PC Central - Homecoming: Kith and Kin
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Intrigued by the letter received by the Ashald noble, Vernadetta would wait for the right time to visit the Ashald residence. Already wary about this family's shady dealings, she could not help but think that it all might be a setup to take advantage of her frontloaded honesty and goodwill in one way or another. She'd need to bring with her those who knew more about dealing with these people.
And yet, a part of her wanted to believe that the admiration of this noble was genuine, and the idea of participating in a martial exhibition was all too appealing to her. It had been years since she participated in something that might have been somewhat similar, back in Saerloon, as one of the monastery's customary thrills that she grew with; who was her to turn down such a tempting invitation?
Once more pressing issues cleared out, she'd remind those close to her about the possibility of exploring this venue in an attempt to gain more insight on the dealings of each noble house regarding the Black Metal crisis.
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"Ah, Myrcella!~ Interesting findings, but before you hand that over, an acute update! The city's rife with doppelgangers - we've killed two by now, one an assassin we failed to stop from murdering a Kildarn boy who had spied its true face, the other none other than Kasimir's appointed Kingsguard... True Seeing will reveal the trickery although it must be said the false Kingsguard took close scrutiny even then. Tell number two, the cheaper way, is the colour of one's blood. Ours red, theirs black and icky-ichorous."
With this, Isolde promptly pricks Myrcella's fingertip, then her own as a show of good faith, apologetically smiling.
"All clear! I believe with all this shenanigans going on, Jonni's sanctum's the safest place for any sensitive findings. I've a key, so we can deliver it directly whether our Seer's home or not."
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The results of Myrcella's experimentation follow.
DETECT MAGIC: Myrcella detects faded, and fading, necromancy magic. She can tell it was once very powerful, but was spent the moment the arrow struck its target, some time ago. All that said, there still remains some necromancy magic on the arrow, just not as powerful as it once was.
THE ORC'S INJURY: Black veins spread from the pierced skin, emanating outwards. The orc's skin turns gray, his eyes gloss over, and his overall strength and vitality are drained. Myrcella's versed with knowledge of arcane, though, and she can tell the effects of the "faded necromancy" are that of a "level drain" spell.
So, while the arrow, initially enchanted, was designed to inflict "true death" - that magic is spent. The residual magic, which is unstable, and likely fading fast (the more it is used), is that of a level drain spell.
THE DEATHWARD: The deathward actually appears to work. The orc is not level drained. It is unclear whether this protective ward would work on the arrow as it was initially enchanted, without the true death magic having faded.
FINAL EXPERIMENT: The first orc did not die, but was level-drained. The second was not level drained. Myrcella attempts to inflict a wound, wait 10 seconds, then cast death ward. The orc is, once again, level drained. The death ward does NOT cure the level drain. At this point the arrow's magic is dwindling fast.
SECURE PLACE: Nate is, as usual, unavailable, but perhaps she can find Isolde who will store it properly, or any other members of the party.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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[OOC: Posting this for Gonnar, since his character Myrcella took the following actions, as described in Discord.]
Myrcella heads into the Bardic College in order to work quietly on the black arrow. After casting some protective spells just for safety (Deathward and lesser mindblank, as well as fox's cunning and owl's wisdom to empower her mental capacities) she places the arrow on the table and casts a detect magic spell, first of all, to try to tell if there's any more than just necromancy magic to it, and second to see if she can learn something from the enchantment cast upon the arrow. (Spellcraft +32, INT +6 , Wis +6). She scribbles the result of her findings and bags the arrow again, pointing downwards. She is tempted to cast a scrying spell, too, but decides against it, knowing that Jonni is far more versed in such things and he'd be less likely to be detected in the process as well as get better results.
After this small magical testing, she heads into the giantspire woods, only to enter the first cave, filled with the orc grunts. Without much emotion, she cast a hold spell on the first one she sees. Approaches it and takes the black arrow from her bag, piercing the orc's skin with it until it bleeds just a little. She then keeps quiet, examining which effects the black arrow wound has on the orc. (Heal +20). If she notices the orc dies, or the orc shows any other strange or unusual symptoms, she will scribble about it.
Then Myrcella tries to find yet another orc, and casts a hold person on it. She casts deathward on the orc, and then repeats the process as with the first orc. Keeping a close eye on both, effects, and time. Perhaps it won't stop the effects, but might slow them.
Lastly, should the first orc die to the black arrow wound, and the second not, she would still find a third orc and repeat the process, except this time she would cast deathward 10 seconds after the wound is made with the black arrow.
After the field experiment, she'd head back to the college and ask Nate or Isolde to put the arrow ina secure place
