|
I thought the trees were still trying to get me, sorry. Farewell Ser Dominik in that case.
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2016 02:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 14:12 |
|
|
Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 When I feel the imminent discharge upon setting my foot on the stairs, I immediately recoil and land awkwardly. I bear it with gritted teeth, but that's going to hurt when the adrenaline rush ends. "What is going on here?" I say, looking at the vortex above the temple.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2016 12:30
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, Invisibility, Magic Missile Watching Ser Dominik in his struggle, Ysolde has a minor twinge of conscience, but only a minor one. There's nothing she can reasonably do for him at this point, was there? Better to try and stay with the group, get to the heart of this. She hastens to join Odessa, Agarios, and Venner on the temple steps. "Thank you," she says to Odessa. "And I should --" She concentrates for a moment, trying to find the feeling of her prepared combat spell, but it seems to have slipped away from her mind in the heat of its first use. "... No, not right now. Just a moment." Ysolde didn't want to attempt to use her strange replica of her grandfather's ring until absolutely necessary, but being functionally unarmed as they approached the temple made it necessary, even if it would take its toll. She presses down on the stone, feeling it shift in its setting, and it sends a jolt of searing power into her hand and through her bones. She makes a half-startled cry of pain -- she'd expected it to hurt, but this badly? Nonetheless, she could feel magic flowing in her mind again. Wasteful of her strength, perhaps, but better to have her power against whatever's coming. Using a spell-recovery item use to get Magic Missile back. I suspect I'll need it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2016 13:08
|
|
|
Dom HP: 9/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA My vision clears as pain draws me back from the brink of unconsciousness just in time to see everyone fleeing without me. Wait! I want to yell, but all that comes out is a nasty wheeze. I... I should be happy that they're free, right? I should be. I manage to get my arms under me and puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush with all the strength I have left, ignoring the biting clawing harpy. The dried wood groans, but I can feel it starting to give way at last. Defy Danger STR, I just want to get out of here! 2d6+1 = 9!
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 08:27
|
|
|
Dominik, your pushup is enough to uproot the trees loosely holding you to the ground, and you are able to crawl past them while the Harpies disassemble your armor, trying to get to the meat inside. Once you get up on the other side of the treeline, though, they let you go, content with the shiny scales and afraid of what lies beyond. Your armor is in tatters and provides you no more benefit. You all meet again at the foot of the Temple steps, on the end of the first of the ten of them closest to your approach. Each step is chest high to the shorter of you, waist to the taller. Agerios, you know that if you so much as hover a leg over them, its hairs stand on end from the charge, which grows in intensity until you withdraw, at which point the charge is neutralized. If you extend your reach again the charge's intensity starts anew and increases at the same rate. Now that you have time to look, you see long upside down sentences in glyphs unfamiliar to all but you, Agerios, stretch across the tops of the first and second steps, the only ones you can see from where you stand. The first and second steps posted:Imagine that the keeper of a huge, strong beast notices what makes it angry, what it desires, how it has What do you do? slydingdoor fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Feb 20, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 19:22
|
|
|
Venner HP: 16/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 Venner takes advantage of the momentary respite to try and wipe the dirt off his clothes. He glances around at the others and offers them a slight, crooked smile. "Well, it seems the wizard and I got here just in time." The smile fades as Dominik approaches, "and it's nice to see you still with us, friend knight, even if you're looking rather worse for the wear." Venner quickly averts his gaze from Dominik. A look of what might almost be shame crosses his face, but quickly fades. Venner turns his attention to the stairs and Agieros. When the hoplite steps back, he holds his hand up in the air in warning and sharply sucks air through his teeth. "I hope it goes without saying, but no one touch those before I've had a look." Venner approaches the first set of glyphs and cautiously hovers his hand over them. He quickly pulls it back when he feels the charge building. Venner gets to work studying the trap. Trap Expert (Dex): 2d6+2 10 Hold 3: Is there a trap here and if so, what activates it? What does the trap do when activated? What else is hidden here? I'd like to spend a hold now on the steps
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 21:13
|
|
|
Venner, your prodding and experimentation yields the following: each of the two steps causes whatever is above them to be gather an electrical charge at a steady rate, which causes a lightning bolt to strike whatever is above it when that charge reaches its critical point. Each step has its own level of charge, which is neutralized between the ground and the first step, and between the first step and the second. The second step charges ever so slightly faster than the first, and there is an area on the far end of the first step where the charge ever so slightly decreases instead of increasing. Agerios, you identify this area as that between the bounds of the word "Imagine." Finally, there is a hidden footpath that goes around the stairs altogether, in the same direction as the new spiral sword that you, Dominik, detected. What do you do?
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 22:47
|
|
|
Venner HP: 16/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 trap expert: 2 holds Venner finishes examining the steps and stands up. He turns to face the group with a self-satisfied grin on his face. "Well, it's definitely dangerous. The bad news is I don't know if I could dismantle it." Venner gestures towards the glyphs, "or what any of that means, really. The good news is we might have a way around." He points out the hidden footpath to the others.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 01:10
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, Invisibility, Magic Missile "There's a way around? That's..." Ysolde stops herself before she says a shame. It was safer, yes, but it was interesting that there'd be such an elaborate system in place just as a danger, and a part of her very much wanted to figure out what it was and why it was there. And those glyphs! "Agerios," she says, "can you read that writing? What does it say? ... Was this all here when you were alive?" It's all she can do not to interrogate him, really -- but this is interesting! Neutral wizards: no sense of
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 02:01
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead Holy poo poo, Dom made it! I am both relieved, and, evidently, a callous coward who would leave a friend to die. I can't bring myself to apologize and draw attention to my shame. I hug him, and help clear away a few scraps of wrecked armor from around his knees. I'm wracking my mind trying to think of a clever way through this next gauntlet of lightning. The tallest buildings back home were all topped with beautiful iron sculptures, which served their first purpose as lightning rods. Is there something we do to lay our armor down and draw it away from us..? That's probably stupid, and I snap out of thought and back to worldly attention when I hear 'way around.' I say, "Brilliant! Yes, I think we ought to explore the deadly trap after all other options." I'll take point along the hidden footpath Venner pointed out, being mindful for any tingling sensations. While we're walking, I'll continue to ruminate about a way around the trap, and say, "If it's too big to dismantle, perhaps there's a way to fake it out? Redirect its energy to a decoy? Or maybe that foreign script includes some sort of riddle about how to pass."
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 07:18
|
|
|
Odessa, the hidden path leads you all around and slightly up the hill, then ends abruptly at a vista that overlooks the Pestilential Gulch. It'd be a steep fall back down to the dusty road where you first broke through the haunted trees from here. There is no spiral sword in sight. Ask three questions from Discern Realities as if you had rolled a 10+. What do you do?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 14:30
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead "You know, viewed with the right sort of detachment, this horrible place is almost... not 'beautiful,' exactly, but... evocative." Who's really in control here? What here is not what it appears to be? What here is useful or valuable to me?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 18:49
|
|
|
Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 "Evocative... I suppose so. Imagine what it must have been in its glory days. Shepherds resting under the trees. The smell of honey and wine in the air, youth playing in the river under the summer heat. Instead, there are only corpses under wilted branches, the smell of death and rot, and pestilence stains the waters." I sigh. To change my thoughts, I turn my attention back to the riddle on the steps. Can I remember any sort of myth or song that sounds familiar to these words? Spout lore: 9
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 20:45
|
|
|
Dom HP: 25/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 4/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA "Now, now, I'm alright," I say to Odessa, giving her a pat on the head. She runs off in the direction I can sense the second sword before I can do much besides straighten my tunic. A bit frustrated, I reach for my sinner's bracelet, and crush one bead between thumb and forefinger. A curl of ash rises from the inside, and the smell of it reminds me of the grand cathedrals from my home, where I felt safest. My wounds sting a bit less, all but the worst of them closing on their own. It itches, a bit. I follow the others down the side-path towards the vista. Does Dom still feel the sword is nearby?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 21:28
|
|
|
Agerios, you recall overhearing one higher caste commander quoting some text or lecture to rebuke another for being too unwilling to sacrifice their bronze blooded soldiers and too willing sharing with them the reasoning behind his orders:quote:Imagine that the keeper of a huge, strong beast notices what makes it angry, what it desires, how it has You can also see the other end of the Gulch from here. It gives way to a graveyard of sorts, with cairns, urns, sepulchers and other ancient grave markers. Beyond that is a river whose waters have gone still, a small pier, and a wall of mist blocking any farther view. Dominik, from the Vista your senses point you into the hill itself, and you two are able to find a cave entrance blocked by a circular stone door, open a crack. The tunnel beyond, leading ostensibly to the spiral sword, is torchlit. Near the other side of the door you see a rolled up rope ladder on the ground and hear low-pitched faint, rhythmic breathing. What do you do? Soul Bank 160
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 21:48
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, "That's... terribly difficult to imagine. You know, I've never actually tasted or smelt honey. I've just heard all the metaphors for it; honeyed words, et-cetera." I'll point out my observations from the vista to the others, if it seems like they haven't given it much thought. I'll say, "See how they're taking those scraps of armor? They're certainly not using it. Do you suppose they serve a master, or they stockpile it for another reason? If we had means to get up there - or, maybe, to upend whatever they're stashing their treasures in - they might have gathered stuff of value. "And those blackened craters; that suggests that whatever guides the force of lightning on the steps is not limited to the steps. And, perhaps, that it has intelligence to aim for living things. The harpies learned to fear it, clearly. But it hasn't struck us - yet, anyways. I wonder what exactly draws its attention." I pause for a moment, pondering. I say, "I'll ask." I'll walk down the hill a bit, to a blasted skeleton in its crater. If I am able to find a skull without being incinerated (in which case, we would learn something!) I'll kneel down in the black dirt, pick it up, and address the symbol in my burnt hand, "Alarai, I seek wisdom from the next place, please guide this soul back for an audience." Cast Spell: Speak wit Dead: 2d6+1 8 The spell is revoked When (if?) the spirit arrives back to its bones, I will greet it with a simple, "Hello," for I doubt that any departed soul will care to be introduced to a foreign mortal for such a brief exchange, so long after its passing, and neither will I insult his valuable time by laboring an apology for the interruption, and I want to give this group the impression that I am cool and know what I'm doing. My first question will be, "Who or what killed you?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 22:51
|
|
|
Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 I lower my head a bit when Odessa tells me she has never even smelled honey. "That is a shame. I wished I could say I would keep some for you next time I come across it, but this place clearly does not even allow the tiniest luxuries and pleasures in life to coexist with the depressing grimness. On that note," I speak, rubbing the carved belly on my armor, "are any of you getting hungry? I haven't eaten in forever, but I don't seem to need or even want food." I look at the skull Odessa picks up, and the charred corpses in the craters, and think to myself that perhaps my body is simply too revolted to even think about food in the circumstances.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 00:14
|
|
|
Odessa, back around the hill and down to the blasted land lies the skull. The spirit that returns to it is a young Harpy, who warbles answers to your questions. "A petty god-king on the other side of the misty wall. Shot out of the clouds, died, crashed, shot again!" They preen themselves and await your next two questions. Soul Bank 160
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 01:35
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, Invisibility, Magic Missile "I can't say I've been hungry," Isolde replies. "I've thought about food," she continues, glancing down at the tiny berry bush in its globe tied onto her belt, "but in a mostly... abstract way. That it would be nice, but..." She pauses. "There was that stew on the way here, though. Do you have any idea why there would be such a thing here, and in such quantity? The harpies certainly don't look like they can cook." "In any event," she says, "Odessa has some good points. This may not just be a trap. I wonder if she'll get anything useful out of that harpy -- good trick, that one."
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 02:51
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, To Agerios, I said, "Now that you mention it, no. I've had lean times before, but now that belly ache is absent." And, oh! It's a harpy! I try to hide my surprise. The skull looked human. That's eerie, eugh. And probably less useful than a dead human who knew the lore of the land could've been Hm... I feel that if Agerios's political leaders had been masters of lightning in his age, he would have mentioned that. I know it's a stretch that the harpy might know, but question two will be, "How did the king gain power over lightning?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 03:58
|
|
|
"The inventor, rawk! We brought him to our nest after the god-king broke his wings with the lightning rod he forced him to make. Now we bring him shiny things and he makes them into toys." Soul Bank 160
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 15:49
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Interesting! I look over my shoulder at the others. Are you hearing this? One more question, hm... it seems that (some of, at least) these beings are smarter than first impressions indicated. Are they naked, savage predators by incontrovertible nature, or just by circumstance? "What can I do to mark myself as a friend to your kind?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 16:14
|
|
|
"You smell like harpy blood... you'd have to pay for that, in Souls. Tithe if you have to. Then, approach the clamor in peace, show them something that smells like the inventor, and insist on presenting it to him in person. Can I go now?" Soul Bank 160
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 16:55
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, So they can be reasoned with! Lovely! I nod, and say, "Yes." And if she bothers to stick around for a moment longer, I'll add, "Thank you for your time, may you rest in peace." I set the skull back down, and look around the crater, wondering, should I bury it now? But, no. Nobody's got time for that. I walk back up the hill to the others, and ask, "Did you hear all of that?" Then fill them in if they hadn't. I'll add a few more cents and say, "That the lightning comes from a mechanism, and not from the magic of some storm-god, means we can almost certainly find a way to bypass it on the steps. I am doubtful that we can form a lasting friendship with the harpies, but I mislike our odds of fighting them off for the whole span of that horrid gulch, and I can think of no other way to reach their cloud nests than to be invited. We'd just need to find something probably shiny and complicated looking." But I'm looking perhaps too many steps ahead. "That 'stew,' by the way, is a giant armored beetle's partially-eaten remains - I haven't tried it. We have a torch-lit cave and something breathing loudly to contend with. Recent experiences suggest it's likely something horrible. Would somebody very quiet, or else somebody very heavily armed, care to please step in first?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 17:36
|
|
|
The cave entrance by the Vista remains sealed by the circular stone door. Its opening is not wide enough for any of you to squeeze through, and the door either is stuck or only closes this much to begin with. Soul Bank 160
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 18:06
|
|
|
Dom HP: 25/32 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 4/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA "I would like to find the spiral sword, horrible breathing notwithstanding," I say, after listening to all of this. "Consulting with the creator of the lightning device might be useful, but we don't have anything that 'smells' like him just yet, and the spiral swords seem to have strange powers of their own." I am feeling rather naked, bereft of my armor a second time. Recreating it would be lovely but I haven't any of the white souls with which to craft it yet. "Stand clear," I mutter, reaching for the edge of the door. This might not be the best idea but I didn't see anything to use as a lever, and I have to do something before Odessa runs off again. "Heave-ho!" DD, STR, pulling open this door with manly strength! 2d6+1 = 7.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
Dominik, you aren't strong enough to pull open the solid stone door with your bare hands, and your grunt causes the faint, rhythmic breathing to halt for a second, then snort, then return to its old pattern.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2016 21:34
|
|
|
Venner HP: 16/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 trap expert: 2 holds On the way up the hill, Venner replies to Odessa: "I'm in agreement; the best way to beat a trap is to not have to fool with it at all." Venner idly scratches his chin and looks up for a moment. "I suppose if there's no helping it I could see about finding a way through. I don't know about those signs though. They don't look like any language I know, but then I never was much for reading." Venner looks down, smiles and shrugs apologetically. His brow furrows when Agerios mentions food. "between shrieking bird-things and killer trees, I hadn't given much thought to eating, but since you mention it, I can't say I've had an urge to, well, since..." Venner trails off and touches his neck. At the top of the hill, Venner crouches down on his haunches. He pulls a whetstone out of his pocket and his knife out of its sheath and slowly sharpens it as the others work their magic and explore. He nods appreciatively when Odessa explains her conversation with the dead. Sounds like a rich haul, but does wealth matter to the dead?. "Good to hear about the steps; glad there's something to be done." Venner perks up when he sees Dominick working to open the door. He jumps up and saunters over. "Let me see if I can help you with that, friend knight." Venner puts his ear to the door and begins tapping with his finger, then the handle of his knife, looking for some sort of opening or lock. Tricks of the Trade: 2d6+2= 6
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 02:45
|
|
|
Venner, you find a crease that hides a pair of recessed handles, but when you try to operate them, they break. On closer inspection, they appear to have been sabotaged to make the door impossible for you to open through its intended mechanism. What do you all do? Soul Bank 170
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 04:03
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, Invisibility, Magic Missile Ysolde pauses as Odessa describes the true origin of the stew. "... oh. Not nice, but I've tried worse. Sometimes you try to cook some strange things when most of what you eat comes from a wizard tower's stores. Anyway..." There's a lot to take in right now -- the harpy's advice, the door, the breathing noises of its probable guardian -- but Ysolde's focus is still on the steps. "This is a mechanism, but is it all mechanical? Or is there magic underneath it? If there's magical power here, maybe I could... overload it a little, force the power to the surface, just long enough to have a look at what happens. If there are safe steps and dangerous steps, they're going to look different, and maybe we'll see the pattern." Ysolde closes her eyes, trying to focus on the ambient magic and figure out if the steps even are a place of power, let alone if her plan is feasible. Ritual magic can be unpredictable at the best of times... Trying to determine if the temple steps are enough of a place of power to maybe invoke the Ritual move to help reveal the function of the trap. No associated roll at this point.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 04:38
|
|
|
Ysolde, the ritual would put you and anyone nearby at great risk from as many steps as you try to break by tapping into their power, and you would necessarily have to activate each such step to do initiate the ritual. Agerios and Venner, together your firsthand experience with the trap revealed that the first step initially took a brief time of contact to activate and begin to build charge, but no longer has such a delay. What do you do? Soul Bank 170
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 05:10
|
|
|
Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 I am entirely stumped by this device. My first instinct with everything up to this point has been to bruteforce my way through, but these steps seem like something else entirely... "I can read the words on the steps but simply have no idea what to make of them," I say, and then: quote:Imagine that the keeper of a huge, strong beast notices what makes it angry, what it desires, how it has Nope. "Perhaps simply a red herring? Can any of you make sense of this?" I muse upon the words for a bit. "Perhaps being struck by lightning is "good"? Or simply necessary, even though we know it is not good?" I look back at the charred corpses in the craters. "Then again... Probably not. Anybody willing to, uh, test this hypothesis?" I start thinking about how the device works exactly. Is it activated by pressure? By mass above it? By mere contact with the steps? Are certain key words safe? If it was recently activated, does it have a cooling down or recharging time? Is it the same device that protects all the steps, or multiple of them? I approach the door Venner and Dominik are struggling with. "May I?" Pulling open this door with my manlier strength! It doesn't take a very long time. It doesn’t make an inordinate amount of noise. Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Feb 24, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 11:41
|
|
|
-Oops, quote is not edit.-
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 16:21
|
|
|
Agerios, you have to lay down your spear and use both hands to pull open the door, rotating it on its axis instead of rolling it. This crumbles the grooves that would have allowed it to open and close by rolling, such that it will never work as a door ever again. Worse, now that it is turned on its axis, it rolls towards you, narrowly past everyone, and right over your spear, destroying it. It continues down the hill and into the leafless tree that Dominik had been fighting, and crushes it. After a few seconds that it takes the soul of the tree to travel the far distance to you, you have a vision. You used to be one of the personal guards of the gold-blooded philosopher-kings, as your parents had been, and their parents, and you have some definite misgivings about your charges. They had not raised up any of the silverbloods to join their ranks for generations now, and their orders had become exponentially odder. You have been barred from entry into their sanctum, the Temple-keep, and the last generation has been completely sequestered from you, such that you have never seen them. Their parents and grandparents have left the sanctum in disguise with orders not to be followed, and have been returned with containers whose contents are secret even to you. They refused to send you out to fight against the beasts heralding the Mist, and now that it is so close, you can see that the enemy has actually been completely overtaken by it. Your final order was the Kings' sending you out in a ring around the Temple-keep. They told you not even to bother with arms and armor, just to join hands in the silence and recite the Law. The vision ends, and you can see into the torchlit tunnel. it is long and straight, and ends in a larger circular room with a circular well in the center of it, with a spiral sword in front of it, with a chain attached. At the other end of the chain is a massive two-headed dog, sleeping on its side and dreaming. Its legs move as if it were running, and when it exhales, wisps of smoke billow from its nostrils. A rolled up rope ladder lies at your feet. What do you do? Soul Bank 170
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 16:56
|
|
|
Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, "Heh. What does a wizard eat? Anyways, I can't imagine how something could generate lightning without the use of magic. If you can draw its power out and redirect it without killing any or all of us, then please do. And let me know if I can help." I listen to Agerios recite the script, and hem over it for a moment. I probably ask him to repeat a few words. I say, "Interesting. The words of your philosopher-kings? I would hazard a guess that these words were here before the lightning trap. It sounds like... maybe, a meditation on trying to figure out proper conduct. If the 'strong beast' is a metaphor for humanity, this would be a description of how primitive societies can form crude, mostly functional, but barbaric and morally bankrupt rules to live by. Such as controlling somebody else through fear and threats of violence - it works, in the short term at least, and might give the impression of consent, but is awful." I ponder for a bit longer. Maybe it's a message meant for the harpies? I say, "My people had the gods deliver us wisdom, guide us to sensible and prosperous rules of conduct, and appointed rulers who they knew would be fair and just. Whoever wrote this would have been either isolated from the gods, or chose to ignore them... 'hasn't realized and can't explain,' or else was thoughtful and terribly arrogant about it." And then Agerios man-handles the hillside. I wince at the gears, and then spear, being crushed beneath the rolling stone. In a hushed voice, I add, "Or perhaps it was referring more literally to that beast and its handler. Oh dear. Um. Dogs are friendly, right? Maybe we can ply it with some, er, beetle stew?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 19:07
|
|
|
Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 3/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 3/5 Shears: 1/2 Seeing my spear get crushed, I simply sigh in defeat. When we see the sleeping dog, I reach for my shears. "I'm going to need a bigger stick for this," I say, and my life threads appear before me, swirling as if I am in a ball of yarn. I power through the pain as I cut off a sizeable chunk of the threads, and do my best to form the essence into a shield and spear again. When that is over, I reach for another obol and snap it between my fingers. Smoke rises out of the rapidly deteriorating coin, forming new threads that mingle with the ones emanating from my heart. I put the shears away, and the threads disappear again, presumably hidden well out of sight in some ideal, platonic world. "I think Dom and I could keep the thing at bay in this narrow corridor while somebody else blasts it with spells," I turn to Ysolde. "But I hope the thing can't belch forth fire or something equally ridiculous." I do my best to identify the beast. Spout lore: 8
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 21:10
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, "I could, Odessa, but it'd be very dangerous -- probably no better than just having someone try it, if more interesting to see. I don't know that we can afford it right now, especially if we have to go find something to pacify the harpies..." Ysolde pauses at the crunching sound of the door being forcibly opened and peers into the darkness at the monster beyond. "... or if we have to deal with that, first. I don't see any reason your plan couldn't work, but... let me have a look." She concentrates for a moment and begins to fade from view, until she's entirely invisible. Ysolde can feel the pattern of the spell slipping from her mind even as she does so, but this one, she hopes, she'll only need here. If not, well, she's got the ring... Once she's sure the Invisibility spell has worked, Ysolde steps carefully through the door, getting as close as she dares to the dog-monster. This isn't a safe plan, but knowing more now will hopefully help very soon. Cast a Spell (Invisibility): 2d6+2 7 Spell is revoked, marked above. Discern Realities about the monster: 2d6+1 7 What should I be on the lookout for? Antivehicular fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 11:37
|
|
|
Agerios, you recall the story of a two-headed devil dog, with a venomous snake for a tail. Each head would sleep in shifts, making it the perfect guard: never vulnerable, and with no blind spots. But this beast appears to be completely asleep, all three heads, and when you heard the tale, the beast was a guardian and herder of the prized livestock of an evil demon king, not chained alone in a cave. Also, there was no mention of any firebreathing or smoke. Ysolde, your eyes quickly adjust to the relatively dim torchlight. You approach and investigate the sleeping beast, and find that his chain is somewhat wound, as if by pacing and circling, around the spiral sword to which it is attached and has accumulated much rust. What do you do?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 23:32
|
|
|
Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 12/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 1/2 | Cantrips, Ysolde sneaks out and allows her spell to dissipate. Hopefully she won't need it again before they've dealt with this situation; she's hesitant to call on the power of her grandfather's ring again, even with the instinctual understanding that the pain of the ring can't kill her, and being killed means very little now anyway. It's still... unpleasant. "It's chained up," she says, "but it's wound its chain around the sword, and the chain's close to rusted through. If I had to guess, I'd guess it wouldn't have a hard time snapping it, if it were pressed to do so."
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 00:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 14:12 |
|
|
Venner HP: 16/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 trap expert: 2 holds Without turning back to look, Venner scoffs softly when Odessa mentions just rulers. "I've never known princes to have an abundance of justice or fairness, chosen by gods or otherwise." Absorbed in his futile attempt to open the door, he does not take notice of Ageiros' approach until the door until the hoplite starts moving it. Venner quickly steps back when the door starts rolling. "Well, that's one way to do it, thanks big man. Shame about your spear, but on the bright side you got that tree something good." Venner whistles softly when he sees the two-headed dog and takes a few quiet steps back from the doorway. He nods appreciatively, almost enviously when Ysolde casts her spell. When she returns, he asks, "any chance you could teach me how to do that? That dog is something else, how badly do we need that sword? Or maybe we could try to take the chain off the sword all quiet-like?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 01:29
|
|