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Warhammer Fantasy: Thirteen Tolls - An Apocalypse Quest

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[X] Something significant.
guilt weighs heavy upon the soul. it must be worth it, and knowledge that is not shared is worthless.
 
Graf Tzarogy said:
And then you know what to do – an old ritual in and older book, an example from an older acolyte of what never to do.
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"Now look Xenophon, there's a lot of ways you can screw up trying to bring peace to the deceased. Take a look at this ritual. It's blasphemy is what it is. Never, ever- are you listening to me boy?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening. Never, ever, do this. Yes, I understand. I'm not going to seal any ghosts in my holy book, you can rest at ease sir."

[X] Something.
 
Graf Tzarogy said:
A dead dwarf floats above an endless pit, split in twain – the innocent beginning, and the bitter end. It screeches at you. You act, holding your blade as a barrier in front of you. Yanking out the Songs of the Raven from your bag, shouting "FIAT MORS!" – let there be death. The specters quivers at that, joins together for a moment, splits apart, the child now as wounded and disgusting as its elder. They rise up to the ceiling, screaming "UZKUUUUL!!!!" and clap their hands as one. The walls shake, and a thousand petrified hands rise out, grabbing at your skin, your clothes, your hair.
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Uzkul is Khazalid for "Death". The soul recognized what we said.
Graf Tzarogy said:
The door creaks open behind you. A winded Kakram peers through it, with the Slayer. The words form in your mind "All's well?". You think if you told him what you'd done, he'd strike you where you stand. Your sword vibrates slightly, as if to agree. You notice that all the hands have melted back into the stone, and bar the known hole, the phantasm has for all intents and purposes, vanished. So you nobly lie - "Just Morrite practice – forgive me."
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Considering what we're about to see? Maybe they would, maybe they'd just sit back and laugh.
Graf Tzarogy said:
The page flips of its own accord. An illustration is drawn with your blood as its ink, painting over the Songs of Morr. Two Sons stand above a prone Hadrin, along with two human men, one in the black robes of the Brotherhood of Moulder, one in the emotionless mask of the Cleansing Flame. They are petrified to their waists, but have twisted their bottom-haves into long, serpentine forms like Fafnir Fogfather, Grandmaster of their people. They are in a bedroom – there is no pit. One of the Dwarves affixes a tiny silver cage to the ceiling, engraved with what looks like Nehekaran hieroglyphs. The Flame man surrounds Hadrin with a circle of crystals which look exactly the same as the ones Floridus used in his ritual. The Sons stand before their victim, and chant something, silent on the page. The crystals glow, and Hadrin's body rises up. Then a Son begins to savage it with some sort of bone knife, tearing out his eyes, scratching "MALOK" with furious, wild blows into the Dwarf's chest. As he does, the Moulder begins to incant a spell, holding book and bell, the Dwarf beside him with candle.. You recognize it, for you just cast a version – the Animus Imprisoned. The candle's snuffed. The soul rises from the body – bleeding, with MALOK carved into it too. It flickers, and is sucked into the cage. The hieroglyphs glow, and you see all there cover their ears. The cage begins to grow within wicked black crystal spikes, and you see the soul be punctured once, twice, a dozen times. It's writing in pain, so much so that the ceiling of the whole room is shakes. But perhaps it's not Hadrin. A hole begins to open up in the floor. One Dwarf nudges the other, as if they've been expecting this. They both draw blades with runes with such potent anti-magic they actually tear the page, rips forming wherever they swing them. The man from the Cleansing Flame waves his hands, and above and between the body and the crystals, a shining silver net. Then - a tower of blue flame – not of blood, but literal fire – erupts from the book. You stumble back. The holy text of Morr crumbles into ash – you see the soul inside let out a final screech, and be incinerated into nothing.
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The ones Floridus used are basically Skyrim Soul Gems, things to hold a slain soul in. Something confirmed by the use of Animus Imprisoned, and the silver net when the crystal started breaking down. Hadrin died, then the mages attempted to use his soul for the experiment of feeding Dwarf souls to the Ruin God and the Princeps. The Dwarfs we see with the anti-magic swords are not specified as the Sons, so I think this is something similar to what we interrupted: The Priests of Gazul are intervening all over the two cities where ever the Sons of Malok are attempting to profane Gazul's work.
Graf Tzarogy said:
FURY is what the fireball imprints into your head. Rage, so deep and profound it is beyond words. It sets your bones alight – you feel a desperate panic in your chest, but you should – won't- can't- move. You feel judged, and under the headman's axe, powerless.

But you aren't smitten. It swings around wildly, floating around the room. It doesn't seem to sense you. Your sword vibrates in your hand, and you get the sense of a smirk. At once, it with a whoomph disappears back into the hole.
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Good news: Ruin God didn't get this soul, and it doesn't sound like it has a claim. Gazul just grabbed Hadrin's soul, started swiping around to see who put him in a book, and decided to let the stupid human live because we know we fucked up.
Talon TigerDino said:
So we've learned that Malok has people in multiple places, at the low cost of painful heresy.
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Malok isn't a person, and it's not a Chaos God. It's a Word. Malice.

As far as how much to say... This is going to come out. Gazul is going to tell his priests, or they'll figure it out. Think about how Kakram will look back on what we did, both now and in the future, when he finds out.
 
Always Late said:
Uzkul is Khazalid for "Death". The soul recognized what we said.

Considering what we're about to see? Maybe they would, maybe they'd just sit back and laugh.

The ones Floridus used are basically Skyrim Soul Gems, things to hold a slain soul in. Something confirmed by the use of Animus Imprisoned, and the silver net when the crystal started breaking down. Hadrin died, then the mages attempted to use his soul for the experiment of feeding Dwarf souls to the Ruin God and the Princeps. The Dwarfs we see with the anti-magic swords are not specified as the Sons, so I think this is something similar to what we interrupted: The Priests of Gazul are intervening all over the two cities where ever the Sons of Malok are attempting to profane Gazul's work.

Good news: Ruin God didn't get this soul, and it doesn't sound like it has a claim. Gazul just grabbed Hadrin's soul, started swiping around to see who put him in a book, and decided to let the stupid human live because we know we fucked up.

Malok isn't a person, and it's not a Chaos God. It's a Word. Malice.

As far as how much to say... This is going to come out. Gazul is going to tell his priests, or they'll figure it out. Think about how Kakram will look back on what we did, both now and in the future, when he finds out.
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Gazul knows something happen. Whether he *let* us off the hook this time or just decided it wasnt worth swinging around blindly hoping he hits us when clearly he cannot see who was screwing around, we cant say. I kinda wish Morr would give us the thumbs up or thumbs down or at least say "I trust how your gonna handle this and I got your back". But gods will be gods I guess.
 
[] Something.
What you could describe of the two MALOK men, and the complicity of the Lodge and the Flame. Valuable info, but very much partial.

[X] Something significant.
The description, and that you sensed a blasphemous ritual against the God(s) of Death. As much info as you can, without outing yourself for your own heresy. A bit suspicious – why'd you know about that sort of thing?

Do or die.
we are not the only one on the block. Share all we can.
 
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Once the Apocalipse is averted I imagine Xen and Gazgulites will have a conversation.
It will start with Xen confesing they will kill him by the end of his confesson.
And he will let them. for he accepted death and respects Gazul too much.
 
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Always Late said:
Good news: Ruin God didn't get this soul, and it doesn't sound like it has a claim. Gazul just grabbed Hadrin's soul, started swiping around to see who put him in a book, and decided to let the stupid human live because we know we fucked up.
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From "it doesn't seem to sense you" I think He may have straight up not been able to detect us because of the Necoho Blade.
 
Given the mention of a magic circle, I thought the action was more for binding the ghost in place for a bit and talking to them. Not this, which was with all checks successful at that. Seems more than 'a little' heretical.
 
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Graf Tzarogy said:
Just to clarify, those dwarfs with the blades were the same Sons as prior. But I very much appreciate the broader analysis.
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... Huh. So the magic-using Sons were using anti-magic Runed Longswords because... Huh. Unless this was them canceling the experiment and putting his soul back, I'm genuinely not sure what the plan was.
reignonyrparade said:
From "it doesn't seem to sense you" I think He may have straight up not been able to detect us because of the Necoho Blade.
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Right, right, right. I forgot because I couldn't straighten out in my head what info I had on the old guy was actual old lore and what's 4chan memes. But Necoho's expression is a "ironic amusement" at the double-standard of his existence.

And he just pulled one over on an actual Order God.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
I thought it was an organization.
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MALOK is both that word and the attested group behind the bombing and this murder, though if it actually exists as an independent organization or as a cover is pretty unclear.
Jastolus said:
Seems more than 'a little' heretical
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Fair. A circle is what I forethought when giving the option, but realized when writing was actually quite impractical to manage when Xenophon was under attack. For heresy and its potential consequences - mind the sword.
 
[X] Something significant

A big part of the canon poem is that there's a loss of trust between humans and dwarfs. Let's extend some trust.
 
Graf Tzarogy said:
Fair. A circle is what I forethought when giving the option, but realized when writing was actually quite impractical to manage when Xenophon was under attack. For heresy and its potential consequences - mind the sword.
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Mind the sword in the sense that we've already picked it so whether the action had us do a little or a lot of heresy won't 'condemn' us any more in the eyes of Morr, or in the sense that it made our actions invisible to him just as it made us invisible to godly retribution this chapter?
Either way, the external consequences are a seperate matter from the internal consequences for the character.
 
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