A Stitch in Souragne: Symbols of a Fallen Loah

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Chicken Bone's lips in that almost-smile again as he speaks to Zumba: "The Lord of the Dead has told me. If you do not free P'tite Soeur Renard, she will cease to be... P'tite Soeur Renard."
The smile disappears.
"Which is not to say that she will pass into the embrace of my master. She will cease to be herself, which is an abomination. As for her power to reach into you... That is a power all the Loah possess, under the right circumstances, and she has not ridden you very hard. Yet."

Chicken Bone turns to Lucien. "P'tite Soeur Renard will help the Land exactly because she is terrible. Few things are more terrible than Justice, and she is its Loah for all the land. Lesser Loah may be local judges, or champion right or wrong, but when the goddess went to sleep, it was La Belle Renardine Sans Merci who took up the task of bringing all Souragne justice."
Again, a small, mirthless smile flickers across Chicken Bone's face.
"She sleeps a lot of the time. Few have the courage to call on her, knowing that she accepts neither pleas nor protests, and shows no mercy to those she deems guilty. But even trapped and weakened as she is, it seems to me that she has gathered all of you to her cause.
And as for the stones you mention, outlander -- the ancient stones are of the ancient Loah. Sacrifice blood to them, and they point the way to the Loah who marked the stone. They are an ancient magic, and they are not what has stopped the rain."

The Voodan turns his eyes on the twitching, spasming body and casually kicks it.
"It is as you see it. Nothing has happened to its eyes, because it has none. Me, I think he came from the same machine infernal that made our mutual enemy's other troopers out of the living creatures of the Land. The Zombi, the hybrids... and these ugly things."
The old Souragnien spits contemptuously.
"They are strong and fast. They slip away through shadows. Many of my slaves died under their blades, allowing their masters to close in on me and trap me here, and their masters, I... do... not... know."

Chicken Bone frowns, clearly angry at the admission.
"I think I could have known their names before the drought. But a power rose over the land, a new Loah, who hid their schemes from my eyes before they set them in motion. They stopped the rains, trapping the mortal shade of the Lord of the Dead, and so they blinded my master's eyes in much of Souragne."

Chicken Bone looks at Zumba again, an odd, unholy fire in his eyes.
"You ask from where you must free P'tite Soeur Renard, she who took up the cloak of Notre Mère des Brûmes, she who wields the Sword of the Insane Dream, she who sees into the hearts and souls of the mortal, the immortal, the dead and the undead with her Eye of Nightmare? I will tell you. You must free P'tite Soeur Renard from inside L'Homme Broché, who opposes my master and all the other Loah, who hides the ones who brought the drought. Like the killing vine upon a tree, he is feeding on her, smothering her. He came upon her in her sleep, and though she still fights, she can not shake him off.

You must gather the three regalia of the Loah of Justice, she of the Insane Dream, and bring them to the statue at her old shrine. Cut her out of the Loah of Punishment, and save the Land. For even if you destroy the thing that stops the rain, L'Homme Broché could still murder Mama Souragne in his fury. He needs to be stopped, and only P'tite Soeur Renard can do it -- once her hands are free."

[Ail]

Zumba nods.

"And this regalia... do you know where and what they are?" He barely acknowledges his companions. La p'tite soeur rescued him when he was young, it is his sacred duty to rescue her now, and he will do the utmost for it.

"Do you know why we have no magic ourselves? Can L'Homme Broché stiffle it from us also?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"No magic?" Chicken Bone repeats in a mocking tone. He points at Lucien. "He wields magic. My prayers to the Lord of the Dead still make me master of any zombie he does not wish to use. There is still magic. But the rain-making magic, the water-bringing magic, that is not working. And... I do not understand why. But as for the regalia, I just named them for you, boy. The cloak of Notre Mère des Brûmes. The Sword of the Insane Dream. The Eye of Nightmare. These are the regalia of La Petite Soeur Renard, Little Sister Fox in the language of the outsiders."

[steveflam]

Goren hears Lucien call him and he comes back in, clearly creeped out by all the undead watching him. He walks back in and stays near the door. "Oui Lucien, toi m'appellé.?"

[Guzrath]

She decides as she feels the blood rush to her cheeks that frustration wins out and with a flustered start says. "I would not... No... You may have such... I... Hmph..." She looks away very just a little too quickly and instead of showing frustration and anger shows quite clearly more how nervous and flustered she is.

For a very very brief Vincent doesn't react, apparently expecting someting else. He smiles a gentle smile at Orda. "I never said you would, mademoiselle".
His attention is quickly drawn by the zombies dragging in the body of the Large robed man.
Vincent listen casually to the questions and answers, his eyes focused on the large robed man lying on the floor. His mind wanders. "This is confusing" he whispers to himself.
He turns to Chicken Bone "Could they 'create' eyes to look human, to blend in for example?" he asks pointing at the corpse. "Do we know if they all look a bit alike under those robes? I never looked at their faces to be honest, I was too busy either dodging their blades or running from walking corpses with claws."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Chicken Bone shrugs. "Much may be done, with magic. But I have told you what little I know about these creatures."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Goren hears Lucien call him and he comes back in, clearly creeped out by all the undead watching him. He walks back in and stays near the door. "Oui Lucien, toi m'appellé.?"

"Yes, Goren," says Lucien without taking his eyes off Chicken Bone. "Please stay here. The information is important."

Chicken Bone shrugs. "Much may be done, with magic. But I have told you what little I know about these creatures."

"But," says Lucien with some coyness, "you suspect quite a bit, monsieur, yes? Please, share your thoughts. Together, we may learn the truth."

[Guzrath]

You must gather the three regalia of the Loah of Justice, she of the Insane Dream, and bring them to the statue at her old shrine. Cut her out of the Loah of Punishment, and save the Land. For even if you destroy the thing that stops the rain, L'Homme Broché could still murder Mama Souragne in his fury. He needs to be stopped, and only P'tite Soeur Renard can do it -- once her hands are free."[/color]

So how do we go about these things? Where do we need to be? What are those regalia? Vincent asks.

[Ail]

Zumba looks at Chicken Bone with a deadly serious face, eyes deeply set in. After Vincent's question, he says

"more important than that: where are these Regalia? How can we reach her?

I've never heard of this P'tite Soeur. Where is she? How can we even begin to help her?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"La P'tite Soeur and my Master," Chicken Bone says, "they were not friends. They respected each other's strength, but not each other's role in the universe. Justice is the dream of a madman; there is only the final truth of Death... But sadly, we need the power of La P'tite Soeur madness to end the current madness.

I do not know where her shrine is, because my Master never knew; she hid its location from him. Other Loah, ones she counted as friends, or at least as allies; they may know."

Chicken Bone seems to grow taller, more terrible, without moving a muscle.
"When La P'tite Soeur last went to sleep, her regalia were scattered. She is terrifying, all the people agree that this is so. She would lay low the high, raise up the low; chaos and destruction follow where she treads. Her followers tried to fight it, but they were overwhelmed and killed or driven off by the Voodan of many other Loah, who preferred peace of mind over her idea of Justice.

Most ancient of her regalia is the Mantle of Notre Mère des Brûmes, the ancient goddess of Souragne. When she left, or went to sleep, P'tite Soeur Renard took up the cloak of the goddess, to show that Justice was still there as a shield for the people.
Where the cloak was taken, I do not know. But I do know that on the shoulders of a Loah, it is a great and terrible symbol, that draws upon the mystery of the goddess whom outlanders now claim is Ezra and always was Ezra. Maybe she was, maybe she is, maybe they are wrong, but even to a mortal, the Mantle is... potent; no Loah may raise their hand against the bearer of the Mantle without facing some form of punishment.

The Eye of Nightmare is an orb, crafted from a tear of one of each of all the suffering, be they animal, mineral or vegetable, alive, dead or undead. P'tite Soeur Renard gathered the tears herself, and mixed them with the darkness and the light of night, turning it into an orb of stone. She then ripped out her own eye and put the Eye of Nightmare in the socket, so she would always see the truth in the hearts of others, and be able to judge them fairly.
Where the Eye was taken, I do not know. But I do know that it gives insight into the darkest places of a creature's essence, and it can bring terrible nightmares. Mortals can use it, but they must pave the way somehow, with potions and chemicals.

Finally, the Sword of the Insane Dream. This is also known as the Blade of Justice. Seeing with her Eye, protected by the Mantle, P'tite Soeur Renard found a place in the Land where there was a grave injustice, an imbalance worse than all others. She fought it and killed it so thoroughly that not even a name now remains of whatever it was. Her blood mingled with the blood of the Land and that of her nameless foe, and together they became a terrible metal. P'tite Soeur Renard forged that metal into a blade, and she wielded it against those who provoked her judgement since.
Whosoever holds the Sword of the Insane Dream and is righteous, has the power to kill. But they need the full knowledge granted by the Eye of Nightmare before they can exercize that power, and it is not for mortals. 'Whosoever judges is judged', is written on the blade, and it passes only one sentence, no matter the crime: Death.
I do know where the Sword is, and its keeper may tell you more of its true mistress. He is my Master's mortal shade in this world: Baron Anton Misroi."

Chicken Bone turns to Lucien, and he shakes his head.
"I do not think these creatures" - again, he kicks the twitching, shuddering body - "bother too much with hiding. All the ones who came falling out of that filthy device looked the same. Exactly the same. Not a one of them as strode out of here through the shadows had an eyeball. The eyes, they are the mirror to the soul, and these? I doubt they have more soul than they do eyes. They are foul. Even the mixed beasts have souls, I could sense them when they died. But this thing? Phaw! Somehow, there was more soul in the Zombi-beasts."

[steveflam]

Goren shrinks back slightly from Chicken Bone's transformation. For an old man, this one exudes quite a bit of power.

"Merci, Monsieur Chicken Bone. I having questions, if you voulez answering moi, monsieur. I, uh, I excuser moi attitude. I uh,
always programmed undead evil must kill, kill, kill."

He exhales and blushes, adding the color of his beard and hair. "I uh, moi wanting understanding. Loah is like a god? Yes?
Okay um, why is some of my spells not work here? This something because of Cloak, Orb and other item, yes? Will rain now? I, um, I
took vows, always, help people. Took vows with Lathander, Morninglord here I thinking he is. I excuse if offended you, monsieur. You commanding much respect, monsieur. Merci for answers."

He bows to Chicken Bone and awaits a reply.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"The gods stand high above and apart from mortals," Chicken Bone says, disdain evident in both his tone and expression. "What mortal mind could comprehend them? What fool has the arrogance to claim that they can?

The Loah stand between the mortal and the gods. Higher than the mortals, lower than the divine, they are the intermediaries, the ones who can understand both spheres of being. Greatest among them is the Lord of the Dead. Your vow against the undead is dust in the dark wind of his passing; in the end, all life falls to my Master, and it is at his bidding that they move again, to serve his goals. Learn wisdom and change your ways; prepare for what is inevitable."

The old man calms down a little.
"I do not know what is stopping the magic that brings water. It is not a different kind of magic. There is some other force at work, something that is... new."

[Ail]

Zumba shudders at the mention of the Lord of the Dead's name. He did not know it before, but the implication in Chicken Bone's message was clear. They would have to brave the swamp, enter the plantation hell of his youth and dare the most inner recess of it, where all the legends say the Lord of the Dead has his abode.

Recovering from the grimness that suddenly entered his soul, Zumba lowers his head and says:

"I will search for the Maiden, then. She might know something. Or Burundir." Then he looks into the eyes of his companions and asks

"Would you come with me?"

For the moment, he wants to delay the search for Misroi as much as possible. The very name of the Lord of the Dead is an anathema to his ingrained Souragnien superstition. But he knows he will have to confront him in the end. The Loah depends on that, and so does the life of Souragne.

He also asks later, as if thinking aloud, directing at the rest of his group.

"Do you think the Mantle might be in the Church at Port d'Elhour? Do you think the priests of Ezra might know of it?"

[A G Thing]

Orda cannot focus easily at the moment at all, as the back and forth going on between this man Chicken Bone and these men she will be joining has become somewhat tense. It seems there was a lot of tension between them and she is doing her best not to let her own tension with him out as she stays around the foul man.

She also is not comfortable with working with someone who controls the dead and if the stakes were not by what she has heard so high she might not now. Still she is staying silent as it seems that there might be a greater good to be served by doing such and it could be a good fight. But the tension in the room makes her wonder if one of them might say something that might set them at each other. The others seem to be taking their dealings with just as much conflict but they also seem to be holding it in with less success.

Goren seems to be shaken but dealing, Vincent seems calm but almost amused by it all, Zumba however looks to be shifting between states that even she is wondering what is wrong with him. All the while Lucien seems to be in control of the situation best and trying to keep them focused, yet he also seems to be somewhat amused. Still none of it makes great sense to her but she is sure that if they do work together they might be able to talk more plainly of it later.

Still she has no insight to ask about these items or strange spirits that keep getting asked about or how to help in finding them until they were out in the world again. Still glancing at the eyeless corpse, she cannot stop herself after the other questions are asked of Chicken Bone, from asking aloud of all of them...

"Well they are foul. But a blade can kill them right?" She says this rather flatly while looking at the eyeless corpse, having calmed herself and waits patiently for a reply.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien is also greatly unsettled by the change in Chicken Bone's appearance, but that doesn't compare to his unease at the information that the old yet powerful man imparts. Before his travel to Souragne, his employers gave him as much information as they had about the land; the name "Misroi" appeared once, and only once, but Lucien had read enough to know it was a name to be feared like none other.

The only thing tempering his anxiety is Chicken Bone's description of the items that they must acquire.

He looks at Zumba steadfastly and says, "Yes, Zumba, I will accompany you. I came here to help remove the blight that has consumed Souragne. If this is our best option to succeed... so be it."

The brown-haired half-elf turns his bright gaze back to Chicken Bone. "Thank you." He swallows slightly before continuing, "Now. The boon that you discussed. Is there some sort of protection that you can provide us during the quest?"