Lamia Legacy Quest: A Western

Thread LXXI:
Net cut out a couple times, but I've already put this off too long, lets have a good one.

Archive: suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Lamia Legacy Quest
Twitter: twitter.com/LamiaLegacy
Opening Theme: youtube.com/watch?v=RCQmQwKEEOM
Story Thus Far: pastebin.com/0Dyefvax
Season: Late Winter

Money: 975
New Backpack - (Sealed)
Kozak Bladesx2
Repeater - Unupgraded

Sasha: Skill list
Ranching +4
Scholar +3
Marsksmanship +5
Natural Ability (Lamia) +3
Intrigue +4
Casting (Draconic+4 Roc+2 Leviathan+3 Troll+1 Elemental+1)
Falconry +1

"What do you mean it points down?" You ask, slithering towards Veles.

"I mean what I said from what I can sense, the trail linking the two gateways. Faintest hints of their magic. It points down." He says, pointing on an angle deeper into the earth, extending a claw for emphasis. "Where they have escaped too I cannot say, but I believe it to be down and sideways from here."

You look at the older lamia pointing towards the left wall of the chamber you are in angled at what looks to be halfway between the wall and the floor and then over to the Schola magos who should know about these sort of things. All he can offer is a shrug as he notices you. "Phoenix Empire blood rituals are outside anything the Nitor has had access to. I'd say well outside, but there were incidents, but those were traps. Not this gateway stuff. I'd kill to study it, only I'm not allowed to, kill that is. You'd have to for this sort of magic. Repugnant."

>Inspect the room, it may offer a clue as to what's going on. (Give me a 1d20 roll)
>Question Veles
>The kingfisher, or whoever it is will keep. Do something else.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>inspect room

>my first nat 20 in this quest
>first roll of the day
>mfw

Chem?

>20

You scan the room, looking for something that might give a hint as to... well anything really. On the left you can see the schola nitor members combing through the myraid of devises and papers on the shelves lining the side veles is pointing at. Along the other you can see the line of dust marking where something massive was moved towards the portal.

Its the dust that catches your attention. They may have been here a few months, but the dust seems rather thick. Moving over to the outline, you trace a finger through the dust, rubbing it between thumb and forefinger until you realize what it really is. "Veles." You call out to him. "Blood isn't the only substance you can use as a catalyst. Is it?"

"Well no, not exactly. Its probably the most potent. I never had much time to tinker with anything else. Prefer metallic conduits myself." He says, producing his blade as an example.

"What about entire bodies?" You say, as you flick the ash, not dust, from your fingers.

"I... suppose. Why?"

You gesture to the ash outline and the two piles of 'dust' on either side. "I whatever you were powering here used entire bodies."

"But they were using blood, we saw that." Veles, says hurrying over to you along with the magos.

"Stand back a minute." The man says as he casts some sort of incantation on one of the dust piles, causing it to flutter. Covering your faces, Veles and you look over to the magos who half coughs and retches following his incantation. "Yes... Yes these are incinerated human remains." The magos looks over to you. "Sorry."

>I wouldn't have put it past them.
>Doesn't make sense, if they were bleeding Zhou's people. Not to mention dumping the bodies.
>Other?

>It doesn't make sense. . .

You back away from the fluttering ash with Veles, noting the muttered complaints from the schola staff about their leader causing a dust storm and not bothering to correct them. The less they know.

Waiting as the 'dust' settles, you eventually hazard opening your mouth. "It doesn't make sense."

The ash covered magos looks over to you and Veles. "What makes you figure that?" He says, brushing the remains off his coat.

"They were bleeding Zhou's people. Using that as their fuel. How many people does it take to make that much ash?"

"More than I'd care to count." The magos admits.

"Plus, I saw them dumping bodies, reported it to Keel and everything. Why dump them if they use them this way?"

You look at the magos in silence as Veles copies your earlier investigation of the ash before picking up a handful and sifting through it.

"Need." He says after a time.

"Pardon?" The Magos says, looking to you for an explanation you don't have.

"Look how the ash scatters, even now with very little to disturb it." Veles says pointing to piles, diminishing and scattering at the merest waft of a passing . "They've been rendered so fine so as to be thought of as dust. And not a trace of life to the remains."

"And that means... what exactly?" You ask.

"The dead here were harvested. Not used as a catalyst to fuel someone elses magic, but as the power itself. A great amount of power for a very short time. Probably shortly after we broke into their rear. Probably still while they were alive."

>Who'd they harvest? McCain got everyone out I thought.
>How'd they do it?
>Keel needs to know about this immediately.
>Other?

>How'd they do it, and for what? The portal?

"How'd they do it, and for what? The portal?"

Veles frowns, "The portal, yes. It was probably activated shortly after we made our entrance," He says, tilting his head towards the general direction of the opening you burned into the back of the cave. "As for the how? I couldn't possibly say."

"I can probably help there." a schola nitor member standing near the line of tables says before glaring at the magos behind you. "Oh piss off Val, you've got your disciplines, I've got mine."

You turn to look at the magos who has his face set in a curious form of neutral-anger you can't quite place. "As you wish Horatio. If you don't mind me, I'll be investigating the portal." He walks a short distance and makes a great show of peering at the lines

Shaking his head the other nitor holds out a grease covered hand. "Horatio Vanderbilt. Chief artificier for this little expedition, and the southern continent for that matter. Oh apologies." He says hastily rubbing his hands on a handkerchief before offering it to you again.

"Sasha Masterson." You say, taking the offered hand and giving it a quick shake.

"Anyway, thaumic energy resonators. Or something to that effect probably. We've been trying to work on something similar for ley lines for a while now, but we've only managed to gather energy at intersections. Useful, but highly limited on geography. With the ley lines you can use a charged lodestone tempered at the location to act as an energy gathering device. Particularly strong at intersecting leylines. We put most of our schola outposts at such crossings for just that reason." A cough from the Magos at the wall. "Oh bugger off, its not like its a secret Val. As for how the pheen's did it? Draining the life from something is a known but forbidden sorcery, but like all energy theft it doesn't last long without a place to store it. No idea what they are using as such a repository. Probably whatever left the outline. Also prolly why they tossed it through the portal. Couldn't let us find it out." He says in veritable torrent of speech.

>?