RP: Jake Recounts a Demon Fight
It's Ceriday, Daeshen 17 01:44:02 1018. The full moon isn't up. The tide is low and ebbing. The sky is grey-black, without moon or star. It's hard for human eyes to see anything in the deep shadows round about, without a light. The wind is chilly.
A14: Quill's Repose, City Library
Ga'Elian walks into the library cautiously, as if walking into a dragon's lair, moving with preternatural grace, but on the alert as if expecting an ambush, save only that he is not carrying any weapon in hand. Upon entering, he carefully examines the manner in which the various scrolls, tomes, and codices are arranged.
There is no ambush here, but there is one who has poised himself as the de-facto guardian of this place. He stands at the front, ready to greet those seeking knowledge and turn back those seeking to destroy it.
Ga'Elian stops and bows to the Temperance. "Good evening, Jacob. Such repositories of writing are not the ways of my people, but the lore they contain is not to be overlooked. How farest thou?"
Jacob waves his dismissal off. "Nonsense! Goodly Knowledge should be free for all. It is only the forbidden that must be sealed off and guarded." He walked just behind him as they entered. "Did you know, I ran afoul of some demons from the Hells recently? Had to do it guarding some magus point in an abandoned village."
Ga'Elian smiles, at first with mere acknowledgement, then with eager anticipation at the mention of demons. He says, "Oh, tell me what happened."
Jacob picked a nearby table and sat, gesturing for Elian to do the same. "They came at us through rifts they tore in the ether, from the Hells themselves. Had a Paladin and two others launch themselves through the tears to get at them, the brave fools. The rest of us had to survive against their attrition tactics..."
Jacob shakes his head. "Almost worked, too. There were just so many."
Ga'Elian sits, his attention rapt. "How many? and, knowest thou of what variety they were?"
GAME: Jacob rolls Knowledge/The Planes: (9)+7: 16
GAME: Jacob takes ten on Knowledge/The Planes: (10)+7: 17
"All kinds!" Jacob's eyes widen. "There were imps and daemons and devils. There were demonic creatures and mounts. We almost went against pit lords, and if we had, I would not be sitting here speaking to you."
Ga'Elian's eyes grow large. "Fain would I have been there. So how did the fight go?"
Jacob huffs. "We won, barely. Got the point cleaned, and some of the poor souls lost in there or sacrificed there were freed. Not all of them, but some. I should be grateful." He takes in a breath. "But we lost too many that day."
Ga'Elian nods, and sits back, easing off a bit on the intensity. He says, "Who was offering the sacrifices?"
Ga'Elian adds, "Hast thou heard of a group called the Iron Book? I came across the name in one of the books we scanned over in the monastery. If they exist, I hope to make contact with them, and methinks the tale of thy battle might entice them to accept the contact."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Knowledge/the Planes+OutsiderEvil: (20)+2+4: 26
Jacob rubs his chin. "You know, I may look into that. For the moment, I do have rather unique, first-hand account of some of the various creatures that inhabit that plane, if you are interested."
Ga'Elian smiles. No, grins. He says, "In such matters as these, I am always interested, and the more detailed the account, the more useful, too."
The descriptions were long-winded, but Jacob tended to elaborate too much sometimes. Yet by the time he was finished, Elian would have a clear picture of what he would be up against later. "Is that enough?