyed him 200 years ago, during the great march on Sadrigal.”
this is a very odd thing to say holy fuck but you cant lie the priest leans forward with eyes wide. "Those are very old histories. Much of it was destroyed. The deepest archives in the castle contain very little about that time."
the bishop says "Lord Clayton-Reids-Slade had many interesting words about your being. Tell us, Balthazar, what are you really?" the dude in the white gold and pruple robe, who has been looking with amusement, sits up straight and leans in to listen
“I am an Eladrin.”
theres some confusion, for the first time the room is consumed with a hum of noise. All the preists but Oland talk to each other. "Eladrin, what is that? Has he broken the spell?" Oland interrupts. "I have heard of what you are. Passed down from the grandfathers grandfather and further beyond, the knowledge of your kind. Your presence here makes much fall into place regarding the fiend Discognia." he gestures to the other priests, "This is a divine servant, a child of the divine court." the other priests are stunned into silence
after a while the old priest speaks "A servant of the divine... in our very court." he struggles his feet, the bald priest leaning in to support him, and bows down onto one knee. The bald priest follows suit, then the one in the robe. Even Oland stands and says "Forgive our thoroughness in our questioning, divine servant. The Lawful Council of Orthos welcomes you." and bends on to one knee
The player playing Balthazar later told me this is his favourite thing that has happened to him in any D&D game
Head still bowed, Oland says "Forgive me, Balthazar, but I have a question. If you truly are a servant of the divine, what are you doing here?"
A sudden stillness comes to the room, almost impercetible. The other three priests seem to freeze, heads bowed, eyes closed. Oland stands up, and looks down on you. You see his eyes have gone completely white. When his voice emerges, it is deeper, booming, resonant and commanding. Your divine soul ripples.
"What is the point of your existence?"
This is a callback to earlier meetings Balthazar has had with his divine patron. Only this time he knows the answers.
“To convert the dragon to the side of Law.”
Oland smiles. "You have learned, Balthazar." then his smile turns stern.
"Why?"
“It has found itself on the side of Chaos. It is an anomaly. It must be corrected.”
He gestures a hand toward the priests. "And these... mortals. What are they to you?" (he means mortals in general not the council members)
“Means to do so.”
oland smiles again. "Good, Balthazar. And you will do whatever it takes, for that is my design."
"Your past. Your old allies. Their spirits never crossed the veil. Are they an obstacle to you?"
“Not to my knowledge.”
"Good. Your current allies. The ones currently battling their dreams in the town of Encathra. Will they prove to be obstacles?"
“Once they learn the full story, they will understand. They will not be an obstacle.”
"Excellent. We will see to it that their spirits do not cross the veil either. They may not be so understanding. Mortals often aren't when they reach the celestial mountain."
the priest looks at you with a smile on his face. "Excellent Balthazar. Truly excellent. You truly are the most beloved of all my creations. I feel-" there is a coughing whining sound from the priest, and light pours from his mouth and eyes for a moment. Then he turns stern, stone cold. He turns to you slowly. When he speaks, a rush of cold air flies past you, and the ground trembles. Your divine soul is battered like a torch in a stone. It causes dizziness in your head, a concussion-like fuzziness. The voice, deep and clear, that trembles the foundations of Castle Solemnity says "𝔼𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙."
"ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖. 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖." the priest looks at you. You can see his veins crawling with divine fire, causing scars along his face. "𝕐𝕠𝕦. 𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦?"
“Balthazar”
"𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖. 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕣. 𝕎𝕙𝕪?"
"I'm not sure"
We were in voice chat while having this exchane in text and the player had many ideas of what to say before landing on this
the effort it takes to speak is enormous, like yelling over a fierce wind.
"𝔸𝕙." another wash of freezing cold air. The scent gives you a feeling, deeply nostalgiac. "𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝕤𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦?"
“Very little”
"ℍ𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣. ℍ𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕤. ℍ𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕."
Ill remain silent
"𝕐𝕠𝕦. ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕜. 𝔻𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕟."
there's a rushing wind so strong it threatens to extinguish your divine light entirely, then the chamber returns to normal. Oland falls to his knees and begins coughing up blood
I lost my heal ability :/ This is a result of some class changes
LOL
the bald priest gets up and goes to help him. oland pushes him away, his eyes are wide. he mutters something that you cant hear.
the bald priest says "The bishop has made a decision. For the destruction of Lord Clayton-Reids-Slades tower you are to pay 2000 gold pieces. Your other crimes have been forgiven on divine grounds. This council is adjourned." the torches on the chandelier extinguish as the door behind you opens
A short while later…
As you wait for the gate to open you hear someone behind you say "Excuse me. Balthazar, is it? Might we talk for a minute?" it's the dude in the white, gold and purple robe. His robe is now blue, gold and purple. He wears boots for riding horses and a brimmed green hat with a feather.
“We may talk”
the man smiles. "Excellent." he grabs your hand and shakes it "Marquess Allant-Ratan-Rosse, at your service. Come, we may talk in the garden." he leads you back up to the castle and around to the left into a nice little garden with a fountain. An angel pours water from a golden vase into the pool. The marquess sits at a small iron table planted on some stone tiles. He makes a hand towards the castle and says "I hope angels drink fine wine."
“I think I’ll abstain.”
"Suit yourself." he talks about the roses until the wine arrives and pours himself a goblet
"So tell me, Balthazar, quite a sum of money you owe. How dare they! I assume you'll be damning them to the hells?" he laughs to himself
“I caused the damage, so I will honour my debt.”
"Of course, of course, an honorable agent of heaven. But you know, I am in a rather good position. If you wish, I will pay your debt in full. Consider it a donation to the church."
“That’s very generous of you. I care very little for gold so I don’t have much.”
he holds his hands wide. "I am nothing if not a generous man. In exchange, just... put a good word to the gods about me, will you?"
“Very well.”
"Excellent! Just one moment." he waves another hand and a few minutes later a servant brings a scroll which the marquess unrolls and signs at the bottom. He hands you a quill and the scroll "Of course, I take your word as an angel, but you'll have to accept my word as a man." the contract says marquess rosse will pay for your tower in exchange for the legal right to acquire a service in holy teachings, holy lessons, divine knowledge, or other such services at any point in the future
do you sign?
ill sign :)
marquess rosse is very happy and gives you the bottle of wine as a parting gift