<div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Merged my last post with this one to make it flow better... and because I hate stubs  <img alt=":P" src="./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif" title="Razz"/><br/><br/>EDIT: Also revised banner names to match the Knowledge check results.</div></div></div><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Laebras wrote:</cite>" Thanks for letting me out. I know I couldn't have... if you'd been fighting for real."</div></blockquote><br/>"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Brady replied with a gentle laugh. "You're a heck of a fighter when you put your mind to it. I think even my giant form would've had trouble keeping you down. But I'll be glad to give it another try sometime." She returned Laebras's forehead kiss with a soft peck to the tiefling's chin, then clambered back onto her feet with the aid of a nearby barrel.<br/><br/>"Alright," she said. "I'm ready. First one to nab a succubus gets a free tummy rub!"<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~Easy, Brady,~</span>Crew cautioned.<span style="font-style: italic">~We haven't actually finished planning our attack yet, and I don't think we can play this one by ear like we did with the last fight. We should at least listen to what Laebras has to say before we go charging in.~</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~I guess you're right,~</span>Brady admitted sheepishly. Settling in against the barrel, she turned her attention over to the tiefling, nodding at intervals.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Laebras wrote:</cite>"She let slip that the ritual required willing participants... we should be prepared for the possibility the people we're here to rescue might resist our attempts to do so."</div></blockquote><br/>"It's possible," Brady acknowledged. "I don't know about charm spells, but psionic mind control tends to break down when the controller gives self-destructive commands. There are some advanced techniques that can work around those limitations, but I doubt anyone short of a greater succubus would have access to that kind of magic..." she hesitated, shuddering - not entirely from horror - at the thought of facing one of the powerful she-demons. "At any rate, I have a few non-lethal options to disable the prisoners, if it comes to that."<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Checking to see what Brady knows about succubus charms...<br/>Know (esoteric): 1d20 (8) + 12 = 20</div></div></div><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Laebras wrote:</cite>"I might as well go first - I'm used to being a meat-shield."</div></blockquote><br/>"Then I'll take the middle," Brady replied. "Most of my powers are strictly 'frontline', but I'll need a second to get them up. I'm counting on you to buy me the time, okay?" Falling into place behind Laebras and Teran, she drew her crossbow - just in case - and waited for her comrades to give the all clear before slipping through the doorway after them.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~Nice decor,~</span>Crew commented. The psicrystal's facets glimmered with fascination as he peered out of Brady's pocket at the banner-laden stone walls.<span style="font-style: italic">~This place must have quite the history.~</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~Tell me about it,~</span>Brady replied.<span style="font-style: italic">~These banners are practically a who's who of Midovan royalty. This one...~</span>She paused in front of a crimson banner, its colors faded with age but brilliant in her mind's eye. "Holy cow," she whispered. "Austrona, the Heart of the World - this empire almost singlehandedly defined Midovan culture! And this one..." she bounded past Teran to a tattered blue wall hanging depicting a silver tree. "This is the personal crest of Highlady Corvida, wizard queen of the Artojin! I've only read about this kind of heraldry in peerage books... And this one..." Brady continued to prance from banner to banner, her excitement growing by the minute as she announced each new find to her comrades. After a dozen or more, she finally stopped for breath, panting and giddy with excitement.<br/><br/>"Guys," she said, "this place... this place is<span style="font-style: italic">ancient.</span>Judging by these banners, I'd say it's at least two thousand years old, and probably in active worship for most of that time. Can you imagine what this temple must have been like, back when it was alive? The noble houses of Midova, joined together in worship of Mylaera as they beseech the goddess for peace and prosperity..."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~And power,~</span>Crew chimed.<span style="font-style: italic">~The accumulated psychic energy of a temple this old has got to be massive. I'll bet there's enough residual energy in these walls to work some powerful magic, even after all these centuries...~</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~Yeah,~</span>Brady replied quietly. She thought back to Gallen, and what the doomed catboy had said about the defiled statue:<span style="font-style: italic">Too much positive energy... needed to 'foul up the place'.</span>It had been bad enough when it was just the altar, but if the ritual went off, and corrupted the entire temple... Brady shuddered in revulsion, pushing the though from her mind. They'd stop the ritual. For the sake of Midova, they<span style="font-style: italic">had</span>to.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Knowledge (nobility): 1d20 (15) + 12 = 27 to recognize the various banners. (Names are made up off the top of my head - I'll edit later if necessary.</div></div></div>