"We are indeed a Faction, one of Sigil's great political organizations, although the origins of the Harmonium lie many planes away. Comparing any Faction to a religion on the Planes is not in appropriate, for it is belief that shapes the planes, and the Factions are bound together by shared, powerful beliefs for better or for worse. The Harmonium's belief is that peace and unity are the most important goals in life, so we are willing to fight for them. There are many diverse religious beliefs amongst our people, although all of them follow the credo of law and order. I would gladly speak with you at length about our cause, but time is of the essence, so I will use another method to teach you more, although I must apologize, as I am not asking permission."<br/><br/>With that, Bao reaches out and grabs Marcus by the temples, just under each of his horns.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Marcus</div><div class="spoiler_body">Marcus immediately senses that he and Bao have been connected mentally. Bao shows Marcus Orthos, the home of the Harmonium a world once at war, until a band of adventures took it upon themselves to bring everlasting Peace to the plane, and amazingly succeeded. The Harmonium now rules the entire plane, and dwarves, humans, and beholders live in peace upon it. Bao shows he that the Harmonium will do whatever it takes to preserve the peace. They certainly wish that everyone can share in their lawful utopia, but some people do not wish to obey the laws, which requires the meeting out of punishment to discourage further non-peaceful activities. Extreme acts may require executions, which is regrettable, but necessary. Indeed, it was the Harmonium's willingness to do what it takes to achieve peace that led them off of Orthos in the first place. In order to ensure everlasting peace on their home world, they are more than willing to attempt the impossible task of bringing peace to all the metaphysical worlds of the afterlife. Besides, they said it would be impossible to bring peace to all of Orthos, did they not? <br/><br/>Marcus sees that conformity isn't the goal of the Harmonium, although individual members make advocate for it. Rather, unity is the most important in the cause of peace. Often that unity requires obedience to superiors, but it also requires solidarity for other aspects of the Harmonium. The lowest ranked member, known as namers in most factions, are called Notaries. They learn the philosophy of the Harmonium, and act as a police force within the City of Sigil. The middle ranks (factotums for the other factions) are called Movers who act a local officers. Above them are the Measures, the Harmonium name for factors, who are all powerful and all act as upper administration for the powerful interplaner organization. The head of the whole Harmonium is known of the people of the planes as the factol, although the factol is given the title of Composer within the Faction. The current Composer is Factol Sarin, a paladin, who reports only to the lords of Orthos themselves. Marcus can sense that Bao, who is mighty powerful himself, and holds the ranks of Measure Three, is unsure what to think of Sarin. The Paladin has been effective in his tenure, but his alignment comes with a certain degree of naivety in what to do with people who don't fit in. Sarin gets the job done though, and he is better at playing the political game than any other Paladin Bao has seen. <br/><br/>While the Harmonium is about 500 years old is the time of the material planes, Marcus can sense that Bao is even older by several factors of time. Through the connection, he glimpses a brief look at the lich's homeworld, a planet called Eox. It is another world at peace, but it is the peace of death. While Marcus can feel the evil within the undead frame that holds him in place, he also feels regret, and if not the desire for redemption, the desire to avoid seeing a single world burn ever again... <br/><br/>Then the connection breaks. </div></div><br/><br/>The strange lich holds the minotaur's head for only a second before releasing it and continuing on. He seems unperturbed by the fact that your little group was thrown together by circumstance.<br/><br/>"The Harmonium is well aware that the steel forged in fire is often the strongest, and that the peace forged against a common foe often lasts the longest. I would judge you by your capabilities, not by your circumstances. Let us depart then. It will take a bit of time to access the portal we need, depending on the mood of the Domain's Mistress."<br/><br/>Bao dons a red robe, leads you out of the tower, conjures a flying spell, and bids you to follow him closely. He descends into the depths of the Caldera, as dragons wing past you in the air. While your gaze may be distracted by the majestic flying creatures, Bao pays no mind to them as they pass. Eventually you see the core of the glowing volcano. Bao directs you into a large, dark cave where you wait for nearly an hour while the lich argues with a green dragon in some obscure tongue. Eventually, the lich seems to have gotten what he wanted, or a least you think so as his "eyes" glow coolly in the dark in a satisfied manner. After waiting even longer, you are lead to another chamber, so massive that none of can see the walls on the other side, although you are sure it is there. It is impossibly dark in this chamber, and you can see nothing but the four of you and Bao.<br/><br/>"Do not allow yourself to be intimidated," whispers the lich, "while she is undoubtably powerful, and at the seat of her power, we do have an accord with her, and while she could surely defeat all of us with a thought, she has no reason to do anything other than test us. I would advise, however, that you keep your mouths shut and let me do the talking."<br/><br/>Raising his voice, Bao announces, "The Harmonium hails you, Queen of All Dragons, Mistress of the Infinite Hoard. We request your permission to activate our portal to the Harmonious demi-plane for the transit of four mortals, bound to assist forces in Pandemonium. Do we have your blessing?"<br/><br/>A voice, deeper and more menacing than any you have ever heard rings back. Despite your diverse backgrounds, you each hear it spoken in your native tongue.<br/><br/>"Do you still follow that Paladin who makes a mockery of my influences in Sigil? He claims he wants unity amongst everyone, but what he truly should be seeking is tyranny! The imposition of his will over all those who oppose him. He could then have his peace, and be bold enough to have everything else in the multiverse too."<br/><br/>"My lady," Bao replies, "Sarin is still my factol and the great Composer of our Harmonious Song. While I agree with you that his disposition may weaken the efficiency of our cause, I can think of no one one claiming that Composer Sarin is lenient. He takes a tough stance on anarchy and crime, and frankly, he doesn't want the perks of world domination. He is utterly devoted to our cause of peace and he is my factol. Whatever our differences, I owe him my allegiance. If you wish to make your case as towards our cause, we have a few of your priest amongst our numbers, and you are more than welcome to send some more so that we can have a proper debate with them."<br/><br/>There is a long pause, uncomfortably long, then a deep, deep laugher, more like a roar of some primal beast, emanates from the shadows, as light breaks its way back into the chamber, revealing its occupants.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/1e/15_thequeen.jpg)<br/><br/>You stand before Tiamet, the Queen of Evil Dragons.</div></div><br/>"I have yet to tire of the interesting ways you defend your allegiance Bao. You could rise to great ranks as part of my lay priesthood. You may of course use the portal as per our agreement, but I do what you to consider my offer carefully."<br/><br/>"Thank you my Lady," says the lich with a bow as he signals you to do the same. "I shall think on your words and treat them preciously, for I know your accolades are rarely given. We would now take our leave of you.<br/><br/>You respectfully exit the chamber, then walk back the way you came, although now the cave is lit with a light from an unseen source.<br/><br/>"We have access to a demi-plane that has a very unique trait of being able to establish portals to other planes," explains Bao. "Very, very rare, and even more powerful. We've used them to help move resources and personal throughout the planes at high speed, but there are often caveats to using it, the result of some sort of fate magic. To link it into a Power's domain, we have to get permission from the Goddess or God the Domain belongs to to set it up. In this case.  Tiamet took it one step further. She wanted to be able to monitor when we used it, so she insisted that her permission be made the portal key. She's never denied us to date though, so it works out. I will come with you into the demiplane, but after than you'll only have the staff of the Pandemonium outpost to rely upon."<br/><br/>As you return to where you landed in the cave, you see the portal blossom open in front of you. Stepping through, you enter a village square, suspended in a silvery void. A dozen empty arches ring the square and Bao leads you to one nearby.<br/><br/>He concentrates for a second, and the portal opens with a gust of wind.<br/><br/>"Good luck. Do your best to bring the expedition back alive, their work is important to ensuring the coming peace. Try not to die."<br/><br/>And then you are off again, stepping through the fabric of the universe, leaving the Harmonium town behind and stepping out in another dark cavern. This could not be more different than the caves of Tiamet's domain though. There was always the sense of control<br/><br/>"Deputies! Excellent Bao has sent reinforcements!"<br/><br/>You whirl around to see a creature that most have only heard of in fables and nightmares. A floating mouth with a single central eye and eight tentacles through which it can see and project its magic.<br/><br/>A Beholder.<br/><br/>(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/7/7d/Beholder1a.jpg)<br/><br/>"I am The Eye in the Darkness, Mover One of the Harmonium. I am certain that you have many questions, which I will brief you on, if you please step inside."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OCC</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Ebb:</strong> I wasn't sure if Marcus was saying he wished to join the Harmonium cause or if he just wanted more information, so I went with the latter as Bao's interpretation. If you wish to, just say the word.<br/><br/><strong>Everyone</strong>: Just a reminder, since it hasn't really come up, that joining a Faction or a Sect does come with certain benefits, both mechanically and socially. As an example, namers of the Harmonium gain the power to use Charm Person 1/day (Marcus knows that if he were to accept the Harmonium into his heart, Bao's infodump is enough for him to gain this ability), while namers of the Free League are naturally resistant to charms and enchantments. I'm also moving us along since I haven't heard any objections, so I'm assuming that means we are happy to keep plugging away, as well as for the next sentences I'm going to post.<br/><br/><strong>For finding a potential way out of Hell, everyone gains 300 EXP. For actually escaping Baator, everyone gains another 700 EXP, which means its time to level up to level 4. <br/><br/>The combination of escaping Hell and encountering Tiamet while doing so counts as a Mythic Trial, allowing everyone to select their first Mythic Tier!<br/><br/></strong>Please post updates in the OCC thread.  </div></div>