The Underdark Mission (Session 2)

Outside the city of Drache lies a number of cities, towns and provinces of varying size and populace. Most of the people living outside Drache are natives who speak Arangothian and observe the native customs and rituals. Click here for a list Arangoth's locales, and here to view a map.
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Nymphetamine
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Posts: 601
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 1:09 pm
Preferred Title: Marog the Destroyer
Characters: Aezra
Azalia Stygian
Eliya Almakira al-Fasaad
Ianesene
Isabelle Auxerre
Nesira Vertal
Rix
Senkessa Silak-Dekhal
Siraz'jah Av'Zathrak
Location: Seattle, WA

The Underdark Mission (Session 2)

Post by Nymphetamine »

(03:32:04 pm) <Pigasus> Everyone had horrible dreams the night before. The exact contents varied but they all spun around total isolation, a loneliness as painful as open air to a water dweller. Towards the end of the dreams, an ominous presence began to color the alienation, something syncretic with the word 'dread' and the midnight-black color of open space and the deep parts of the world. Somewhere, as from a --
(03:32:04 pm) <Pigasus> -- great distance, clicking or chittering noises, like some kind of acoustic communication transmitting a message of doom. Alim had awakened prior and was pacing around the table in the main tent, using his familiar to study several books he brought in a lesser bag of holding.
(03:32:47 pm) * SireWolf ([email protected]) Quit (Remote host closed the connection)
(03:34:26 pm) <Pigasus> Multiple tents filled the elevated campground, defended by spiked stone and wooden stakes along with heavy support crossbows, magical auras and armed guards. The central tent was for command and planning and also housed Alim and Eliya, the two Najj heretics who chartered this expedition.
(03:39:11 pm) * January` ([email protected]) has joined #BDI*Quests
(03:39:37 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek totally had a dream about how he walked into a tavern and everyone ignored all of his ribbings and jokes, which was a fate worse than death as far as he was concerned. Once awake he had set about actually unpacking and preparing some of the other gear he'd brought along, since hindsight is twenty-twenty and he wasn't expecting to be accosted the moment they set foot into the caverns. But, --
(03:39:37 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- hey, you live you learn. With the majority of his flash powder bombs having been ditched in a half-assed attempt to save himself, he secures the singular remaining one for safe keeping on his belt, along with a few other odds and ends that will hopefully serve as a reasonable replacement measure in lieu of those pieces. Another addition to his belt was the light horseman's crossbow that hung --
(03:39:38 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- from it, a quarrel nocked and kept in place via clip upon its carved fletchings, which he would have absolutely no time to actually reload during a scuffle but served as good way to plink any enemies he couldn't immediately reach, which is exactly what they contended with the last go around. He did his best to avoid those magical wards and the like, not wanting to ruin them with his proximity, --
(03:39:39 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- and eventually figured they'd all link up with 'the man with the plan' Alim in his central tent once they'd all gotten rested from the day prior. "Knock knock, cover your cock." He quips before entering since the psions had been sharing, and it was difficult to knock on canvas so he just makes the sounds himself. (End)
(03:40:45 pm) <@Nymphetamine> These dreams were familiar to the Emshi, having experienced them on and off for nearly two years. While unsettling, being accustomed to their cold emptiness and the feelings of great fear, allowed her some measure of simply shrugging them off. She did not appear rested, the shadows of weariness smudging darkness beneath blue witch light eyes in her sun weathered face. Even so, she had still --
(03:40:45 pm) <@Nymphetamine> -- risen earlier and set to the series of exercises and movements that practiced the basic forms of her combat skills. Once this was done, she set to eating camp rations. Regardless, alert, she sat in the main tent off to the side and out of the way of warlock and familiar. For the moment, she held tight to her shielding, bolstering up her psychic wards against intrusion, to hold out the oily --
(03:40:45 pm) <@Nymphetamine> -- slick corruption that oozed out in the air around them. Grim determination set purpose and for the moment, she sat, sliding whetstone against her samshir to sharpen it. The encounter with the aboleth suggested that she would not be able to rely entirely on projections and telekinesis. The rhythmic sound was punctuated with silence as she lifted the blade to examine the edge on the --
(03:40:45 pm) <@Nymphetamine> -- weapon.
(03:41:44 pm) * Azalea ([email protected]) has joined #BDI*Quests
(03:42:34 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Zol Kreel had been irritable from the get go, his usual choice of drink in short supply. So the dreams have only exacerbated his bad mood. The dark dwarf is settled off on guard, staring out past one of those support crossbows as he sharpens the blade of his glaive.
(03:44:48 pm) <Pigasus> "This baby defies all attempts at cover," Alim said, distractedly, as he finished some paragraph, stanza or pictogram. Then he faced the arriving Quarek and the people with him, PC or NPC. He couldn't see them without his familiar but people were used to being faced and it was an etiquette thing he kept when he felt like giving a damn about etiquette. "Oh, good, it's you. I need just a few --
(03:44:48 pm) <Pigasus> -- more volunteers to move on the slave quarters."
(03:45:14 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Perldosia dreamt she was locked in a room with no books. The fact that no one was around didn't bother her, but -- but her books. She woke up perturbed, but there's no time to wallow in whatever feelings those nightmares provoked. And she slept like a log regardless. The Quareks little section of camp was in some sort of sweet spot where they were still protected by wards around the perimeter yet weren't so close
(03:45:14 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> to other as to be a nuisance. After warming up, stretching, eating some of the groups provisions, she put her plate armor over the light armor she wore to sleep. It might get hot under all that, but she'd manage in the cold and dank underground. Void black dagger is at her him, satchel is slung across her torso, and halberd is gripped in one hand. Her helm is off for now, and her strawberry blonde hair would give
(03:45:14 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> off a dim radioluminescent glow -- as did her teeth whenever she talked. Perldosia would soon follow along after Welkith toward the central command tent. "Maybe they don't want us in there," she says up close behind her relative after he 'knocked' on the canvas and entered. She'd wait to see if he gets kicked out, then would enter shortly after Welkith. "Morning. Or night?"
(03:46:41 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> *her hip))
(03:50:18 pm) * Riddy is now known as Dark`Angel
(03:50:23 pm) * Dark`Angel is now known as Riddy
(03:51:50 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek took Perldosia's advice into consideration, and then promptly decided to enter anyways, because of course he did. He offers a brief chuckle at the prospect he's offered the moment he arrives, "Hey, if you're paying, then i'm volunteering, certainly beats sitting around in camp with a giant squid spookin' up my daydreams." He adjusts his arm a little, moving it in a little circle before --
(03:51:51 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- plying a rub to it, which isn't helpful in the slightest since it doesn't reach through those plates of steel. "Besides, ain't gonna work out the kink in my arm until it gets warmed up in a fight. You got an actual plan or map associated with these slave quarters, or we just gonna go fumbling through the dark through this place?" (End)
(03:54:01 pm) <devilpants> Anoush's dreams had been echoes of her childhood in far-off Zalam, in an entire 'nother realm from this one. The powerlessness of being a child, of not knowing what a mother or father even is, just that she was abandoned and no one would come for her. Faces flitted past in her memories, people who taught her how to survive in the streets, but they always vanished. It took a concentrated
(03:54:01 pm) <devilpants> effort for Anoush to forcefully declare, in her soul, "That's not how it was." Her memories righted themselves and she awoke a full hour earlier than she intended, and immediately set to meditation and prayer. She held her wooden prayer beads in a full-body mudra and recited the mantras and prayers that Guiscard had taught her, counting out the ten grape-sized beads, and the eight much
(03:54:01 pm) <devilpants> smaller beads, each corresponding to a koan.
(03:54:55 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> "I volunteer," is Perldosia's simple response as she walks to a spot in the central tent away from the entrance as more party members will likely follow.
(03:55:25 pm) <January`> <Frida`> The small, somewhat insignificant blonde orcish woman had remained rather non-descript and otherwise behind scene for the initial part of the expedition. She hadn't minded being a background character, particularly when they had encountered the first horror of the Abolish and the dire bats it had brought down upon the party. The events had seemed to move like a blur, and Frida had settled down that night in her tent with the id
(03:55:26 pm) <January`> that she'd hopefully at least get a good night's rest. The young orcish woman had traveled a lot in her life, she was no stranger to bunking down on uneven, or perhaps even sodden ground. Noise had never been a problem, as Frida was decidedly hard of hearing, bordering deaf. Yet that night, the minute she'd let her pea-green eyelids slide over her round, pthalo blue eyes, she'd been plagued by fetid nightmares. It was not one concise
(03:55:27 pm) <January`> dream, no, instead a series of terrifying vignettes, beginning and ending with twisted agony. The worst had been poor Frida alone in a room made of stark, blinding white, where she simply screamed a silent, never ending wail, desperately clawing at a throat that burned like molten iron. In others she had swam through pools of wet, misshapen and yellowed teeth, or crawled for miles on hands and knees over ground that shifted and breathed
(03:55:27 pm) <January`> like some great beast. When Frida had woken, she'd hurriedly dressed herself in full armor, before settling outside her ten, a large book in hand. She was sketching a precise depiction of the Abolish they'd met the previous night.
(03:55:32 pm) * Azalea ([email protected]) has left #BDI*Quests (Be back later...)
(03:56:28 pm) <January`> ((Aboleth** dumb autocorrect))
(04:02:37 pm) <Pigasus> "All plans eventually degenerate into fumbling, so, might as well get to it," he said in reply. "Fetch the others," he added, to his raven, which flitted out of the tent and went to tell Frida and Anoush to meet him in the command tent soon, or on the exit out of camp in a little while. Rendered blind, he leaned against the edge of the table, picturing the thing in his mind's eye. "The city's --
(04:02:37 pm) <Pigasus> -- a circle of multiple players. We have to get through the slave housing to get to the central plaza. From there, I don't know, but there should be a way down through one or two areas." His fingers ran along the table until he reached one of the books. "Many eons elsewhere, they ruled the world. But the ever-present fist of great power carried a heavy price. And now their dominion has fallen back --
(04:02:37 pm) <Pigasus> -- through time and shadow. Look now, to the interior world. The prophecy cuts off there. I'm looking for lore. Crystals or writing in their queer four-line qualith language. But the route I chose will take us through plenty of areas that should have priceless trinkets for you to take." --
(04:02:52 pm) <Pigasus> And Zol.
(04:03:08 pm) <Pigasus> (players=layers)
(04:05:00 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Whenever he is summoned, Zol Kreel gets to his feet with a grumble and a groan. He takes his helm up, places it over his bald head, then wanders off toward the command tent, glaive at his shoulder, sword at his hip.
(04:06:39 pm) <devilpants> Anoush had just finished centering herself with ritual prayer, and had gone through her morning stretches and exercises and even her breakfast (dried fruit, nuts, herbs, and some strips of dried meat washed down with water from her personal stash), when the raven arrived. She arrived shortly, not bothering to announce her presence. Despite the insufficient sleep and nightmares, she looked
(04:06:39 pm) <devilpants> none of the worse for wear, seeming eager to get on with the day. She arrived just as Alim had begun talking.
(04:07:37 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Perldosia nods along. Plans don't usually go as . . . planned, but she can improvise. She had some familiarity with mind flayers but is oblivious to much of the lore.
(04:08:50 pm) <@Nymphetamine> It went without say that the psychic would be going. She needn't remind everyone of that fact and simply remained where she sat, sharpening her samshir until she was satsfied with its edge.
(04:08:54 pm) <January`> <Frida`> closed her book with a loud snap, peering from side to side for a moment, skin on edge. The book was leather-bound, and from the pages stuck out an array of trinkets and scraps of paper; feathers, ribbons, pressed flowers and string. She slipped it into the open mouth of her leather satchel, checking the contents a few times before seeming satisfied. Frida was a short orc, just around 5'5", with pale skin and a comely face. A
(04:08:55 pm) <January`> keen observer would see that the orcish blood ran thinly through her veins, but was most present in her slightly piggish nose and the dainty tusks that jutted from her bottom lip. Her hair was brightly blonde, and braided into tails. She wore heavy armor on her torso, shins and forearms, the breast plate molded to accommodate her thick form and decorated with a strange spiral design in rich navy. When the raven arrived, Frida smiled
(04:08:56 pm) <January`> faintly and followed orders without question. As the woman moved through the camp she ignored any noise that did not present itself physically before her eyes.
(04:09:07 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek offered an all too agreeable nod towards that initial response, Welkith spent many years at the Royal University training to be a military officer, if there's one thing he was well aware of it's that plans never survive contact with the enemy, at that point the real task is cobbling together the least terrible gameplan with what's left of its tattered remains. "So, reach the central --
(04:09:08 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- plaza, nab any books, crystals or tablets, fill our pockets with trinkets and crack the skulls of whatever stands in the way of those aforementioned points. Sounds simple enough to me." The whole 'prophecy' thing made him quirk his lips, which may also have a hint of a grimace to it, as long as the prophecy wasn't specifically about his death he pushed all that fate mumbo jumbo to the --
(04:09:09 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- side. (End)
(04:13:23 pm) <devilpants> Anoush speaks: "Don't feel bad about plundering these ruins, by the way. Illithids are well and truly evil, and treat all other races as either food or slaves, with no exceptions. Be sure to grind your heel on any sacred statues you knock over."
(04:15:42 pm) <Pigasus> "If you find something - anything - let Eliya see it first. It could be some kind of unholy tool made to rob you of your will, or worse." He couldn't help but smile a little as he said 'unholy' given his primary occupation in this mortal realm. "Likewise, if you start feeling weird, check in with us. These things and their technology is subtle, on a level we don't fully understand. These are --
(04:15:42 pm) <Pigasus> -- Perldosia and Welkith Quarek. When you need extra protection, get close to them, within... five to ten feet, I think it was. But if you're using any magic yourself, stay out of their range or it will fizzle. Warriors first and last, casters in the middle, flanking specialists, get as stealthy as possible." He glanced around as the raven returned and alighted on his shoulder. "I think that's --
(04:15:42 pm) <Pigasus> -- it."
(04:15:52 pm) <Pigasus> (PAUSE, switching computer, need 5 minutes)
(04:22:34 pm) * Pigasux ([email protected]) has joined #BDI*Quests [ This user was also known as Pigasus in #BDI*Quests. ]
(04:22:47 pm) * Pigasux is now known as Pig`GM
(04:22:54 pm) <Pig`GM> (Continue)
(04:22:55 pm) * devilpants is now known as Anoush
(04:24:46 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek offers an appreciative whistle over Anoush's comments, "Cold blooded. I like it." He flashes a grin along with the musing, the scarred corner of his upper lip slightly more stiff due to the scar tissue sealing the split closed, at which point fingers clad in articulated steel reach up to slide the visor his helm down and secure it. "Up front as always, just the way I like it." --
(04:24:47 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- The line between confidence and foolhardiness is paper thin, and it's always difficult to tell which side Welkith's feet have tread across as he walks it. "If you notice any abrupt light shows aroud us, take note of the patterns and the direction, you'll have an easier time pin pointing whatever it is that's causing it." He makes reference to the fact, as would have been witnessed prior, --
(04:24:48 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- that psionics react with the auras around the Quarek's rather impressively, creating an almost aurora borealis light show as it interacts with it, the strongest of which reactions are based on direction and proximity. "Alright then, lets get this show on the road." He slides the heater shield slung over his shoulder into position, adjusting the straps to secure to his forearm as he turns --
(04:24:49 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- to take his leave of the tent, brushing aside its flap with the shield and holding it open for the next to exit. (End)
(04:26:47 pm) * Nymphetamine is now known as Eliya
(04:28:35 pm) <Anoush> She hefts her gear, less than what she arrived with because she's leaving some behind at her tent for future trips away from camp, and for the trip back. She still has her bottles of alchemical antitoxin and plague remedy alongside her non-magical poultices and bandages, as well as miscellaneous mundane exploration tools. Magic sword and silver sword on her back, wooden staff in hand,
(04:28:35 pm) <Anoush> torch ready, and a bundle of four sunrods tied to the side of her pack. She looked ready.
(04:29:17 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> "Find loot, get Eliya to inspect it. Got it. I'll hang out in the back." Unspoken is the expectation for confrontations. She'd walk out after Welkith unless there was something else to add. She puts her helm on, visor flipped up for now as she waits for departure.
(04:31:33 pm) <@Eliya> Collecting her things and her much lighter pack, she shouldered it and trailed quietly behind the others. It would be in her best interests to hang back away from the Quarek field, though today she was far more cautious in her mental probing of the area. Knowing that things could be invisible, and knowing that anything could happen to fry her mind out, she kept the range of her awarness much --
(04:31:33 pm) <@Eliya> -- tighter. Only cast as far as twenty five feet around them, it would be less effective, but less prone to being smashed in the fact again. The aboleth had been a bit of a precursor warning. Pushing aside the tendrils of hair in her face, she set out.
(04:31:39 pm) <Anoush> "If your thoughts suddenly change or become intrusive, be sure to report it. If something's trying to influence your mind and you have no training protecting against that sort of thing, I find counting can help to retain your focus. Even if we don't run into any illithids down here, they created plenty of other creatures with mental powers to serve them, so be wary."
(04:32:16 pm) <Pig`GM> And so, Alim delegated the final organizational details to Eliya and stepped out to an empty patch of ground, where he had pre-drawn most of a ritual circle. He took out a small blood vial of unknown origin and began an incantation that was hard to hear all the way from camp. Only when he raised his voice at the end: 'Algoras Koranth! Akilno Kreath! Forged unmakers, Kytones Nysroghiye,
(04:32:19 pm) <Pig`GM> arise and by your dead master's name be bound." There was the grinding of chains before a swirl of hot rust formed atop the circle, rising, links of rusty chain growing into a complex, vaguely humanoid shape of medium size. The chain-tips waved telekinetically and glowed pink-hot. He set this thing to walk closer to the front, but away from the Quareks. The colossal cavern stretched before
(04:32:19 pm) <Pig`GM> them, coming to three pillars holding up a sagging stone outcrop, through which could be seen the geometric shapes of rudimentary buildings.
(04:32:29 pm) <@Eliya> She would do what she could to shield those outside of the Quarek field from any intrusion, but with the number of adventurers, it might prove problematic. She had been training for this for over a year, however, and thought she would be able to handle the job.
(04:34:31 pm) <January`> <Frida`> noticed the group was beginning to form in a way that suggested departure. Clutching her bag to her body she plotted over, lingering around the thin edges but craning her neck to look for a familiar face. Her sky blue cloak hugged her form and she shivered, though it was from nerves, not cold. At her hip was a mace, silver, and the vicious tip of it shaped like a skull, jutted with multiple sharp spikes. She felt a little los
(04:34:31 pm) <January`> catching snippets of people talking and events unfolding.
(04:35:43 pm) <Anoush> With the knowledge of what they would be facing and the aboleth as a hint that more was to come, Anoush had recited the appropriate mantras and prepared her mental defenses as Guiscard had taught her. She attained a heightened sense of focus that not only strengthened her will, but also made her more aware of the flow of her thoughts. Not quite as effective as the mental barriers actual
(04:35:44 pm) <Anoush> psions were trained to use, but effective in its own ways, and it allowed a greater degree of self-control in the event of succumbing partially to outside influence. She moved along with the group, and made note of any obelisks, chunks of building, or other structures she could leap atop and use as a vantage point.
(04:38:24 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> With orders received, Zol turns his gaze to the others. He then turns to proceed along with the group, his glaive at the ready, those red and black eyes peering outward as they head into that cavern.
(04:39:32 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek promptly took up his position as vanguard, one which he certainly appeared most capable of due to his heavily armoured form accompanied by that heater shield. Slipped off the leather belt strapped around his waist is that warhammer, which is hiked up his grasp to hook the laynard on its handle onto the catch of his gauntlet, lest he accidentally lose his grip on it for some reason. He takes --
(04:39:32 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- a moment to pull tight the leather strapping from which that light horseman's crossbow hangs from his hip, which serves to reduce any bouncing around and clattering against his armour since they were supposed to be somewhat stealthy in their approach. Fortunately, all of those years of training and living with this manner of armour as a second skin serves to help reduce any unnecessary noise --
(04:39:33 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- the suit makes as he moves along. Also, was nobody going to comment on the clearly ominous thing that Alim had summoned in the meanwhile? No? Welp, far be it for him to be the first. Into the darkness they go. (End)
(04:42:50 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Her pale hazel eyes watch the ritual Alim performs. Her first and foremost thought is, was this thing called or summoned? Eh, no bother. She'll just keep it out of her range. What happens in the Underdark, so they say. As the group continues to gather, she keeps repositioning near the rear. There's not much for her to do but wait. Her trait will have to be enough to make some psionics too heavily distorted to
(04:42:50 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> effect her, but, like the nightmare last night, things do get through. Counting Dire Sheep sounds like a good mental tactic. Or imagining the gobbers frolicking through meadows. Her void black halberd is gripped in with both hands pointing forward. The head of the weapon itself is 2ft long and is mostly a sharp spike with a back slanting axe on one side and a sharp hook on the other. Long langets protect the wooden
(04:42:50 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> staff that is varnished the same void black. A smaller spike is on the other end of the staff. With this weapon her effect extends 10ft out with variable range depending on thrust and swing.
(04:45:02 pm) * SireWolf ([email protected]) has joined #BDI*Quests
(04:46:15 pm) <Pig`GM> And so our brave heroes in the form of diversely mottled mercenaries and treasure-seekers sally forth. As they beheld the first line of the outer buildings, made from the local stone that was dark gray and glittered with impurities, they would see it curving away slightly in either direction, as if they stood not on a Euclidean plain but a very slightly hyperbolic one. The difference was
(04:46:17 pm) <Pig`GM> slight enough to permit easy eyeballing of distances and directions but strong enough to be disorienting. Alienating, even. As the party made its way towards the pillars, the effect became slightly stronger. The pillars themselves, decorated with some strong version of lapis lazuli, had four-line inscriptions on them, made up of dashes and lines of varying lengths, with varying length spaces
(04:46:17 pm) <Pig`GM> between them, stacked atop each other. The ground beneath their feet became moist and started smelling like something odd and organic.
(04:47:10 pm) <@Eliya> The striking similarities of the sense of unease of the ilithid city to that of the ruins of Amas'kyaa were among the first things she had noticed upon their arrival. It was not the first time that she had so willingly exposed herself to the desolation and constant pressure of corruption, but to do so with companions was strange. Her mind drifted to thoughts of her own childhood, routinely --
(04:47:10 pm) <@Eliya> -- dancing in and out of the exclusion zone in the interior of the Fareedah as her training continued. Alim's rust golem was left unspoken about. She had some idea of what he might command or summon, and she felt no need to question him about it. Despite marshalling on their party, she stayed towards the back, away from the vanguard of the Quareks and their magical muting field. The psion was --
(04:47:10 pm) <@Eliya> -- focused on other things. The bolstered defenses of those outside of the Quareks, the scouting for any blank spots or hostile minds near them that might take note, the protection of herself. Multitasking in this way did not allow much space for conversation or anything but focusing on these tasks.
(04:50:51 pm) <Pig`GM> A small manta or cloak-like thing darted behind a boulder as they passed.
(04:51:25 pm) <January`> <Frida`> walked with a careful step, her leather boots making only the slightest sound as she moved across the landscape with the group. She remained completely silent, her eyes widen and observant as she walked towards the unearthly city. The nostrils of her piggish nose widened as a strange scent wafted up to them, her lack of hearing creating a drastic increase in her other senses. It smelled mossy, though there was something in the
(04:51:25 pm) <January`> scent she couldn't place. Casually, she glanced around at her other adventurers, though was quickly distracted by the sights to beheld within the disturbing ruins. She took small snapshots of everything, storing them inside her near eidetic memory. So distracted was she, she didn't notice any sort of darting creature as she walked.
(04:51:33 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> As they proceed, Perldosia finally flips her visor down. The odd layout of the city is noted, namely through silhouettes unless someone provides a light source. Her head cranes side to side and she walks with calculating steps. Her armor, cleaned and polished and all, is surprisingly quiet, though she inevitably has heavy foot falls until the ground is soft and wet. She takes a few whiffs of the air as the scent
(04:51:33 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> changes. "Smells dank," she mutters, looking in one direction that affords her a view of the thing scurrying past. "That's a thing over there," she plainly notes.
(04:56:51 pm) <Anoush> Once the smell reaches her nose, she gives a quiet warning to the rest of the group: "I saw it. Watch your step." And that was it. She gave up on her idea of using the tops of any structures as vantage points. She was good at keeping her balance, but she didn't trust the architecture here partly because of its age and partly because of its wrongness. She imagined herself leaping onto
(04:56:51 pm) <Anoush> the top of one, only to immediately lose her footing because the angle looked one way, but was actually another. As for the thing, she thought it could be a cloaker, or some similar creature, but those weren't normally seen scuttling away. She kept her staff ready and her mind sharp, retaining her focus on her mental defenses.
(04:57:58 pm) * SireWolf is now known as Azai
(04:58:17 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek had slipped his visor down prior to actually leaving camp, which left his eyes that much more time to grow a little more acclimated to the red hued crystalline lenses that filled the eye slits of his visor, which served to cut out all the other colours in the spectrum and focused his senses on the remainder. The end result is impressive night vision, well suited to detecting shapes, --
(04:58:18 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- silhouettes and movement, but the colour and detail within taking a heavy hit. Whatever it was that darted off in the distance he saw, but discerning what it actually was, that's another matter entirely. "If it shows itself again, it's a thing that needs to be made dead." Seeing as how it wasn't actively attacking them, that left the option that it would leave them unharassed, as well as --
(04:58:19 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- the option it was simply biding its time to attack them from behind. Guess they'll find out one way or the other eventually. (End)
(05:01:11 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> For his own part, Zol Kreel does eye the movement of that cloak like thing suspiciously, and he nods at Welkith's words. "Doubt we'll be meetin' much here that ain't meritin' a one way trip to th' ground, one way or another." He shifts his glaive from his shoulder to grip it more appropirately to respond to a sudden assault, should one come.
(05:02:13 pm) <Anoush> "There isn't much down here worth leaving alive, to be honest."
(05:06:37 pm) <Pig`GM> The outer buildings were hexagonal for stackability, almost like honey combs but with greater mathematical precision. The passages between them branched in different directions, leading to a path towards the Center, to the Right and to the Left. There were few doors to speak of - privacy wasn't a concern among most illithid thralls. Very far ahead of them, behind the buildings, was a
(05:06:43 pm) <Pig`GM> rising wall supported by the same kind of pillars they saw before, and walkways led up to the higher, nicer but more alien segment of the city sitting atop the wall.
(05:08:54 pm) <Anoush> For the sake of clarity, she's the one holding the torch.
(05:13:39 pm) <@Eliya> All praise Anoush the Torch Bearer! The press of the city's weirdness danced upon the edges of her awarness. The fetid scent of organic growth and its decay was pungent in the air. For the nomad, it was unsettling and disturbing. The skittering creature warranted little of her attention, still multitasking in an attempt to deflect interest and to pick up the minds of anything nearby or --
(05:13:39 pm) <@Eliya> -- around them. Eliya moved quietly not far from the rust golem and the warlock that had created it.
(05:17:43 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek has to actually keep himself from looking directly at the torch bearer in that case, lest that effort to keep his vision acclimated to the darkness go to waste in the meanwhile as they advance. Upon finding that there were different directions to take from here on out, he first peers up towards that rising wall and accompanying pillars, and notes that the destination seems far nicer than the --
(05:17:44 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- section down below. That said, they were after the slave quarters, so he assumed that likely wasn't where they needed to head, which left the otherway branching pathways, "So, which way we headed? Left? Right?" (End)
(05:19:29 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Zol Kreel pauses and takes his helmet off for a moment, turning his head this way and there, to listen for any movement which might be heard that's unaccounted for by the group.
(05:21:20 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> "Why way?" she mumbles to herself, as she notes the paths and one walkway leading upward. They are here to collect loot, hence the nicer section seems an obvious choice, but those pathways are still far off. "Maybe the slaves stole shit after the elderbrain was killed," she says as she veers toward the left path on a whim. The elderbrain part was something she was told by Alim, and hopefully his information is
(05:21:20 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> accurate.
(05:22:32 pm) <January`> <Frida`> took note of the strange complexity of the hexagonal buildings, and indeed her scientifically inclined mind compared them quite readily to honeycombs. They unnerved her, and for a split moment she thought she could feel the hum of some quite insect squirming around beneath the earth the group walked on. She ignored it, knowing it was just the left over fog of her dream. She hung back from the others, but when they reached the
(05:22:33 pm) <January`> branching pathways, she placed a finger thoughtfully on her square chin. Her dark blue eyes moved from side to side, and she shifted her weight, armor making a tiny groaning noise when she did.
(05:23:22 pm) <January`> ((the hum of some giant insect**))
(05:26:30 pm) <Pig`GM> "We'll go left, then right, to make sure it's clear and we don't end up surrounded," Alim said. "Search the houses but don't take too long. Then we go down the central path to the central city." He turned his head to Eliya as if seeing if she'd give her confirmation. But his mind was made up. The party turned left and walked along the damp, spongy stone along the slightly curved street.
(05:26:32 pm) <Pig`GM> The buildings grew like crystals on an organic plant. As they headed left, they'd run into a cul-de-sac, where a chest-high monument jutted out of the ground, set with some kind of crystal. Little filaments of information ran along its junction points to the rest of the stone and metal contraption. Alim crouched beside it and tried to figure it out, while the party searches.
(05:26:43 pm) <Pig`GM> (Give me search rolls)
(05:27:07 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> `roll 1d20
(05:27:08 pm) <GameServ> Ravynetti`Tivaurd rolled 1d20: 3 <Total: 3>
(05:27:09 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(05:27:10 pm) <GameServ> Welkith`Quarek rolled 1d20: 20 <Total: 20>
(05:27:13 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(05:27:13 pm) <GameServ> Perldosia`Quarek rolled 1d20: 4 <Total: 4>
(05:27:15 pm) <@Eliya> `roll 1d20
(05:27:15 pm) <GameServ> Eliya rolled 1d20: 12 <Total: 12>
(05:28:19 pm) <January`> `roll 1d20
(05:28:19 pm) <GameServ> January` rolled 1d20: 3 <Total: 3>
(05:28:48 pm) <Anoush> `roll 1d20
(05:28:48 pm) <GameServ> Anoush rolled 1d20: 4 <Total: 4>
(05:34:00 pm) <Pig`GM> The searches yielded few items of value. Most of it was clothing and extremely basic personal effects of variously-shaped humanoids. Eliya found the bones of a dead adventurer, however, skull cracked open with a round toothed maw: illithid work, most likely. But his decayed armor concealed a pouch of some strangely familiar gold coins. Welkith was the one who truly struck it big - he
(05:34:00 pm) <Pig`GM> found a worked slab of precious crystal shaped into a dodecahedron, purplish-blue in color and evidently some part of a yet unbuilt psionic contraption.
(05:36:56 pm) <Anoush> A rare thing for her: she doesn't bother to take any souvenirs. She strongly wanted to collapse the ceiling onto this entire place and bury it for eternity, and didn't much care if the illithids' entire history was erased. However, she does admire those crystals. "Be careful touching those with your bare skin. You never know what foul energies or thoughts might be stored in them."
(05:37:10 pm) <Anoush> (touching that, rather, singular)
(05:38:16 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Perldosia kicked through what she found. Basically all of her skin is covered giving her inclination is wear full plate armor backed by light armor, so she just kicks away with the top of her plated foot. She's can't justify adding more weight to her satchel by hauling junk. She calls out from her location, "Nothing here."
(05:39:39 pm) <@Eliya> There was a quiet nod. So far, she had picked up nothing, but now that they had a path selected, she would keep her mind pointed in that direction. She was still playing this more cautiously than she had the day earlier, not wanting to open herself up so much that another psionic creature (of which there were probably many in this wretched place) would try to wrest control of her thoughts. --
(05:39:39 pm) <@Eliya> -- Separating from the group, she made her search. She took the Amas'kyaan gold coins and sent a tendril of psionic energy into them to see if they had been impressed upon by anything in the past. They were far from Najjir, and here was the currency of the fallen empire. It made her a little sad as she returned to the group, running her thumb over the imprint of one of the --
(05:39:39 pm) <@Eliya> -- coins.
(05:40:50 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek restrains the urge to kick open the door of the house he picks at random and shout something amusing, or at least something amusing to himself, and instead decides it's for the best if he goes into sneak-mode. This is a difficult task while wearing a full suit of plate, but, he manages a pretty impressive attempt. He doesn't know the first thing about this culture of species, so he resorts --
(05:40:51 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- to the old fashioned 'poking around haphazardly until he finds something neat' method of searching. He softly hums his lucky treasure hunting tune as he rummages around, one which he hasn't thought up the words to just yet, it's a work in progress still. Upon uncovering a large worked slab of crystal shaped into a dodecahedron he adds a "Jackpot." to puncuate that tune, which is summarily --
(05:40:52 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- followed by a, "... Whatever the hell it is." While he may not know what it is, he does know it looks valuable, and that's enough for him. He offers a shrug, and then proceeds to dig out a spare loot bag, which he uses to wrap around and tuck the slab into for safe keeping and carrying purposes before swaggering his way back out, "Don't know what I found, but I know it's good. I'm not --
(05:40:53 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- saying this is a contest or anything, but I am saying ya'll are in last place." (End)
(05:41:04 pm) <January`> <Frida`> searched the ruined scene meticulously, though found little of value, much to her dismay. Smacking her lips thoughtfully, the tusked orcish woman examined a small scrap of clothing she'd found. Glancing around, she pocketed it, to observe later. She knew that sometimes even the most mundane every day items could be of historic value if carefully examined. Her dark gaze was cast towards the rest of the group, catching only the
(05:41:05 pm) <January`> end of Perldosia's words of "Nothing Here". Frida placed one hand on the hilt of her mace, squaring her shoulders and watching the others for hints and direction.
(05:44:09 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Perldosia walks out of the house she'd been rummaging through in time to hear Welkith. She walks over, keeping her wits about her. Technically Eliya is the one to inspect these items, so she hangs in the back to overhear any assessments.
(05:45:09 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek completely zoned out on the 'safety and precautions' portion of that tutorial, as evident by how he's already picked up what he found. Classic Welkith.
(05:47:02 pm) <Pig`GM> The clothing that was there was badly decayed but scraps of light, loose fabric sometimes remained as if by miracle. The furniture inside the buildings was very simple: cots, a floor designed to be sat upon and low tables. Meanwhile, Eliya read the imprint of a far off journey going through sand, forest, bones, slime and then death. Someone sent here from Amas'kyaa? How else would he know
(05:47:02 pm) <Pig`GM> this location? But his body and effects were too warped by time to be recognizable enough for clues. Alim suddenly staggered away from the crystal device that he was examining but not touching. His mouth moved rapidly as if whispering some quotation under his breath. His eyes could not be seen. Gamayun, the raven, cawed in alarm and began flying in circles overhead. Alim lifted his arm to
(05:47:02 pm) <Pig`GM> his head and descended to one knee, before rising again. At the same time, Frida would be the one to hear muffled sounds of something coming from over the roof.
(05:47:39 pm) <Pig`GM> (roofs)
(05:48:12 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Zol Kreel snaps his attetnions across to the sudden flurry of the raven, and he begins to wander over, eyes narrowing as he tries to make out what might have caused the disturbance.
(05:49:01 pm) <Anoush> Anoush, seeing the reaction of the rest of the group, readies her staff and looks around.
(05:51:53 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Gamayun, the real brains behind the operation, starts cawing so her attention diverts upward, "Huh?" She adjusts her grip on her halberd and tries to move silently as her head slowly cranes side to side. Maybe she'd spot something, or a different sound would become obvious through her helm.
(05:54:03 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek proceeds to do something uncharacteristic, which is promptly shutting his trap as he hears that ruckus caused by the strange desert man's raven. Unless there was another raven down here that he was unaware of, which seemed unlikely given the location. The entire party immediately went on guard, and he certainly wasn't the odd man out where that was concerned, as evident by how he readied his --
(05:54:04 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- shield, this time allowing the warhammer to dangle from his gauntlet since his grip was replaced by that light horseman's crossbow. He utilizes the top edge of his heater shield to steady it further and help draw a bead as he peers off into the darkness and listens intently for any further commotion his senses can pick up. (End)
(05:56:19 pm) <January`> <Frida`> felt a strange vibration move through the air and against her light green skin. Brows furrowing, she closed her eyes and followed the vibration in her mind, tracking it. Eyes opening, she sniffed once and realized the stance of the others had changed dramatically. She looked upward, at the circling raven and with one fluid motion withdrew her silver mace, holding its hefty weight easily in her left hand. "Hrrrr?" she grunted,
(05:56:20 pm) <January`> piggish nose twitching as she tried to smell the air.
(05:59:19 pm) <Pig`GM> The stillness lasted a few seconds. Then, from the roop, leapt a group of humanoids, another group of which burst out from behind the corner. There were ten of them in all. Six had gray skin and looked like they spent most of their lives in the deeper underground layers. Their appearance answered to the description of Grimlocks. The others were once dark elf rangers and still moved like
(05:59:20 pm) <Pig`GM> them, even though all reeked with the stench of undeath and assaulted the party without hesitation.
(05:59:28 pm) <Pig`GM> (Roll initiative)
(05:59:41 pm) <@Eliya> Gamayun's sudden defection drew her immediate attention, if only because she was well used to the cranky but placid raven's antics. The coins she stowed in her pocket, as she sent a tendril of consciousness to reach out for Alim's mind, in an attempt to immediately glean the situation from him. What she got was blank space. Nothingness. She broke out into a run to get back to the group, to --
(05:59:41 pm) <@Eliya> -- the light. "Something is wrong!" Something is coming, b ut she didn't know that. The Emshi crashed to her knees beside Alim, reaching to touch his ruined face with both hands. "Alim, Alim," she repeated his name as if to draw his consciousness to the fore. Touch heightened her abilities. THen all hell descended.
(05:59:44 pm) <@Eliya> `roll 1d20
(05:59:44 pm) <GameServ> Eliya rolled 1d20: 7 <Total: 7>
(05:59:46 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(05:59:46 pm) <GameServ> Perldosia`Quarek rolled 1d20: 7 <Total: 7>
(06:00:02 pm) <@Eliya> `roll 1d20
(06:00:02 pm) <GameServ> Eliya rolled 1d20: 6 <Total: 6>
(06:00:25 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(06:00:25 pm) <GameServ> Perldosia`Quarek rolled 1d20: 20 <Total: 20>
(06:00:51 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(06:00:51 pm) <GameServ> Welkith`Quarek rolled 1d20: 20 <Total: 20>
(06:01:24 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> `roll 1d20
(06:01:24 pm) <GameServ> Ravynetti`Tivaurd rolled 1d20: 10 <Total: 10>
(06:01:31 pm) <Anoush> `roll 1d20
(06:01:31 pm) <GameServ> Anoush rolled 1d20: 20 <Total: 20>
(06:01:35 pm) <Pig`GM> `roll 1d20
(06:01:35 pm) <GameServ> Pig`GM rolled 1d20: 8 <Total: 8>
(06:01:50 pm) <Pig`GM> (Welkith and/or Perl, gogogo)
(06:01:51 pm) <January`> `roll 1d20
(06:01:51 pm) <GameServ> January` rolled 1d20: 19 <Total: 19>
(06:02:22 pm) <Pig`GM> (And plz try to not post entire novellas for speed. I love your long RP but... <3)
(06:03:17 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(06:03:17 pm) <GameServ> Welkith`Quarek rolled 1d20: 15 <Total: 15>
(06:03:54 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> `roll 1d20
(06:03:54 pm) <GameServ> Perldosia`Quarek rolled 1d20: 17 <Total: 17>
(06:03:56 pm) <Anoush> `roll 1d20
(06:03:56 pm) <GameServ> Anoush rolled 1d20: 14 <Total: 14>
(06:04:22 pm) <Pig`GM> (So, Perl is first, then Welkith, then Anoush, then Frida, and so on)
(06:05:44 pm) <@Eliya> `roll 1d20
(06:05:44 pm) <GameServ> Eliya rolled 1d20: 4 <Total: 4>
(06:05:51 pm) <@Eliya> (( Rav goes after moi ))
(06:06:05 pm) <@Eliya> (( DISREGARD, I SUCK ))
(06:07:43 pm) * Azai is now known as Ajai
(06:10:21 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> With the calm before the storm over, Perldosia first heard then saw the swarm of humanoids. Welp, she gets to running toward them with her halberd pointed forward. Her eyes sort out the closest one that still hasn't fallen to the ground, which makes her change course a little. She'd attempt to impale her target through the torso with the long spike of her halberd.
(06:10:33 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek isn't really sure what these humanoids were supposed to be, but, that was secondary to what he did know, and that was that they were about to catch a whooping for trying to get the jump on the party. At a simple glance the six gray skinned individuals movements weren't nearly as smooth and graceful as the former dark elves, so it seemed only reasonable to focus his attentions on the more --
(06:10:33 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- dangerous of the two with such limited information. That said, he promptly squeezes the lever trigger on his crossbow, sending its bolt whistling softly through the air towards one of the former rangers before the weapon is dropped to hang from his belt. Instead of bothering to attempt to reload, he instead hoists up that warhammer attached to his gauntlet to reaffirm a sure grip upon it to --
(06:10:34 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- clash with the closest opponent. (End)
(06:13:56 pm) <Anoush> With a sneaking suspicion she may regret this, she shifts her focus from mental defense to physical. Rather than rush to immediately engage, she leaves that to the heavily armoured duo and instead moves behind them, putting herself between the melee and the rest of the group, ready to intercept. She channels her ki into her staff, transforming it into an instrument of her will and extension
(06:13:56 pm) <Anoush> of her self. From there, if any of their foes rush past the Quareks, she'll move to intercept.
(06:15:04 pm) <January`> <Frida`> gave a short gasp as the ten assailants burst forth from seemingly nowhere. Tightening her already vice grip upon the handle of her silver, skull-headed mace, the orcish woman gave a quick, savage bark and stepped purposefully forward. Her blue cloak whispered out from behind her, and ducking low she tanked forward towards one of the gray skinned individuals. Frida's lips peeled back to reveal her teeth, tusks jutting with the
(06:15:05 pm) <January`> sneering expression as she swung her mace nearly like a baseball bat at her target. Those pthalo blue eyes went suddenly deranged and bloodshot, widening and belaying her orcish lineage.
(06:15:42 pm) <Pig`GM> (Zol, then me, then Eliya)
(06:16:58 pm) * Trace|Work is now known as Russell
(06:19:33 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Zol Kreel turns his own gaze to the groups of creatures that had charged in. He brings hi glaive to bear, and rushes the grimlocks, at least recognizing those sorts. He would charge the nearest one, that glaive held in both hands like a spear, meaning to seek to stab, and then slash out of whatever he might hit, as he can.
(06:23:31 pm) <Pig`GM> Perl thrust the grimlock up, impaled throuh the torso. He barely tried to dodge as he swung his arms at her, one of them ending in some kind of sharp bony growth that may have been fleshgrafted on or even bred into this thrall lineage. It functioned as a serviceable blade. Welkith's crossbow went through the ghoul's head and it fell to the ground, moving its limbs in all the wrong ways
(06:23:31 pm) <Pig`GM> required to get up. Frida's blow caved in the skull and sprayed mostly decayed brain matter across the spongy stone street. Anoush was set upon by one of the former drow, holding a pitted and rusty blade with one hand and a hatchet in the other. The second drow held a metal crossbow which he used in close range to bludgeon and shoot. Alim swayed, his gaze much farther than a thousand yards
(06:23:31 pm) <Pig`GM> away. "It's..." he began and immediately decided against trying to explain himself. Instead, he vomited on the floor and pointed unsteadily at the crystal. His surface thoughts told her that it should be shut off or destroyed. Shutting it off would require a mental command, which would require mental contact.
(06:24:15 pm) <Pig`GM> (shit, I keep forgetting Zol)
(06:24:52 pm) <Pig`GM> Zol's stab didn't hit but the slash did better, biting into the grimlock's rotting flesh and causing it to pitch sideways.
(06:27:32 pm) <Anoush> INTERCEPTION! She interrupts her attacker's charge by taking advantage of her staff's range, aiming a two-handed thrust at the enemy's throat, following up by twirling the staff and bringing it down for a bone-crushing vertical blow to the skull, all before it can even enter striking range, each strike empowered by her ki, and enough to cripple or kill a normal man.
(06:27:58 pm) <@Eliya> As it appeared that the undead hadn't yet made their way to where she knelt on the soggy ground beside Alim, she paid them no mind. To be sure, she was aware of the sounds of battles, the noises that made as plate moved against plate, as the party brought weapons to bear against the scrambling creatures that swarmed over them. But were unimportant, she held to his face, touching him so she --
(06:27:58 pm) <@Eliya> -- could glean these things from his mind as quickly as possible. She jerked back when he threw up the contents of his stomach. It seemed unwise to risk becoming trapped in the crystal. Instead, she would attempt to destroy it with a bludgeoning force of telekinesis as she tried to smash it at a distance. Which may constitute as a mental touch, but she put none of her consciousness into this --
(06:27:58 pm) <@Eliya> -- touch.
(06:28:45 pm) * Riddy ([email protected]) Quit (Ping timeout: 240 seconds)
(06:29:08 pm) <Pig`GM> (Perl again)
(06:34:07 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> With the grimlock impaled, she swings the halberd toward the ground so the grimlock ends up lying down sideways. As the creature didn't stop moving and had some weird appendage, she decided to use a solid strategy to end enemies, beheading, She pulls the halberd back then thrusts the axe part of her pole arm along the neck of her target, which would also keep it pinned. With another backward pull, to which she add
(06:34:07 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> a push, she'd attempt to slice clean through the grimlock's neck. If that's successful, she'd run with halberd ready toward the next closest target and would attempt to impale it, this time through the neck, with added force to use the axe part of her pole arm to sever the neck.
(06:34:36 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek didn't actually think the crossbow would be extremely effective against undead, but, taking a bolt to the head is bound to give anyone a bad day, undead abominations included. A mental notation is jotted down for later use. Speaking of ranged weapons, he didn't like the sight of that former drow with the crossbow, which is exactly why he set upon him with the intent of a violent body check --
(06:34:36 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- with his heater shield, both to block the line of fire of his weapon from taking a pot shot at any of the other party members, as well as to break his stance. He follows up with a swift barrage of overhand and downward flicks with his warhammer, attempting to overwhelm the drow with strikes to the head and neck with the flattened hammer side of the weapon rather than the crow's --
(06:34:37 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- beak. (End)
(06:38:58 pm) <Pig`GM> (Anoush went, now Frida)
(06:39:04 pm) <January`> <Frida`> 's face was spattered with black, pungently rotten and fetid blood. It contrasted starkly with her light green skin and cornsilk yellow braids. Her dark blue eyes widened, and welled with something that might be tears. A hot breath puffed out of her slightly gaping mouth, and she turned, assessing what sort of target she should next approach. She adjusted her grip on her mace, and set her feet firmly, expecting to take some s
(06:39:05 pm) <January`> of impact or otherwise defend herself.
(06:41:25 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> After that slash sends the one grimlock aside, Zol steps into the attack. Eyes shift up, and if there's one within the reach of that polearm, he shifts and delivers an upward slash at whichever he can move to, to get it within reach. Hit or miss with that sharp blade, Zol then chokes up on the shaft a bit, ready to counter any that might come toward him with either the blade or the butt,
(06:41:25 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> depending on their approach.
(06:46:26 pm) <Pig`GM> Under Eliya's mental action, the crystal became covered in cracks, through which an eerie light shone. Perl finished her undead off, just in time to have to defend the blow of another. Ditto Anoush. The drow with the crossbow fell over but turned it into a combat roll and fired a bolt at Anoush before being beaten down. Frida saw one of the remaining drow approaching Eliya and Kassad from
(06:46:26 pm) <Pig`GM> behind. Zol's slash sliced part of the undead's belly and it fell backwards, overdoing its defensive dodge. But all of this disappeared for a moment when the crystal burst. The world became white, unbearable blue and retinal orange. A deafening cacophony washed over them and crystal shards blasted everywhere, hitting Alim, Eliya and impacting the armor on the Quareks, though not for a lot
(06:46:26 pm) <Pig`GM> of damage. The world feels all Wrong for a second before returning to the combat scene in progress. The undead didn't seem to like that ultrablast either.
(06:49:49 pm) <@Eliya> Destroying the artifact might not have been the wisest decision, either but it was prudence that prevented her from touching it and perhaps becoming thrall to it. She barely had any time to throw up a kinetic barrier and the crystal was too close to them to do any real good in shielding them from the crystal blast. Covering her face with her arms, she turned away from the blast. She had to --
(06:49:49 pm) <@Eliya> -- trust that Alim would do the same. A little dazed, a little tilting of the world and disorientation flooded through her, but then everything seemed to right itself. Sparing a final look for Alim, she rose wearily to her feet to direct her attention to their assailants, readying a lance of psionic energy to direct at the nearest not near the Quareks.
(06:52:48 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Perldosia shirks as the blast happens and is hit with crystal shrapnel but is otherwise unhindered in putting up a defense against another undead foe. Namely by moving her arms to swing the opposite end of her polearm, which has its own small spike, at her foe to drag the spike up its belly and temporarily halt any forward motion toward her. Then with another two handed swing, she'd bear down the axe of her halberd
(06:52:48 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> against its neck.
(06:54:01 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek offers a quick curse beneath his breath as he hears the tell tale twang of the crossbow's bolt being loosened, which is what he had been attempting to curtail. That said, the ranger who took that pot shot finds ample retribution for the effort under the blows of that steel hammer head, as he's promptly and rather violently subjected to repeated blows from it until his head is doing its best --
(06:54:03 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- impression of undead drow salsa. Before he can shift his attentions to the next opponent, he finds himself showered with those crystal shards, the cacophany of crystal smashing against steel drowned out by the sensation that the world has gone all topsy turvey. The moment he gets his wits back about him, rather than check for potential injuries since the fight is still ongoing, is to set upon --
(06:54:03 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- the next opponent within reach. This time he feints a swing as he draws back and draw out the angle of movement his foe intends to avoid the blow, only to try and cut him off and close the distance between them with a thrust, putting that thick steel spike atop his warhammer to task and find purchase in his foes head. (End)
(06:58:07 pm) <Anoush> She winces and stumbles when the crystal's energy washes over them, having dropped her mental defenses to prepare for physical combat. However, despite not being able to see, she reacts before she's even consciously aware of what's happening. Her hands move seemingly on their own, moving her staff to intercept the crossbow bolt -- with a heavy thunk, it hits the staff and sticks into it,
(06:58:07 pm) <Anoush> all while she's still reeling from the blast. (End)
(07:00:16 pm) <January`> <Frida`> moved as quickly as she could in her heavy armor, blonde eyebrows lowered into a furious expression. She advanced on the sneaking drow, short arm extending so that the head of her viscous silver mace dropped low towards the ground. Once close enough, she lofted it upward in an arching, underhanded swing, aiming for the drow, hoping to get him or her while their attention was on either Kassad or Eliya. The orcish youth scream
(07:00:16 pm) <January`> heralded her attack; a horrible, angry sound that almost seemed like the bellow of some cloven footed animal, though much higher pitched. Just when she was about to connect her hit, a huge, terrifying vibration thundered through her thick form, so loud the deaf orc almost -heard- the explosion of the crystal. She faltered just a moment, blinking dumbly, her expression suddenly innocent where it was once orcish fury. Shaking her head of
(07:00:17 pm) <January`> yellow hair, she arched her mace again and swung at the drow.
(07:01:23 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> That flash is enough to daze Zol, who claps one hand over his eyes. Wrongness aside, there was a simple fact that sudden exposure to brilliant light was not a great thing for a dark dwarf to be subjected to. He remains in place for that moment, sweeping the glaive of his in short, near cuts blindly, utterly unable to see anything about him for that moment. It's mostly to create a sort of
(07:01:23 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> defense that things might have to cross if they wished to close on him.
(07:05:03 pm) <Pig`GM> Under the combined attacks of the party, which shook off the daze faster than the undead, the rest of the ghoulish attackers fell. In the sudden silence, Alim's "...fucking thing" could be heard. Seeing the attackers more closely in the lamplight revealed that parts of their bodies had extensive fungus or something fungus-like and tubular growing on it. Through it. These undead had
(07:05:03 pm) <Pig`GM> symbiotes. Or parasites. "Must be how they're vulnerable to mind fuckery," Alim said, as a hypothesis, his first intelligible statement since whatever happened earlier. "The good news then. Information. The bad news... A bunch of them felt that explosion and are coming to see what's what."
(07:07:38 pm) <Anoush> She mosies on over to inspect while she tries to pull the crossbow bolt out of her staff, but upon spotting the fungus covering the bodies, she backs off and speaks a warning. "Be careful -- it might infect you if you breath in any spores. I have some alchemical potions for poisons and diseases, but I don't know if they'll work on something like that."
(07:07:45 pm) <Pig`GM> "We can retreat to the camp or we can stand and fight," he added.
(07:08:00 pm) <Pig`GM> ((Do people want to go more or do you want to call it a night?))
(07:08:16 pm) <Anoush> (this seems like a good place to stop, we've been going for a while)
(07:08:24 pm) <@Eliya> Eliya should feel a bit of shame and apprehension that she had set of the explosion that caused a summoning of more coming. But she did not. She just merely nodded, and retracted her defenses back to herself. "Then we should perhaps no longer be here." Collecting one or two of the shards of the broken crystal, she stowed them for later. There was no time to tell if it was totally --
(07:08:24 pm) <@Eliya> -- inert, but she would be happy to examine it back at camp.
(07:10:03 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> Once she's felled the last of the first swarm of undead, she tries to get her wits about her and catch her breath. Adrenaline had already reached a peak and is bound to crash. Alim's words are not encouraging as she hunches over with a hand pressed against her thigh. Her head cranes to Alim, "More of them?" She'd glance at her armor to see if she got any fungus on it. Unfortunately she can't scope out her own helm.
(07:10:03 pm) <Perldosia`Quarek> She uprights again and seeks out Welkith just to make sure her relative didn't do something stupid and get killed. When she sees that's not the case, she give Welkith a wave, "How are you? More fighting? Rest?" After Eliya gives her opinion, Perldosia nods, "Rest." She'd start heading back to their original camp, and quickly.
(07:12:40 pm) <January`> <Frida`> stood panting to the side, her sweet face suddenly placid, if not a bit shell shocked. She wiped at the blood on her face, and wet her lips, looming over the drow she'd taken down. The body was infused and threaded with some sort of fungal parasite, and after quickly holstering her bloodied mace, the young orcish woman searched her satchel. Bringing out her large tome, and hastily beginning to sketch the shape of the fungus on
(07:12:41 pm) <January`> a blank page. Her dark blue eyes widened, and she scratched the page with a charcoal, glancing every now and then to the rest of the party. They were beginning to retreat, perhaps signaling more approaching foes. Once satisfied, she snapped shut her book and trotted after the retreating party.
(07:13:23 pm) <Anoush> She takes up the rear of the retreating group, glancing back every few steps to see if anything follows.
(07:13:34 pm) <Pig`GM> They retreated back to camp, awaiting a wave of enemies. To be continued.
(07:13:53 pm) * +Welkith`Quarek takes full advantage of the fact that they recovered their senses more swiftly than their opponents, as that could easily be the difference between a win and a loss during a fight, which this one seems to have gone their way. "Sick." He notes over the apparent fungus-like growths on the undead creatures they'd been fighting, muttering something about having to re-clean his armour all --
(07:13:54 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- over again so soon due to it. Welkith, as always, has been doing something stupid as expected, but nothing stupid enough to get himself killed by any indication as Perldosia checks up on him. "They know this place better than we do, no sense in letting them get any more of an advantage over us than necessary." Seems that everyone is in agreement that they'd beat feet and take a course --
(07:13:55 pm) <+Welkith`Quarek> -- back to camp for the time being and prepare for their next venture into the sector of the underdark. (End)
(07:14:32 pm) * Pig`GM is now known as Pigasux
(07:15:53 pm) * Anoush is now known as devilpants
(07:16:13 pm) <@Ravynetti`Tivaurd> Once he can see again, Zol will follow the others back to camp.
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