Chapter 5: Through the Veil

[BelGareth]

Chapter 5: Through the Veil

You all tentatively step onto the street. It took you all a few moments, and several of you had to try it multiple times, to the intrigue of onlookers, but you all managed to get into the street.

It all seemed foreign to you all, yet known, so used to the silence of a dead city, the loud noise of a living one seems to assault your senses and you feel on the verge of being overwhelmed by it all.

Seeing what she herself experienced, Alyera smiles and leads you all to the orphanage.

She takes you to the orphanage easily, navigating through the crowd with ease, like you all could have done days before, but in your over stimulated state couldn't remember for the life of you how.

Finding the orphanage in a good state, Saffron steps forward and looks to everyone. "Look, I like you all an, well, this whole thing is crazy, we're going to stay it out in the orphanage, maybe we can set them up to weather this storm out or something? I dunno." she turns to leave, with Slade and Jon following her lead "I dunno, maybe we'll meet up later?"

And with that she heads off to the orphanage entering through its main gate to the obviously confused look of the gatekeeper.

As they do, they start to fade, there images shimmering like hot air until nothing remains. You look on in disbelief, as if even more of the people you have met and helped survive just disappeared from your life, even in the city as it was! Could this be, could you yourselves just fade from reality, like nothing more than sand in the wind?

And then a familiar person turns around from in front of you, familiar but not at the same time.

Her face seems to have been burned into your memory and a tear wells up at your eye with out cause of provocation, even though you steel your will.

Could this be another phantom of the altered time stream?
Could this really be her?

Annalyn's face beams with excitement and joy as she sees you all, a huge smile spreads over face from the sheer happiness.

For Golden:

Annalyns body was bought back with Oakenridge to his lab, in the tower but low enough to not be effected by the roiling chaos that is the top of the mages tower. Although he thought, as your body was enveloped by a swirling time vortex and bought to this time stream.

Unfortunately the past Annalyn stumbled over your body in the middle of the night in her nightly daze in one of her lack'o'sleep'I'm'going'to'study'something'fits.

Meeting her future self and past self at one moment in time caused both Time streams to merge and become one, her life replacing her death and merging her memories and abilities. (and other stuff) Having no idea what happened you gladly moved on with another chance of living, having only recalled the terrible image of undead men grabbing at your flesh and chewing...chewing...(which makes your sleep even worse, think PTSD)

This was one day ago.

Feel free to fill in the rest with what ever else.

[Golden Ladybug]

Tears came unbidden to my eyes when I saw them, but I didn't care. They were happy tears. I rushed over to the four of them, staff in hand, and pulled them into a crushing hug (or at least as crushing as my hugs could be... Which is to say, not particularly crushing)

"You have NO idea how good it is to see you guys" I blubbered into Lucien's shoulder. And it really was, even if part of me was screaming that I'd never met any of these people before in my life.

"I thought I was crazy for a while there," I tried to explain, awkwardly pulling away from the hug, "I kept seeing things a-and I knew all this stuff I shouldn't be able to... I thought I was going crazy!

I wiped my eyes dry with one sleeve, and smiled "I... It's good to see you, even if I am cra..." I bit my lip and grinned sheepishly, hoping that this wasn't another delusion. Some part of me remembered these people as dear friends... But part of me was also telling me that I was dead.

And I remembered how it had felt to be eaten alive.

Bel, I am incredibly pleased with both Saffron's delightfully anti-climatic departure and Annalyn's return... And, of course, the reason for that return :smallamused:

[Sparrow]

When Ralph spotted Annalynn, he was overwhelmed with joy, and some confusion, but mostly joy. As he saw her face, a flashback of the moment where he spotted her body lying limp on the ground. He quickly put it to the back of his mind as she came and hugged the group. "Annalynn.. I.. I don't know what to say.. I.. I missed you." He returned her hug, remembering how happiness felt again. It was possible to be happy here, even if he knew what was to come. Right now, he was just happy his friend was back.. Just as he had done with Alyera, he asked one thing from her. Please, just don't leave again, okay?

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

Lucien stands there in silence, even as the all-seemingly surreal form of Annalyn came rushing towards their direction and wrapped them in a big hug.

Warmth.

It is then that Lucien is sure that she is real. Or at least that is what his brain tells him.

Warmth.

This time in liquid form, collecting in a small pool on his shoulders. She is crying.

Warmth.

He is pretty sure it is in liquid form as well, rolling down his cheeks. But he does not bother to recognize it.

"Where in the hells have you been?" is all he can muster to say without having more of those annoying warm stuff gushing out of his eyes.

[Golden Ladybug]

I smiled at Ralph's comment, but I had to struggle to keep the frown off my face. The part of me that knew him was confused... He was different from how he'd been before (or was it the way he'd been later?).

"I'll try, Ralph. I really will" I said, my eyes still moist with tears. I was annoyed at myself for showing so much emotion; why was I letting myself cry in front of strangers! Strangers who I felt closer to than family, who I knew were friends so dear that I'd lay down my life for them. I had.

"I-I'm not really sure. I think I was at my apartment, but I remember running away. Hiding from monsters. With you four, and another person for a while..." I winced as my head started to ache, contradictory memories of the last few days struggling to make themselves known.

"I remember seeing myself, but I looked like I should be dead... I was missing pieces" I told them, hating myself for not being able to stop my voice from breaking, but after that, I wake up on the floor at the tower, but my clothes were all torn up and I had this thing floating around my head!"

I pulled out the triangular ioun stone from my pocket, and it sprang back into its customary orbit around my head, and I sighed. For some reason, seeing it floating made me feel better about all this

[BelGareth]

Cassandra looks down at the frightening visage of the Demon fighting its shackles, it had taken the better part of a day to find it. Those who wished to utilize it's soulstuff had put up a tough fight, but nothing the little lady, friends to the eternally damned and thrice betrayed couldn't handle.

A sweet smile shone from her face, the demon not caring, not caring that his young women was hear to release it, not caring that she was in actual fact a fellow denizen, in some way of the same planar realm.

Her left eye flashed suddenly and the Bar-Lgura below her sensed something within her, a kindred spirit beckoning it to heed her and cease it's tiresome ignorance.

Sighing it let its huge gorilla like arms down, the fur on the back of its neck and upper arms slowly laid flat against its thick rough black skin and the the fire in its yellow eyes simmered to a low boil. It snorted and sat with a thunk on its behind. As if to say 'ok, go ahead'

Smiling even more than before, Cassandra took that in stride, apparently understanding what the lumbering Ta'nari was meaning, and she moved to undo the latch, releasing the beating human heart from the container, letting it die, shuddering as it failed slowly.

As it did so the Bar-Lgura started to fade, shimmering in waves, like ripples in the pond of a bright pool. In seconds the Demon had vanished, sent back to the plane it came from, hunting in the iron jungle for some Demon Lord or other.

Standing up and straightening her dress out with both hands, Cassandra made sure there was no blood on her, indeed there was none. But something was not right, she could feel a tingle on her spine, like the sudden realization that someone was watching, she swirled around suddenly, checking for any eyes looking in her direction, but all she saw was the darkness of the night peering back.

Frowning at what seemed to be more than just nerves she turned back but stopped only when hearing the voice 'Stay put, something comes'. She recognized it for what it was and did as she was bidden.

A few seconds later she was not disappointed, a flowery spark of energy erupted inches away from her, causing greenish-purple smoke to snake slowly in the air, slowly taking the form of a face. The face was that of similarly beautiful woman;


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fvJ9_NE_HNM/UQThmN0SgRI/AAAAAAAACqA/U4XhkczP8dI/s400/Smoke%2520face.jpg

"Cassandra? Yes, yes of course, they need you Cassandra, they all need you. So many. All of them, dead, they're all dead Cassandra. The Purple Wyrm is here, she betrays us until the last. Death everywhere! She is in the Tower, You must come! You must protect them from the death! You must protect her from them, only you can do it Cassandra, only you have the power to. Oh the death, it was supposed to help, but the Death! I will help as much as I can, but oh the Death, it makes them walk!"

It speaks to you and the face shows obvious pain in doing so, the emotional grief is too much and before long tears start rolling down your cheeks from sheer sympathy.

The surreal ghostly face smiles at your reaction.

"Oh Cassandra, why must it be you?"

And with that it starts to fade, the smoke losing its color it seems to spread out, becoming much larger than before, hanging eerily still, and just as you realize the face seems similar to you, yes...that face looked like your own, not an exact mirror image, but as if she was related to you....And then the smoke engulfs you like a King Cobra striking at its prey.

Your vision disappears and your breath is knocked out of you, smoke shooting down your throat and into your lungs. How are you not coughing?

And then slowly, you see light, your breath comes back to you. Ah yes, there is the coughing.

You see several people looking at you like they just saw some kind of ghost as your vision returns to normal. You realize you are no longer in the woods, but in a city you have never seen before. But oh your throat! The smoke comes billowing out your mouth in waves and fades off into the air.

1

As you are all looking at Annalyns return and grasping her close as tears roll of joy roll down your cheek, a cloud of smoke *Pops* into existence where nothing was before, several feet in front of the group. The dark grey smoke dissipates to show a lovely young lady, smoke pouring from her mouth as she coughs it out.

[Golden Ladybug]

"Okay, I'm just going to ask, because neither set of memories are giving me much to go on here; does anyone know the woman with smoke pouring out of her?" I asked blithely, part of me glad for the interruption. Strange and seemingly random supernatural phenomena was, ironically, a lot more familiar than emotional reunions with friends I hadn't been sure I'd really had.

Before the others had a chance to answer, I whipped my left hand across my body, and muttered a handful of mystic syllables. Since I'd acquired my second set of memories, I'd been more powerful; stronger than either version of me had ever been, and while I wasn't thrilled by whatever had happened, that was something I wasn't going to complain about.

Without sound, a cloud of floating knives formed around me, seemingly of nothing. Daggers, Shortswords and Kukris floated alongside Cleavers and Bread Knives - and all of them were pointed at this newcomer.

"So," I said, addressing he woman as she continued to cough up smoke, "friend or foe?"

Yeah, that's a silent image. Illusions, making you feel like a spontaneous caster :smallamused:

Annalyn will also rack hr brains for anything she knows about the means of travel Cassandra seems to employ.

Knowledge: Arcana [roll0]
Knowledge: The Planes [roll1]
Knowledge: Religion [roll2]
Knowledge: Illithids Dungeoneering [roll3]
Knowledge: History [roll4]
Spellcraft [roll5]

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Oh, great. And here comes a new challenger!" Lucien exclaimed as he readies his weapons have before him. With all the abominations they have faced, he is not surprised anymore. He smiles, and he pauses, not knowing whether to be alarmed or not at the thought that he has already found this something of a routine.

[bindin garoth]

"Purple Wy-" was all she could get out before the smoke engulfed her.

And so, with a flash of light, she could suddenly see again! But of course the coughing follows.

*cough**cough*cough*

As she finally coughs up that -wait, what was that smoke anyways?- she looks up, only to be greeted with a bunch of blades around her. What a lovely sight to behold when one is randomly teleported. Just lovely.

"B-but wait, I didn't do-" this lady, who was wearing what appears to be quite fancy dress under some black cloak, starts sputtering out, only to end up falling backwards as she tried to back up, her hands up and showing she was unarmed.

Her hood falls back as she falls! Revealing quite a pretty and innocent looking face. That is, until you quickly notice the...... Otherworldly features on her face. Her hair possessed a raven lack streak right in the middle of that lovely blonde hair, and while her light blue right eye possessed that innocent look upon it, her left eye...... Was something entirely else.

A sudden flash emits from the eye! You feel a shiver down your spine. Not the, I'm-scared shiver either, but something much, much deeper. As if your body itself knows, that you need to run. An instinct, build into your body from years and years of human experience, is telling you to run. Now.

But just as the feeling came, it is gone. The girl, looking to be in her mid-teens, is covering up her left eye, and quickly flips back up her hood, trying to cover her hair. But it was no use, it was obvious everyone there had seen it. Just like they saw the smoke coming from her mouth.

"Please! M-my names Cassandra Walker! I d-didn't mean anyone harm! I don't know what happened!" She says as she looks to you with her innocent-looking eye, her other eye still covered up. It's obvious she's scared and confused. But you can't help but wonder, where did that pure terror feeling come from?


Just mentioning: Bel, I didn't know if you wanted to include her family's history with Annalyn's knowledge checks?

[Sparrow]

Ralph releases Annalyn and turns toward the new woman. The problems that faced him before, technically hadn't happened yet. Ralph had to remember this because he felt much better now. "Lucien, calm down. Obviously this lovely lady means us no harm. We all may find it.. different that she might have appeared out of no where, but still. Let us give her a chance." Ralph says to Lucien, somewhat scolding. He then directs his words to Cassandra, shifting his voice to a calm one, "Its okay, we will not harm you. You are obviously in terror. I have one question for you Cassandra, what has frightened you?"

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

The half-elf shrugs and puts his weapons down. "What? Can't blame me, y'know. Almost everyone we met was out to get our heads," he mumbles almost inaudibly, although he feels a slight embarrassment when he remembers where, or when rather, they are.

When he looks at Cassandra, his face changes from earlier to a more welcoming one. "Sorry." He then looks at Alyera and acts out what he saw earlier, mouthing the words, "Did I just see smoke come out her mouth?"

[Golden Ladybug]

With a sigh, I reversed the movement I'd made before; the cloud of Daggers faded like mist (if anyone had been paying particularly close attention, they might have noticed my Ioun Stone becoming ever so slightly larger).

"Okay, we'll give her a chance" I replied to Ralph, not forgetting the feeling that had tour through me when I looked in her eye. I don't scare that easy, and just looking at someone with different coloured eyes shouldn't elicit that reaction.

"Yeah, you did. I saw it too" I whispered to Lucien, overhearing him when he mentioned it to Alyera.

Just re-appropriated the Silent Image to make it a shell for my Ioun Stone. I can spend a Standard Action to concentrate on it each turn so I can use it for something else later :smallsmile:

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra audibly lets out a sigh of relief as the people before let down their weapons. Things could of gotten dicy there....... Well, she supposes, appearing out of nowhere with smoke coming from her mouth is a bit unusual.

Still, could she trust these people? Only time could tell. They seemed decent enough, if not a bit weapon-happy. At least they weren't like her family, and what they did......

As she gets up, she yanks down the hood some more, covering up most of her hair and her every mysterious left eye. She takes the time to brush off the dirt off of her dress and cloak before speaking; it was obvious she couldn't stand being dirty!

"I really don't know what happened. Just that a being made of smoke appeared before me, told me that the Purple.... Dragon? No that wasn't it......" The last part she mutters to herself. "Ah! Wyrm. Right. The Purple Wyrm had betrayed them, and something about Death making them walk? All she said was that they needed my help, but I know nothing! And then the smoke engulfed me." She make guestures with her hands at this, as if it was necessary to tell the story. "And next thing I knew, I was here! That's all I know!" She says the last part with a smile. She seems to have recovered from your greeting of weapons quite quickly. Perhaps she's jsut an overly cheerful girl?

"So, who are you all? Is something going on here?"

[SamBurke]

Alyera steps forward and curtseys. "I am Alyera, of the house of Parnellion. Who might you be?"
What does she know? What do we tell her? That vision sounds almost like an oracle of the destruction... Could she be from the beyond, too?


In other news, the word "Curtsey" looks weird in print.

[bindin garoth]

"Cassandra Walker. Well, last of the Walkers to be exact. Unfortunately, I really don't know what happened to everyone else....." She says as she curtseys back. She doees so slightly ackwardly, however, as if she wasn't use to making such gestures.

"So what's going on here? Everything seems to be normal..... Wow, this city is so BIG! I've never been to big cities before, my parents always left me home, saying training was most important." She says as she looks around, fascinated with the surroundings. It's obvious she get's distracted easily, perhaps she had ADHD?

[Sparrow]

Ralph eyed the new girl, she was very hyper. She reminded him of his girlfriend.. Whoa, his girlfriend, he had nearly forgotten about her in all the chaos. "Well, Cassandra, this is the capital.. Pleased to meet you, Ralph of the Kava house." He does some attempt at.. maybe a bow. Has he seriously forgotten how to bow properly?

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Lucien. From the house next door," he smiles. Turning back to Alyera and the others. "Anyway, we gonna go with the plan now? Who takes her? I'm not taking her. Who am I going with again?"

[bindin garoth]

"Going with? Takes her? What's going on here? You all know something, don't you?" She says, putting her hands on her hips. She wanted to know, bad! Why wouldn't they tell her? Was the situation that bad? And if so, why were there still so many people out. She couldn't help but wonder these thoughts as she continues to talk with these people.

[Golden Ladybug]

"We have a plan?" I asked, only slightly surprised. We'd never really been the best at plans...

"I suppose I can keep an eye on her, if someone explains what the plan is" I suggested, shrugging off the newcomer's - Cassandra's - questions for now.

I scowled at the girl; there was more to her than the innocent act she was putting on, that much was obvious. I didn't want to let her out of my sight.

Annalyn has trust issues. Also, Cassandra appeared in an explosion of Smoke and started acting cute and innocent.

Mighty suspicious :smallamused:

[BelGareth]

As you are all talking a small boy of maybe 6 or 7 snakes his way through you and pops up near Ralph with out being seen by any of you.

"Ere ya go!" he says almost whispering, as he hands Ralph a rolled parchment before rushing off, faster than an alley cat as he hold onto his had with one hand trying to keep it from falling.

Opening the parchment Ralph reads:



Master Kava,

You are summarily summoned to the Royal Kitchens.

Please use the servant entrance.

-Edrix Fallows, Royal kitchen



Ralph recalls that Edrix is the Royal chef and prepares the meals for his girlfriend.

[Sparrow]

Ralph is taking by surprise as the kid gets so close to him, nearly grabbing the kids throat. He realizes what is happening when he is handed the parchment. He quickly reads over it. "Of all times.." Ralph nearly cussed, but decided against it with new company looking so innocent. "I.. I've been summoned." Ralph tells the others. "But wait, this is strange. I'm supposed to use the servants' entrance." Ralph thinks to himself, perhaps it's a trap.. no I'm just being paranoid..

[Golden Ladybug]

"Strange? Do you not normally use the Servant's Entrance?" I asked, pursing my lips "...did you get summoned to the palace this time, last time?"

If this was a new summons, and not one from... his past, and my present, then something was definitely going on.

"Should we go with you?" I asked, unsure.

Anyone got any objections to pretending we went over our "cheat for the future" plan in character, so that we can get to this new development?

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

Lucien looks at the boy as he runs away from their group, and he is reminded of the younger street rats at Ma's home. They're okay, he thinks to himself. For now, at least.

We have to change how it goes this time. Definitely.

"Yeah, was it supposed to be given to you back then?" he says, still looking at the boy who by now is lost in the crowd. Looking at Ralph, he continues, "or is this a new development?"

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra just stands there confused. "This time, last time?" "back then?"

These people are stange. They wouldn't even give her the honor of at least saying they couldn't tell here! Just ignored her....... And how was she suppose to work with them? Well, assuming she's suppose to help them. It's not like the.... errie-smoke-thing-that-looks-like-her told her anything about it.

She sighs. This was going to be tough. Ralph seems to trust her,at least to a degree. And the others at least introduced themselves. But this one girl, the one who summoned those dagger, didn't even introduce herself!

Unsure of what to do, she asks "Should I go? I mean, I don't know what's going on here or anything. And I'm definitly interupting something...."

[Sparrow]

"No, no.. You can stay. In fact, the Purple Wyrm is way to similar to the Violet Snakes to be a coincidence. You may be of some help to our cause." He turns toward the others. "Should we tell her whats going on guys? I mean, Purple Wyrm, Violet Snakes, tell me I'm not imagining some connection." He looked back at Cassandra. She still looked so innocent, yet obviously, she was being dragged into this mess too. It made him sad, but there was nothing he could do.

[BelGareth]

As ralph is telling her to stay, Cassandra hears the voice in her head suddenly, the same one from the smoky woman.

"You must go with them, Cassandra. The wyrm is not what they think, you must go with them and find her, she will curse us all...."

The voice echoes in her mind and slowly fades.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra takes a step back and puts her hand up to her head. Was she going crazy? Voices in her head? Well, it sounded like the same on in before, but still..... She couldn't help but wonder.

Still, she should tell them. "Um......... Guys? I just heard from the same being who teleported me. She says you're wrong; this purple wyrm is a she apparently.... And she will curse us all!" She says, now even more confused than ever. But then again she hardly knew anything about what was going on anyways...

[Sparrow]

Ralph didn't want to make Cassandra feel bad. He had been confused recently too, so he decided it was probably best to agree with her. "I stand corrected.. I suppose we should worry about that, but first.. We should find out why I was summoned. It was no secret that the two of us were a couple, so I don't see any reason why I would need to come through the servants entrance.."

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Okay, so we have a new development? Who is this...person talking in your head? What does it mean about cursing us? What does it have to do with what's going to happen?" Lucien asks Cassandra.

[Golden Ladybug]

It doesn't matter; its not like things could get any worse than they were" I huffed, feeling rattled with talk of curses flying. Maybe I've already been cursed... I thought to myself, frowning grimly. It would certainly explain why my head was filled with memories that didn't belong to me.

I bit my lip, and pushed those thoughts from my mind "Look, we need to get going. I don't want to be eaten by Zombies again!"
I all but shouted, waving my Staff through the air "We need to try to stop that all from happening again, or at least try to be better prepared for it if we can't"

"We need to convince the Mages not to cast that Spell, we need to stock up in case we fail and we need to find out why Ralph is wanted at the castle" I listed, punctuating each item by tapping my Staff on the ground "So, we split up into pairs and get going"

I turned to Cassandra "If you're coming with us, then you can explain on the way, before we split up"

Anna's spooked; she wants to get into stupid situations so she can hit someone and not get yelled at for it :smallamused:

Also, if you guys want to avoid splitting the Party, we've got three whole days to play with. We can investigate Ralph's letter and hopefully still have enough time to sell unwanted gear and start buying food, water and other useful things. Its what, midday at the moment?

We can most likely go deal with the Wizards tomorrow, and spend the last day before Zombies setting up some Safe Houses and the like.

Also, we should probably go find the people who ended up becoming that resistance group Ralph's Father was leading, get them warned about what's up.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra shook her head. "I don't really know much about this being. She just appeared before me as a being made of smoke, looking very much like me. She just said that my help was needed." Cassandra makes guestures with her hands again when mentioning the smoke being.

"I'll come, but can you explain this business about zombies and the spell on the way? And how do you know about all of this?" She thinks about it for a second......

Another second.......

*GASP!!!*

"Can you guys see the future?" She asks with a bewildered look upon her face.

OOC:

Sorry for the late reply guys! Busy weekend, my new roommate just moved in!

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Even better. We are from the future," Lucien cuts to the chase with a smile. "Smoky look-alikes, eh? Shady. Or should I say, smoky. I hate to say this, but I have some personal business to attend to. But for now, I'll go with Ralph. Who else goes with us and who goes to the tower? And where and when do we meet up?"

[Sparrow]

Ralph inspected the group closely. "I think perhaps Cassandra should come with us. If it is a trap, it will allow us an opportunity to see what she can do. If not, then she can pretend to be your girlfriend Lucien, and you can be one of my friends that happened to be with me when I got this letter." Being back in the past made Ralph feel a bit better, and having all his friends back didn't hurt. His mind was clear again, although the time travel hadn't helped his head ache. "Of course, if that's not too awkward for you two."

[Fireheart]

Ma shakes her head and rubs her hands across her face. She gives Annalyn a quick hug. "Welcome back, girlie."

"Why don't we all stay together for a bit? We've got a lot of catching up on. "

She glances at the new girl, "Ye may as well come along with us. It seems you've gotten thrown in with us, whether ye like or not. I'm Moraine Collins but most call me Ma."

She sighs. "Rest. We could really use some rest."

[Sparrow]

"I don't know Ma. Edrix doesn't like being left waiting.. We can rest, but we should probably not rest too long. If this is a trap, and he sends another letter to my past self, what then?" Ralph looks at the letter again. "My past self wouldn't expect any of this. It might mess with something, what happens if past me dies?"

He looked over at Cassandra, clearly this was making her even more confused. "We'll explain everything, but you might want to sit down first. Lets get somewhere indoors before we do anything."

[bindin garoth]

Time travel! Ooooooh, that was even better than what she originally tought! Could they teach it too her? Her eyes go wide at this.

"Waittimetravel?How'dyoudoit?Canyouteachme?Iwanttol earn!" She says very, very fast, quite excited at the concept. It doesn't help that she's not too quite about it, either....

OOC:

Ok, adding ADHD to a character= fun! :smalltongue:

[Sparrow]

"Cas.." Ralph tries to interject. "Cassan.." Once again interrupted by her quick words. "CASSANDRA.." He says trying not to sound to forceful. "I'm not sure we can even do it again. Now, it might happen again, I don't know. But you will only find out if you come with us." He breathed heavily for a moment "I'm sorry for that. It was uncalled for. We've had a tough couple of days."

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

The half-elf breathed in. "Okay, how about me and Ralph head for the trap, I mean go and meet this Edrix. The rest can go and rest first while waiting for us. And maybe talk about a more concrete plan."

[Sparrow]

"Whats wrong Lucien," Ralph said, suddenly changing his tone to a more sarcastic one, "She not your type?" Ralph said, nudging Lucien in the gut. "Nah, I'm just messing with you, that sounds fine to me. Although I think we might need that energy of hers if something goes wrong. I'm fine either way though."

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Passable," he says as he looks at Cassandra appraisingly with a blank face, which immediately melts into a smile. "I'm kidding. You are a fine lady, though with all this crap about, who gets to think about those kinds of stuff? Ah, well except Ralph, of course," he hits back.

"Anyway, I was thinking going with a small number is good, and we're both good at being sneaky, so we could avoid anything without actually making a mess. And besides, they can interview Cassandra better without having to mind the potential trap."

[Golden Ladybug]

I nodded; Lucien was right, it would do no one any good for us all to go barging into the castle and draw attention to ourselves. And, given how she reacted to learning the others were from the Future, Cassandra would definitely draw attention.

"Okay, we'll go find somewhere to rest, and plan. You two spring the trap" I said, rolling my Staff between my palms.

"We can go to the room I've been renting; its near the West Gate, a big old building called The Grey Cloud" I informed the others, "Its got a big common room, and after the owner got accused of stealing his patron's boots, no one really frequents it"

I turned to the rest of the group, who weren't going with Lucien and Ralph to the Castle "Shall we visit the markets on the way, pick up some supplies?"

I touched my backpack lightly. I'd found a weapon in there when I'd woken up... the other me had been almost obsessed with it, and she didn't know why. I wanted to get rid of it.

I turned around and prepared to leave, and stifled a giggle. It had been pretty funny to see the two of them making fun of each other like that. We'd never really had the chance to do that before...

Screw you conventional D&D Logic, we're gonna split the party again!

I hope I didn't just write everyone out of all the interesting plot hooks, but Lucien has a point; we don't all want to be caught in the super-obvious trap, and Cassandra can explain her history in Annalyn's Creepy Bootstealing Inn.

And we can buy bread and cheese and stuff... that's really the limit of my "Fantasy-y" Foodstuffs. I'm sure we can buy other stuff :smalltongue:

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra appears to be a little embarassed by the girlfriend talk, with her checks flushing a little. After all, this was the first time she had ever talked to "normal" people; her family hardly counted as normal.

"Will you two be ok? I mean, I can heal you if you need it..." She say as she takes a step forward, proceeding to trip over heer feet and fall face first into the ground. You can't help but think of all the noise she would make if she came along, let alone if she wondered off somewhere. Yes, it was definitely best to leave her behind.

She sits back up, still on the ground though, and rubs her head. Looked like that would leave a nasty mark. But in seconds, it's gone! Perhaps her healing would be good after all?

"The market?" A grin slowly forms over her face. Uh-oh. "Sweets!" She says, with a very wide grin on her face. A rather loud noise comes from her stomach, and her face flushes again, embarassed by the sound. Yes, she hasn't eatten in quite a while it seems...

[Sparrow]

Ralph looks at Lucien. "Very well. The two of us then. We can go whenever, it'll be good to have someone with me. Last time I was alone.. Nevermind, that stuff is the future now."

He looks down unto the clumsy girl who had fallen down. Normally he would have been able to catch her, it appears he is still a little off his game. He extends his hand down to her "Better be a bit more careful, sometimes the ground isn't so forgiving."

"We won't need the market, Edrix will have plenty of food around. We can grab some while we are there, you know, assuming we have enough time." Ralph said, turning back to Lucien after helping Cassandra up.

I just realized how derp my writing style is. I don't even know what tense I'm writing in.

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"I am ready," he says to Ralph. Then to the others, "Oh, by the way, if we are not back by the end of the day...I think you know what that means," Lucien says with a grin. Turning back to Ralph, "Shall we?"

[Sparrow]

"After you, my friend" As the two of them headed off, Ralph turned back to the others. "By the way, it means come look for us."

[BelGareth]

Ralph and Lucien (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14690224)

You watch as two of your friends depart, but having been reunited with another thought lost to you permanently, the thoughts of traps and other strange and wonderful things are quickly lost to you.

You take off in the direction of the The Grey Cloud, being on the other side of the city, in the lesser reputable district it takes a little while.

But you reach it nonetheless, and enter the almost empty common room, just as Annalyn had said. And with wary eyes fidgeting towards your boots, you find a table where an old skinny waitress waddles over asking for your order.

Having ordered, you only see one other patron. An older man in heavy dirty robes, trying to keep to himself and his mead. Muttering every few seconds, he was clearly mad, or at least trying to portray it. He was succeeding.

[Golden Ladybug]

I sat down on my favourite chair and got comfortable, ordering a plate of peaches from the aging woman who served at the Cloud, and settled down to wait. The others (excepting the newcomer) looked even more shell-shocked than I felt. We all needed time to be still, and get our bearings.

"Mhmmm...." I murmured, after a few quiet moments had passed and I'd had time to look around the room.

"I haven't seen him before; the other me doesn't remember him" I said, pointing out the grubby looking man with a confused look on my face. It wasn't often that more than one person was in the Common Room, much less a group. And here was a group and someone else.

I shrugged, and turned back to the others.

"So... what do we do?" I asked, sombre. I looked each of the others in the eye; Alyera, kind and tender but marked with ever present doubt and darkness. Ma, aged and weary, but still possessing unmatched strength and will. And the newcomer, Cassandra, mismatched eyes eliciting that same shiver down my spine.

"And you," I began grimly, knitting my hands together and leaning over the table, keeping my eyes locked on those eyes. I wasn't going to back down "What's your story? Who are you? And, perhaps more importantly, what?"

Not even gonna bite that Hook yet. We'll get round to the creepy not-crazy guy in a moment, once Annalyn finishes being mean and untrusting towards Cassandra :smallamused:

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra sits down and orders some sweet bread. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. And now the group was already split? It seems to go against logic somehow, but yet Cassandra was not in a position to argue.

She flinches at Annalyn's question; it felt like she was being interrogated. And what should she tell them? What would they do if they learned the truth!?

I-I'm Cassandra, and I come from a family of demon hunters, the Walkers. Although I'm the last one, and I never did complete my training. My family's gone." She definetly avoiding the last question.


Not gonna get information from her that easily :smalltongue:

[SamBurke]

Alyera stands up, and begins to pace. "Demon hunters, are you? Well, then. You should be able to answer a simple question: what is the best hand-crossbow manufacturer?"


I figure that, since her father made some random magic weapon crap, it's her chance to get a bit of usefulness out of the backstory!

The Answer she's *LOOKING* for is Soliser Swords, her father's branding. But since it's only a big thing in her mind, I'm guessing it's fairly smalltime. But hey! The things you here.

[Fireheart]

Ma follows Annalyn back toward the Common Room. Reaching the table, she sets her staff down beside her and rubs her eyes.

"Blimey, I could use a good night's sleep. I'm lost on what day it is let alone how many days we've been going."

She glances at the rest of the group and back to Cassandra.

"Alright dearie, spill it. This voice...entity says you need to go with us. That's fine. No more unusual than Annalyn here coming back from the dead. But...Why? What do you know? What is that you do?"

OOC: Any chance on the leveling up/golden wash/tranportation back in time that Ma got her spells back?

[bindin garoth]

"Best hand-bow manufacturer? I'm not sure.... We are said to have been blessed by Palor, and use his light to defeat our enemies. We were...." Her voice trails off as she glances downward, obviously saddened by the topic. It was obvious she was in deep thought, something you're surprised she can do, considering how hyper the girl was earlier.

Ma's question snaps her out of it, however. "Oh...... Ah...... The voice told me? I don't know anything other than what she...... it? Told me." she replies.

[Golden Ladybug]

I quite resolutely kept my face neutral when Ma mentioned my "return" to life. Those memories were not something I particularly wanted to deal with right now.

I looked at Cassandra quizzically at that; she honestly seemed as confused about how she'd come to join us as we were. But she was hiding something. She dodged too many questions, and the way I always shivered against my will when I met her eyes.

"So, is this the first time you heard this Voice?" I asked, leaning back into my seat and getting a bit more comfortable.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra glances over at Annalyn, and couldn't help but wonder, what all had they been through? How rough had it been for them?"Yup! I have no clue who or what the smokey-woman was!" She says, some of her hyperactive-ness returning.

"She really didn't tell me much about what was going on here too. So what's happening? Things look peaceful..."

[SamBurke]

"Yes. But they won't be..." Didn't answer the question. Interesting. Perhaps she's given up her family's supposed heritage? "We still need to figure out what spell they cast... any ideas? It's not like we can waltz in and...wait." She pauses, and begins to motion with her hands. First one way, then the other, accompanied by an orchestra of mutterings in various tongues, speeds, and voices. "Do we have anything else we need to do here? Because I don't think we've got time to rest. It's time to learn... the truth.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7j651ABzh1r5fie0.gif

PLANTIEMS.

[Fireheart]

Ma's eyes widen.

[bindin garoth]

*GASP*

Cassandra's eyes widen as she looks at Alyera with surprise. Would she finally learn the truth to what happened? And how they time travelled, which she so desperately wanted to learn how to do? And what threatened this beautifuly large city?

Cassandra proceeds to munch on some sweet bread in anticipation.

[SamBurke]

"Here's my plan: first, we go to the mages, having laid out a very, very, specific way of explaining this to them that we are, in fact, from the future. Here's how we prove it: they lock us into chains, then use some sort of magic or something to keep us from using magic ourselves. Then, they go out and find the other versions of ourselves. They can then cast whatever they want to get rid of our "illusion", but they'll see that each of us (except Cassandra) is a time-traveler. That should be enough to get them interested and listening to us."



OH YES.

If I spend a half hour to an hour or more working out the wording, can I be considered as having taken 20 on this Diplomacy Check?

[Golden Ladybug]

I tilted my head quizzically, "Well, I suppose that could work... but not for me" I rested my head on the table sadly, waiting for my peaches.

I looked up at the others, "And I'm not sure how I feel about that plan. What if they just decide you're nuts? And based on this plan, they might be right" I said, laughing softly. There wasn't any malice in it, but it really didn't seem like a... foolproof plan.

"Besides, we said we'd wait for Lucien and Ralph to get back"

Ain't having none of that Diplomacy strong-arming me into agreeing :smallbiggrin:

In any case, I actually can't take part in that plan. I'm the only me :smallwink:

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra stops munching on her sweet bread for a moment to respond."Are you sure that'll work? I'm sorry, but I'd have to agree, I don't think it's the best......" Her voice trails off, as she starts thinking. This stuff really wasn't her strongest suit...

"Isn't there someone we can just go up to and talk to? There has to be someone who would listen to us." She says. Truth was, she wasn't good with people. And being in a foreign city, she didn't know anyone. What could she do?

[BelGareth]

The old woman delivers the peaches and sweet bread along with some mead, wine, water and cheese and then shuffles off. The bread seems a little hard, and the cheese seems to be molding more than it should, but it all looks like a feast to everyone except Cassandra.

While you talk it's not hard to see the lone crazed man has, at some point in time, turned to regard your party. While this is not a big deal, as you are the only group in the room, he seems to be staring directly at everyone.

He is staring directly at Cassandra and mouthing something silently, smoke starts to pour out of his mouth, streaming from his eyes and ears, he stumbles to the floor, falling, his knees and bones clattering like old wood on the floor boards as he is engulfed by smoke.

A bright flash of energy goes off inside the column of smoke that is above his crumpled body, followed by the *crakoom* of thunder.

And then two deep dark eyes coalesce to form brooding, dark angry redy orbs of power.


http://panzerleader.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/open-grave-wraith.jpg

"You," it says, its voice booming around the rafters of the building, like the echoey ricochets of a far off storm. "You should not be here." it says, it's eyes boring into Cassandra's own.

[Fireheart]

Ma nearly falls out of her chair and grabs her staff as the shadowy glowy-eyed thing approaches and yells at them.

"What the blazes! Blast it! I really need sleep. Go Away."
Ma grabs her staff in both hands and slams it into the shadow.

OOC: Okay, I"m not sure when she goes in initiative but this seems too much like a Ma moment.

Attack:
[roll0]

Dmg:
[roll1]

[SamBurke]

"Oooh! Oooh!" Alyera says sardonically, "This is the point where I say... NO!" A flash of dark yellow laces between her fingers, building into a tapestry covered in runes before settling at her feet. The moment it does, it spreads, covering nearly the entire room before stopping. It slowly curls over the floor, fitting to the cracks and clinging to the skin of a few of the more disreputable customers.


Casting Archon's Aura, Will Save DC: 18. Anyone Evil within 20' must make this save, or take a -2 penalty to Attack, Saving Throws, and AC. [Archon's Aura. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/a/archon-s-aura)]

Sorry if this effects Cassandra.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra doesn't blink at all at the sight of the foul beast. Instead, a resonance seems to occur, between Cassandra's eye and this strange being. Cassandras eyes shift, from being so lively to..... Nothing. No emotion at all. She calmly rises from her chair as holy light seems to surround her.

Wait, was that a black spark? Some demonic energy? You're not sure, it only lasted but an instant. The holy light stirs up, whip around her as it gathers at her hand. "Disappear" is all that's uttered from her mouth before the energy flies forth, wrapping around the creature and hindering its movements.


Ranged Touch Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]/2 = 3 half fire/half holy damage

Using my bracers of the entangling blast. Deals half damage, the targets entangled for [roll2] rounds

Dc21 reflex save or catch on fire for 5 rounds, taking 1d6 fire damage each round.

[BelGareth]

Alyera's spell covers the area and envelopes the new....thing...but it barely moves as the spell disappears in a shower of golden sparks.

Cassandras bolt of magical flame barely misses the thing, splatting onto the wood far behind it on the timbers of the room.

It blinks, as if, did that just happen, did these fools actually attack me?, and then lifts its finger again, pointing to Cassandra.

"You should not be here Witch!"

[Golden Ladybug]

I sighed at the appearance of the apparition, already used to the sudden appearances of unexplainable phenomena, and continued eating my Peaches.

With a wave, the Illusion covering my Ioun Stone restructured itself and formed the Image of an Iron Humanoid, large and imposing even with its blunt edges and lack of features, that stood between the spectre and us.

"As you might have noticed, you're not wanted here" I informed the creature, "If I were you, I'd leave. The "Witch" can go where she likes"

Just reformatting the Silent Image into a facsimile of an Iron Golem. Illusions are wonderful :smallredface:

[SamBurke]

"I suppose we should ask you who you are, creature. What are you, then, and what do you want with her?" Alyera's voice peaks for a moment, and then is steady, and oddly stronger than normal. Forced, perhaps.


Do I need to roll Diplomacy?

[BelGareth]

Do I need to roll Diplomacy?


Maybeitmightsaveyouall

[SamBurke]

Alyera breathes deeply, firing off a quick prayer to... whoever would be above. Words, words, words, give me the words! and then, she breathes out, stepping between the enemy and her friends. "Being, I wish to speak to you. I... I..."

For all your training, for all your skill, for all your force of will! Like song lyrics, that taunting voice echoed in her head. She still couldn't figure out why it was there, what it was doing.

"I want to... uh... talk to you, and please ask you something do. I mean, ask you do to do something, or, really, not do something." Her voice speeds up, and breaks oddly every few words. Alyera can tell her friends are helping her from behind, urging her on.
You are those vile monsters' only hope.
"I wanted to ask you why you were here, and, and, and, to not hurt us."
And you WILL let them down.


Casting Tap Inner Beauty, which gives me +2 to Charisma Checks for 4 minutes. Also, Guidance. Because +1.

[roll0]
Aaaaaaand it's not enough.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra barely lets up in order to answer the demon. "I shall go wherever I please, fool. It is not your choice to decide." Once again, her voice sounds cool and uncaring, very unlike her normal voice.

The light again continue to swirl around her, this time strands peeling away and lashing out at her own allies! But pain they do not feel; instead, warmth and comfort fill their entire beings as the holy light touches them, and reinforces their bodies.

Cassandra starts humming an eerily familiar tune. It reminds you of the holy hymnals you often hear being played at places of worship, but something is off. A few of her notes are off, and as a whole, it sounds much deeper and darker than it should. Did she just learn it wrong?


Activating Hymn of Celestial Aid: All gain Fast Healing 2, +2 morale to saves.

Cannot use any invocations except ones that modify her celestial light.

[Fireheart]

Ma holds her staff in front of her. Though not nearly as diplomatic as Alyera, she adds her words to Alyera's.

"Yes, please. We are all tired, and confused. Perhaps if you told us what is was that you wanted? I have a feeling there a re quite a few of us who aren't were we belong right now?"

Aid another?

[roll0]

[BelGareth]

As you all stand and attempt to parlay with a maleficent spirit, the bartender comes rushing through the image of the phantasm, which then fades from view, its swirling mass of darkness dissolving before you.

"What on earth are you all doing!" the man yells, clearly confused and worried at having such powerful spellcasters in his tavern. "You can't just cast what ever spells willy nilly! This is my home!" he seems to be quite tepid at his response, but you can see he is only speaking to you all out of necessity.

The old man who had become the apparition was gone, or had never been there, either way, it is only you, in the room apart from the staff, who are now cowering behind the bar.

[SamBurke]

"Uh... we are extremely... sorry... we were wondering if you could... help us... clean up the mess?" Alyera manages to stutter.


And I just had another idea!

[Golden Ladybug]

Panic rising in my breast, I whipped my hand and the illusion of the Iron Golem dissapeared. That wasn't okay. I wasn't supposed to have snapped like that. If that hadn't been real, then my "I've gone crazy from stress" theory suddenly had a lot more going for it.

It was becoming abundantly clear that I couldn't trust my senses. And it was only a short step from not trusting your senses to not trusting your memories. I looked at my friends, standing up from the table and looking just as confused as I was. I did all I could to suppress the thoughts that came unbidden; the thoughts that questioned whether these were my friends. If those friends had ever really existed.

I held my head in my hands, briefly. I couldn't start thinking like this, not right now. I hadn't had any proper sleep in days, or at least part of me hadn't. I was barely coping with my new memories as it was, and if I started doubting...

Around about then, I realised that the Innkeeper was still standing nearby, extremely upset by our conduct.

"I-I'm really sorry too, sir. There must've been some mistake" I stuttered, slightly worried that I was going to be evicted in the next few minutes. I was the only one of us who actually stayed at this Inn, after all.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra starts to gather the light into her hands, ready to unleash an..... Huh? Cassandra blinked. Twice.

Where was he? Was the whole thing an illusion?
She let the holy energies dispurse. her face noticeably relaxes, returning to the innocent look and warm eye she had beforehand.

She's quick to bow her head in appology. "We're sorry sir! We thought we saw something there...."


So seeing things now? Perfectly normal. Nope, not crazy at all. And most certianly not a figment made up in my head.

:smalltongue:

[Fireheart]

Ma plops down heavily in her chair and rubs her eyes. She digs into her pouch and pulls a couple silver pressing it into the hands of the bartender.

"Please sir, forgive us. Our tiredness is catching up with us. I think we all thought we saw something that wasn't really there."
Ma looks at the others. "Now I'm sure we all need sleep, if we're seeing phantoms in the air. You all did see the same thing, right?"

[SamBurke]

"Yes... I did..." Alyera stands quietly, making her way almost invisibly to the stairwell and slipping up it without a word. She waits at the top of the stairwell, clutching something in her bag with a shaky, desperate grip.


Guidance.
[roll0]

[BelGareth]

You guys wanna go to sleep and skip to the next day?

[SamBurke]

You guys wanna go to sleep and skip to the next day?

Fine by me. You guys?

[Fireheart]

Fine by me. You guys?

Can I say yes with emphasis! Lots and lots of emphasis?


Assuming we go to sleep:



Ma shakes her head, tosses a few more coins at the innkeeper. "Rooms, please. We'll need beds."

She follows Alyera up the stairs and into a room where after locking the door, placing her pack under the bed and her staff beside her, she promptly falls asleep.

[bindin garoth]

Sounds good to me!

Cassandra follows the others to their seperate room, laying on the bed for hours. Sleep didn't come easily to her, instead her mind filled with more and more questions. About what was happening, who, and perhaps most improtantly, why her?

[BelGareth]

The night is restless and filled with dreams, lonely, scary dreams that slowly twist into nightmares made from your deepest desires and memories.

Your family is present, some kind of party is going on, cake, cookies, sweet cordial, sweet bread and tarts all laid out on the table, the air is breezy, hot but the cool wind washes away any unwanted heat.

You hear laughter floating among the air, echoing through the rooms, children playing and the soft bubbling of a brook from outside.

And then the cold sharp lance of a scream curdles your blood, your heart skips a beat and your chest feels as if it were to explode. Ears ringing you turn to see everyone dead, murdered where they were, blood slick hands upturned towards you.

Pleading, asking you.

HELP.

HELP US.

You turn and run, the dead all around you, friends, family, all of them, dead. Blood pouring from eyes and ears, mouths and wounds.

You trip and fall.

Twisting in mid air you watch as the ground comes up to meet you, but you never do, you keep falling, falling, falling, into the abyss, arms outstretched, grasping you, needing you, wanting you....


*******

You wake up in a hot sweat and look out the window, the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon.

[SamBurke]

"I didn't even... try..." She whispers, slipping underneath her bed, and curling tightly.

Two boots. Not the dirty, torn boots of a farmer, or the shiny, polished boots of one of those nice city guards... but small, sharp, pointed boots. Elves? No. These were black, and covered in some form of arcanic markings. I slid closer, pulled by curiosity. Ignorant.

Ignorant.

Ignorant.

The moment my head from beneath the frame of the 4 poster bed, the thing looked down: a darkness was in his eyes, a darkness I've never known. Perhaps it was from this, my first real look at violence.

Across the house, the cold sharp lance of a scream. Then silence.

[Golden Ladybug]

After cleaning up the common room, we'd retreated to the room I'd rented when I'd arrived in the city earlier this week; I didn't talk to any of the others, just unlocked the door and helped to set up bedding.

I sat on the window sill, looking out over the sleeping city. Helpfully, one set of memories superimposed an image of that same city burning, corpses littered in the streets.

Thanks Brain, really appreciate it I thought bitterly to myself, and curled up on the window, hugging my legs to my chest. I would've sat there for hours, hoping that my body would win out and forcefully shut down my whirring mind. But I knew from experience that I wasn't going to sleep. Listening to the feverish whispers coming from the others, I'm not sure I'd want to.

Sighing, I looked out into the night, waiting for the morning. As I waited, I pulled out my spellbook and began to re-memorise the spells I'd cast earlier today, the coded arcane writing taking shape like a wound-up spring in my mind.

[bindin garoth]

THUMP

THUMP

Cassandra's heart wouldn't slow down. Even her normal meditation techniques wouldn't help. All she could do was sit there, still in bed, and gasp for air from the fear caused by the nightmare. But that wasn't the only problem. The nightmare also reminded her: She still didn't know what happened to her family!

Was the nightmare a sign? A warning? She was sure. She felt like her head was spinning from this nightmare. Slowly, she gets up and heads downstairs, her hair a disheveled mess. She sits down, obviously still half asleep, and orders some fruits and water.

"Hope you two got more sleep than me...." she mumbles out.

[Golden Ladybug]

"Auuuuuuurgh" I vocalised in response to Cassandra's comment, head face down on the table. I felt absolutely terrible, sluggish and weak. I'd left my bags upstairs, taking only the essentials with me, and the gear that I wanted to sell in the city sometime today. Even that was making me feel like I had the weight on the world bearing down on me.

Not being able to sleep last night had left me feeling tired and irritable as usual, and I scowled at anyone who looked over in our direction. I didn't speak to the others much, and besides a hunk of bread that I'd bought before any of the others entered that I'd slowing toasted over an Arcane flame, I didn't eat anything. I didn't want to offend the innkeeper any more than I had to, and I had... lets call it a "premonition" that talking to him today wouldn't help my case much.

It wasn't until everyone else that I managed to string more than a few words together. I tried to palm off the Staff of Bolstering to one of the others, passing the Stave without a word. I don't know why I'd been carrying it in the first place; both sets of memories were a little vague on the matter.

Luc'en...Ralph...di't come back from th' pal'ce" I mumbled at them, face still flat on the table. My whole body just felt so heavy.

"Mebbe we sho'd go look for th'm"

Unsplitting the Party Powers, gooooo!!!

Also, does anyone want to hold onto this staff (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/staves/staff-of-bolstering) I've been carrying around? I've never had the opportunity to use it, and its pretty potent. I'm pretty sure the reason I was going to hold onto it was that I would be able to recharge it, but I think Alyera can as well now :smallconfused:

Anyway, since I currently have a Light Load of 16lbs, I don't really feel like I'm best suited to be carrying around the heavy buff-stick :smallbiggrin:

[SamBurke]

Alyera would, but she's currently upstairs, cowering underneath a bed that's about to be sould out from under... I mean *OVER* her.


"You can find them. You can find them. You can find them..."
Every day helping those fools is a day NOT finding them.
STOP. The voice! The voice! Filling her with such warmth and light, if that were even possible. Alyera has to stretch out, because every single part of her body is just so warm. And then, the bed feels a little confining. She slides from underneath to the cold, clear, bright air above. "Thank you! Thank you! Whatever you are."

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra winces at Annalyn's "Auuuuuuurgh." Obviously, sleep hadn't welcomed her either... Not that it mattered to her much at the moment anyways. After all, who could be in a good mood after a nightmare like that? Almost as bad as her memories of the base....

THE BASEMENT! Just thinking about what happened down there, and all the cruel things her family did almost broke her down. She lays her down in her arms on the table as a few tears are shed.

After drying her tears, she slowly lifts her head up. She had heard something mummbled to her. Annalyn was asking about Ralph and Lucien.... She thinks. It was hard to understand her mummbling.

"Probably....... Probably wouldn't be a bad idea." She say, and then to try and brighten the mood, she smiles. It's an obviously forced one, however, not really doing much to help.

[Fireheart]

Moraine wakes from the Nightmare of seeing her children lie dead around her. She blinks and looks around the room. Seeing it empty, she realizes two thing. The first, her children are long grown and enjoying their lives on the farm. And second, she was alone in the room, meaning the others must have gone downstairs.

She pauses by the window and looks at the sunrise over the city. It's hard to imagine all that's happened in the last few days or will happen in the next few days.

She splashes some cold water on her face and says a prayer to Erastil to keep her family safe. She takes a few moments and runs over the spells in her mind and smiles as she realizes that a few new ones seem fresh.

OOC: Can the Bolstering Staff be used as a regular Quarterstaff? and is it considered MW if so? If so, Ma can take it, otherwise, she's got hers and would hand it to someone else to carry.

[BelGareth]

After the restless night, you all awake and feel refreshed...somewhat.

After cleaning your faces, relieving yourselves and stretching you are all up and about.

About ready to leave and go down stairs, you all hear a knock on the door.

The scared, urgent kind of knock you have heard before.

*Knock knock*

You all look to each other in silence.

*Knock knock*

The door handle rattles as the person attempts to grab it and open the door, the door creaks open and slams shut.

You hear a muffled yell from outside the room
"Hey, no they ain't in there, keep lookin!"

And then heavy footsteps leading away from the room.


Bolstering Staff does not count as a Quarterstaff, so no.

Yay you all get a bunch of new spells!

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra looks at the others, not sure of what to make of those outside. Who was it? Someone who needed help? Or someone who was after them? Or was it that ghostly horror who attacked them before? Or was.....

As Cassandra's ADHD kicks in, she stands in the awkward silence in a moment before she finally stops thinking, walks over to the stupid door, and opens it, peeking outside to see who it was.

[Golden Ladybug]

"G'd d'mmit" I muttered, face still splayed on the table.

I grasped my Staff, feeling the same rush as always as I touched my Arcane Bond, and prepared to come to the enigmatic Cassandra's aid if (or, perhaps more likely, when) whatever was outside the door started trying to... I don't know, eat her or something.

Just going to delay my Action for now, wait until whatever Cassandra sees comes to light

[SamBurke]

Alyera gasps, and then turns to the door. I have to know... Does it... does... it hurt? Without a word, she leaps to the window, opens it, and slips out, tumbling to the ground below with a thud.

She stops just long enough to glue her bones back together with a golden burst of warmth, and then sets off at a run for the wizard's tower.


It's time to be stupid, right? Right? :smallbiggrin:

[Fireheart]

"Who's out there?" Ma starts to ask Cassandra....

When suddenly Alyera opens the window and leaps out it...

"Bloody Floods! What is that girl doing?" Ma looks at the window after her. She turns back to Annalyn and Cassandra, nearly speechless. She raises an eyebrow.

[BelGareth]

As Cassandra peeks the door open and takes a glimpes in the hallway, Alyera jumps out the window, landing on one foot at an angle she hears the bone crack and crunch form the cobblestones.

[roll0]
In addition your are entangled until you are able to heal your ankle. (AKA magic higher than you have)


You all hear the crunch, and then she hobbles off down the street.

Cassandra sees nothing in the hallway.

[Golden Ladybug]

Lifting my head up from the table, and watching the injured Halfling hobble down the street at speed, I considered collapsing again.

"Okay, so I did fall asleep then? No?" I asked, before stumbling to my feet and sluggishly heading towards the doorway. Things were starting to get weird again, and I was becoming increasingly worried about the state of my mental health.

Right now though, the priority was making sure Alyera didn't get herself killed jumping off of buildings.

"I suppose we should follow her" I mumbled to the others, the half-formed plan to go look for Lucien and Ralph forgotten for now. I shuffled past Cassandra, and walked out onto the street, leaning heavily on my Staff.

So, who is faster? An encumbered, exhausted Wizardess or a Halfling with a broken Ankle?

Only time will tell. Stay tuned.

[SamBurke]

Alyera groans and throws herself against the wall, squishing her hands together and trying out a few prayers she can remember. "Just let this be done... I have to know!" She yells to no one in particular.


Casting Mending on my ankle. I also can get Lesser Restoration, if need be... but that's in a few hours.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra takes a look around, seeing noone in the hallway.

"There's noone -"

*CRASH*

Cassandra stares wide-eyes at the window just jumped through. "Did she just.....?" She asks rhetorically, pointing towards the window. Deciding that jumping out of building above the first floor is not a good idea, she quickly runs downstairs and out the door to Alyera.



You forgot about the part where you have a girl with ADHD who can run :smallbiggrin:

In other news, would healing 3d6 HP or grant fast healing 2 aid in the ankle recovery? I have one of those tree feather tolkens, but I don't think that would help in this case :smalltongue:

[Fireheart]

Ma shakes her head. "Yes, yes she did.", answering Cassandra's rhetorical question.

Shouldering her bags, Moraine grabs her staff and sets off after them.

[BelGareth]

Ma gets her stuff and heads out of the room, heedless to the possible danger outside of the room moments before.

Unsure of what to do, the others follow in suit and soon the whole group, sans Alerya, is standing at the foot of the stairs to the common hall. A familiar man stands in center of the room, his austere composure and arrogance rising the bile in the back of your throat.

Before you, stands the Lord Machant.


Sam please go here: Alerya's Run (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14994727)

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra only spares the man a single glance before continuing outside. Sure, he looked important and royal and all, but what did it matter to her at this point? She didn't know the man, and she had a crazy teammate to run after! Besides, if he was as important as he seemed, and not some big showoff noble, the other could handle it.

As she continues outside, she slams the door open, leaving it open for the others to run through. She starts to run in the direction Alerya ran in, stopping only for a moment to look for her. "Alerya!" she screams.


And so the party is split into three now?

......Have to say, not sure what to think of it :smalltongue:

Perception: [roll0]

[Golden Ladybug]

"Oh, come on! We haven't even met you yet!" I scowled, staring down the arrogant and kinda creepy Frenchman.

Looking wistfully at Cassandra and Alyera's retreating backs, I squared off against the Gang Leader. Leaning heavily on my staff, I looked him up and down.

"So. What do you want, Machant" I asked frostily.

Three Split Parties running around :smalleek:

Well, this can only get better. Time to get off on the wrong foot with the powerful Asmodeus Worshipper who controls half the city or so.

[Fireheart]

Ma frowns and wistfully glances after Cassandra but steps up behind Annalyn, her staff ready.

[BelGareth]

Lord Machant turns to you three with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh ma chérie, pourquoi tu me parles sur ce ton de la voix?" he says, his voice as smooth as butter, he blinks and waits for a response and when one is not forthcoming he places his hand on his hip and speaks again, this time, his left eye flickers a little, seemingly annoyed.

"Why on earth are you addressing me in such a way? Do I know you?"


http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/FR_ART/People/ElaithCraulnober.jpg

For those who need a reminder and the new people
Also, Cassandra, I'm going to say you are still in, Lord Machants goon are blocking the doorway

[Fireheart]

Ma glances at Alyera and steps forward a little and give a curtsey.

"Forgive us sir, I think she must have mistaken you for someone else. But if you do not mind, we would like to leave to do some shopping. Would you ask your guards to let us pass?" Moraine smiles brightly at the well-dressed Lord.

OOC:

A little diplomacy never hurts. She is attempting to portray that they are just simple folk who were staying in the inn and are now headed into the city to do some "girly" shopping.

[roll0]

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra steps back with the others, frustrated with the bodyguard standing in the way. It was obvious that they were not going to get out of there fast. 'If he doesn't let us out soon, well we'll just force him to move!' She thinks to herself. But for the moment, she decides to play along.

"I'm sorry sir, but we are really in a hurry, our friends are waiting for us at the shopping district. Can we please go?" She says with a polite smile.


Aid another, Diplomacy: [roll0]

NOTE: If diplomacy doesn't work.....

http://njsd18232.hmsites.org/files/2013/01/Troll_Face_kindleDX.png

I HAVE A PLAN!

[Golden Ladybug]

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interjected, tapping my staff on the ground with each word.

"I remember being here last time around, and you didn't come in today!" I said accusingly, looking at the Machant with eyes that, if I were asked to give an objective description of them, might be described as crazed.

I kept forgetting to write this post up :smallfrown:

[BelGareth]

Lord Machant scowls for a moment but steps to the side, "But of course, I am not holding you up."

Any of his thugs in the room, look a little startled, but move out of your way, allowing you to leave.

[Golden Ladybug]

Looking pointedly at the Lord Machant, Annalyn gestured for the others to follow her. They had to catch up with Alyera, and now that her sleep addled brain started to get round to it, probably should check in on Lucien and Ralph too.

"I'll be watching you, Machant" Annalyn told the Gang Leader, making the appropriate hand gestures and squinting at him.

Her warning delivered, the sleep deprived Wizard began to stumble out of the inn.

[Fireheart]

Ma nodded gracefully but quickly followed. I have got to get that girl some sleep!

[BelGareth]

Make a survival check or k.local check to see where she went.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra follows quickly, making sure not to be left behind. What should they do though, especially considering they were now broken into three groups?

As they get outside, Cassandra immediately starts looking around outside, trying to figure out where their runaway friend went.


Survival: [roll0]

[Fireheart]

Once outside, Ma scans the area hoping to find a sign of the missing halfling.

[roll0]-knowledge local

[BelGareth]

You rush out and scan the crown, some small boy looks at you and points in a direction, an upturned cart is being re-pilled with large onions the size of your head and several shopkeeps are shaking their heads.

T'would seem something had gone that way. Perhaps a small halfling woman?

[Fireheart]

Ma points toward the cart. "Let's try that way.", she says, heading in that direction.

[BelGareth]

You run off, running through alleyways and past carts laden full of the morning produce, you run through a warm area smelling of delicious pies and pasties, and another cafe that was freshly cooking crepes and omelettes.

You all screech to a halt in the middle of a split road, carts trundling by, you spin around and cannot see any disturbance of her passage through. One direction takes you to the bridge, the other to the Pirate district.

[Fireheart]

Ma stops. Looking both ways, she sees no sign of Alyera.

"Annalyn, do you think she would have tried to get out? Or headed to try to find the pirate before everything happens?"

[BelGareth]

As you stand in the fork in the road, you hear a siren from somewhere off in the city, trying to pin point the area its coming from takes a moment, but you have figured it it to be coming from the noble district, that or the castle itself.

[bindin garoth]

Cassandra stands around a bit confused, unsure of what to do. They had no clue where she was.

Upon hearing the siren going off, Cassandra immediately runs off, hoping their runaway friend is in that direction. Or perhaps the other two, they still hadn't seen them since yesterday. This day didnt seem to be going too well...

[Fireheart]

When Cassandra takes off, Ma follows after her.

~Fireheart

[BelGareth]

Running towards the siren, you head toward the castle and the upper class district, you know that the bridge is in that direction, and flashes of times gone by....no, images of what may happen flash before you, dead bodies litter the streets, the walking dead shuffle along on broken ankles and the living feast on the flesh of the dead....

So strong are the visions that you all stumble as you see the tower, the smoking ruin was the only thing you can remember, and now it is a white marble alabaster, a striking spear into the blue sky.

You see Alyera peering up at a balding human behind two guards inside the towers walls....

[Fireheart]

Ma approaches behind Alyera quietly.

"Alyera, what's going on?" she says, looking at the bald man curiously.

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

Lucien does a double take and almost called out immediately, but he stops himself. He draws his blade first and conceals it beneath his cloak and approaches carefully. He is not sure what things are anymore.

"Ma? Alyera? Is that you?"

[Fireheart]

Ma smiles as she see Lucien approach. "Lucien! Yes, it's us...what's going on?"

She pauses for a moment. "Where's Ralph?"

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

Lucien looks away. Then in a low voice, he replies.

"Ralph, he's...he's gone. I..." he tries hard not to falter, but his voice breaks. "...I couldn't protect him."

He stops. He knows if he speaks any more he will not be able to hold his tears back. He just stands there, his face a blank.

[Fireheart]

Ma's eyes widen. "But...But..." She closes her eyes. "Erastil grant him the peace of the fallow fields." She opens her eyes and puts a hand on Lucien's shoulder. "When you are ready, we can talk. Until then, let us see about saving the rest of the city?"

She turns back to Alyera, the bald man and the guards.

"Right, so...what's going on?"

[SamBurke]

Alyera glances over shoulders frantically, and is shocked. The wizard, thankfully, doesn't notice, but she does: Lucien, Ma, and that girl, Cassandra, staring from beyond the gates. No, no! They weren't supposed to know!

[BelGareth]

The elderly man straightens and looks to Alyera's supposed companions, he hand waves the guards to allow them through and smiles as he watches them approach.

Turning to Alyera "Now, you were saying you had a question?"

[SamBurke]

"I wanted to ask... are undead..." BAM. Like a ton of bricks, or a cursed warhammer, it hit her.


Water sloshed around her feet, as Alyera leapt off the bridge. It was slower... much slower than it should have been. She hit the water, and dove through, swimming fiercly against the rush of the mighty river. Ahead of her, she saw... it. The thing.

The baby.

A tiny infant, barely a few weeks old. There was no way to tell what race it was from: it had not hair or teeth. It was distinguishable not as a boy or a girl, a genius or an idiot, a villain or a hero: merely as Life. That is enough.

Alyera scooped it up, panting as she did, and stared into its eyes. They were... dead. Cold. Without even focusing on her, that babe's two pallid sockets stared, as if focusing on a thought a thousand miles in her head.

"Is it...?" she started to ask, when it lurched forward. The baby was... attacking.

No. No.

No.

No!

Not... another... life. Without hestitating, the halfling breathed deep, and began to chant the Prayer of Life. Golden bandages sworled from her hands, tying in thousands of knots and folds around the child. She WOULD heal it. It WOULD live. Not another life.

Gurgle. Choke. The baby was dying right in front of her, its pale eyes now with massive irises. It could see nothing but darkness... And then, it slipped from her hands, into the water, arms spread, as if waiting for its mother to return.

Another life.

Alyera chokes, gasping, her eyes flashing with color, and anger. She turns to the man, and speaks. "Sir..." The voice is so hoarse, so small... he can barely hear, and she drops her voice to a whisper, tears streaming down her face, mouth, clotting her throat. "Do they feel? Do the undead... see?"

[BelGareth]

The old man scrunches up his face, "Hmmm, seems there was a certain sense of deja vu with that, hmm?" he looks to the others, not seeing them until now "Well, seems like we have a party going on, Guards let them through," he waves you all through the entrance to the garden, which is quite well kept.

You can all see this man is of some importance, he is dressed in scarlet robes of very fine material, more fine than you have possible seen, in fact the whole attire seems to surreal for you, as if it wasn't even real....

The old man looks like a grandfather, his smiles tell of good days in summer, playing in the creek, swinging on a tree and sitting on his lap listening to a story of old....and he smells of wonderful scents, you smell scents of long times gone by, from memories that kindle the happiest times of your life in your memory, so intense is it that it almost mesmerizes you.

"Do the dead feel? what a strange question, reminds me of an intrepid mage who tried to prove something along the same lines, he was hunted down by the village he was in if i recall...hmmm, do the dead feel, well, why would you need to ask such a question?"

1

Anders

You have been summoned to your first duty station, as a Patrol mage for the guards of the mage tower, having finished school it has been hard to come across a good station, and by some sheer coincidence, you have managed to acquire the best one you could think off.

You are heading there now, ready to serve your very first duty with the guards, you are to head to the Mage tower and meet with the guards.

Upon your arrival however, you see the guards standing their post, and the Archmage standing behind them with a group of zombies!

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

Lucien walks forward silently, oblivious of the others' conversation. He looks down on his feet, focusing on his every step to keep his mind from thinking about anything else.

[Sparrow]

As he walked down the street, a smirk grew on Anders face. Finally a decent post, a respectable post. He pridefully walked the streets, turning off one of the roads he walked toward the tower. There it was, standing proud above the other buildings and there is the archmage waiting and some other guards and... Anders does a double take when he sees the zombies, looking at the city map in his hands and back up again. Reassuring himself that he didn't take a turn off into some muckled damn cultist meeting or some crazy costume party, he began to panic. "What is going on here?"

Color: RoyalBlue

[SamBurke]

Alyera nods, at ease with the man. "Well, I know it's an odd question, but... Well, recently, I've run into... Lie? Truth? Lie? Truth... which one? some of them. When I was... Compromise. Half of the truth should be enough, right?" near an abandoned warehouse. And I wanted to know if they knew what they were doing." Convincing enough for a normal person, but not likely to fool a mage, especially one who likely had a spell for just such a moment as this.


She's not even trying to bluff... taking ten, I guess if need be?

[BelGareth]

The man squints his eyes at you as you ask your question, and thinks for a moment or two.

"Why on earth would you want to know this? I don't believe you, I don't think you 'found' some undead in a warehouse, I think you are lying."

1

Anders, the guards see you coming and snap too as you bark your order. "Nothing ser, nothing unusual to report, all portals, doors, and entries secure at this time!" he yells out, saluting you as he does. It was a flawless report, and one that you know is easy to mess up. Nothing stood out of place from the guards.

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Heh...heh heh. Hah hah hah!" Lucien is covering his face with his hand as he laughs. Then with a quick set of movements he closes in on the old man, grabs him by both shoulders and pulls him close, his face only inches away from his.

"By noon of the day after tomorrow, this whole damn city will be crawling with the undead. People will die. Heck, you might be dead by then, and one of the zombies I have cut with my own blades. Now, old man, look into my eyes and tell me if I am lying."

Lucien's face is dead serious, scary even.

[BelGareth]

The old man smiles at you as he he incants something under his breath and you feel a sudden heaviness grow from where he is touching you.

You have but a second to say something, but nothing comes to mind except a sudden 'ugh' as a spell takes over your body and turns your flesh to stone.

You suddenly see darkness, only darkness and you are alone....very alone....

[SamBurke]

"LUCIEN! NO!" Alyera screams, leaping towards him. She grabs his arm, and begins to pull away, when she's stopped: Lucien is rooted to the ground, and he's heavy... far too heavy. She blinks, and then stares. Stone... solid stone. A terrified, petrified, statue, sitting on the front gates. Damn you, old man. DAMN you! The words rise to her mouth, and she leans in to yell at him. But then, a moment of clarity: whatever's about to happen, she has to be far, far, more careful than ever before.

THINK. BE WISE. There, again, the voice.

"Sir... he spoke out of turn, but he's right. I had a.. vision, you could say, of the future of this city. In a couple of days, you're set to cast a massive, massive, spell to protect the city. Involving a wall of force, contingently perhaps? Anyways, something somewhere will go wrong, and a lot of people will die. But don't take my words as proof... I offer you my memories."


I know it's unlikely that we can change the timeline... but still!

[Fireheart]

Ma is stunned as the old man suddenly turns Lucien to stone.

She starts forward, "Put him back!" She says, her eyes fierce. "I've lost enough people due to this mess and I won't have you costing me another because you're too stupid to hear what she's saying! Now bring him back and start paying attention to what she's telling you!" She holds her staff in one hand while pointing her finger angrily at the old man.

[Sparrow]

Anders listened as the soldier reported and walked up directly in front of him. "Private, I would call those things something 'unusual' to report, wouldn't you?" He asked, pointing at the group of zombies.


Guys, whats going on over there? In a whee bit of trouble are we?

[BelGareth]

The old man, obviously a wizard calmly looks to you all, his eyes betraying a frustration that is not showing on his face.

"Look, my patience is starting to wane, and now you tell me something that I cannot ignore, but yet reeks of false hoods and lies that I can barely stand to look at you, you talk about the undead feeling and then you" he says pointing to Ma with a poise of imperialism as if the man is used to chastising Emperors and Kings "spout out information as if this has happened, are some kind of seer, a revelator, how do you come to this information, how is this not a lie!" he says, finishing off almost yelling.

1

The guards look to you confused, "Er, ser, that be the Archmagus, he's talking to some guest's o'his....Innit he?" he asks looking back to make sure he was right, sighing with relieve when he saw he was right. His companion merely shrugs not knowing what in the Nine this new mage was talking about.

[SamBurke]

It seems like the truth might have been a better option after all... this could be horrible. Alyera stares at the stone form of Lucien. "Very well... My father told me that some mages of Cloud City had recently created a spell that would look into memory. If so, I can prove to you that I had the vision... it was like I was there, living through three days of it."


... Let's hope we don't get a TPK...

[Sparrow]

Anders rubs his eyes, confused. "So, nothing seems... out of place to you?"
Its been a long journey to get here Anders, keep it together, no need to go crazy on the first day of your new post

[Fireheart]

Ma takes a step back as the mage points furiously at her. She takes a deep breath.

"My apologies, Sir. It has been a rough three days but we do not speak untruth. Please, I ask you, release our companion from his spell and let us inside where we can tell you what is going on. Our only wish is to prevent what seems to be a horrible future."

[BelGareth]

The old man sighs, sliding down a hand from his forehead to his chin, as if he was trying to blink and wake up, but when he looked again, everyone was still there.

Sighing again he looked and saw Anser almost arguing with the guards.

"You there! Come here, Remove these....these miscreants and throw them in the dungeon, they have espoused enough lies for a lifetime and are privy to things impossible, I will send my apprentice to interrogate them at once!"

With that he speaks a word of power, a rune flashes on the floor and then you all feel a power unbidden into your being...

Ma [roll0]
Alyera [roll1]
Annalyn [roll2]

Spellcraft DC 27 >=
Symbol of Stunning (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/symbolOfStunning.htm)


You all are overcome by intense emotion, the thought that you want to drop everything and do nothing is so strong and unbound from your subconscious you do exactly that, several of you just fall to the floor the promise of the unconsciousness to alluring to your minds set to default.

Looks like we have lost Golden?
I'll wait for some replies then move on....good times ahead, TORTURE woot woot

[Sparrow]

He looks to the side, away from the guard he was pestering. He nods, drawing his sword and approaching. "Yes archmage, I shall do so immediately." He turns back toward the lower ranking guards. "You three, come here and help me out."

[SamBurke]

"NO! Nooo! N--!" She stops, horrified. Her screams haven't made a sound. Each and every one, as it rises from her throat to escape, is stopped. She's frozen in place, desperately trying to just get the will to stand. Eventually, she gives in, and falls to the floor with a thud. "We're... innocent."


This is a good time for me to say: I think this is my fault. Feel free to rage at me IC, as it makes a good bit of sense. Drama!

[BelGareth]

Anders you escort the men to the dungeon inside the tower, the other guards leading the way, once they were replaced by some others inside the tower.

It wasn't hard, in fact you are unsure why you are even needed, as the mage carries all the bodies on a magical bed of force, something you are familiar with (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/floatingDisk.htm).

After you shackle them, he looks to you "Stand guard over them, My apprentice will be down to assist soon."

1

You all fade into oblivion, your bodies numb and your minds recoiling from the eldritch power that so easily managed to overcome it.

Darkness, gloomy brooding darkness, the kind that pulses with your own heart rate, the kind that changes shapes and colors from behind your eyelids.

but....this had changed, this wasn't the gloomy darkness of your mind, but...your eyes...you were awake! You suddenly realize you can hear others, barely stirring, much like yourself, you feel your arms and legs shackled, heavy chains leading to somewhere...

Suddenly a light appears as if from no where, blinding your eyes with burning brightness, like a miniature sun piercing your eyes into your brain and your very soul.

After a few moments, you hear footsteps, a scuffle of hard heels on stone and a sigh followed by the clank of a key against rough iron. A short squeel and a sigh of relief from the iron gate, you manage to peek out from your closed eyes, braving the bright light that hangs in the center of the room.

Garren Oakenstaff stands in the center of the room, his robes decadent, but slightly dirty, the show of a well to do man, but one who gets dirty from time to time.

He whistles as he comes in, a smile on his face as he looks at you all. Then, the smile is gone, replaced by a look of astonishment and surprise..

"No!" he yells out, "this can't be! You...you" he stammers, "But I don't know you!" he screams, grabbing at his head, an unseen assailant of the mind "How can this be?"

[Fireheart]

Ma raises her head and blinks slowly at Oakenstaff.

"Wait...You're dead. Or Something? Wait...how do you know us?"

She glances around to see if any other of her companions are awake and filled with more understanding.

[SamBurke]

Alyera stares for a second, before realizing it. That's Oakenstaff... and that means I can save our future selves, at least. "Yes, Oakenstaff. Nice to meet you... again. Glad to see you recognize us... just remember, the next time you get a chance: tell us not to come here, alright?" Perhaps a sarcastic tone wasn't the best one to strike in talking to him...

[GuyFawkes]

Lucien

"Tell me!" Lucien shouts as he grasps at thin air. When he realizes he should be grabbing an old man and instead just flailing at nothing, he stops. His face frowns at the new development, and he looks around.

"What...where?"

He wheels around when he hears the voice of what turns out to be Oakenstaff.

"You! What is going on!?! Argh!!" the half elf grabs at his hairand pulls at it.

[Fireheart]

Ma starts to laugh...through there is a bit of a hysterical edge to it.

Finally, she takes a deep breath and pulls herself together. "Yes, Please, tell us. What is going on?"

[BelGareth]

After escorting the men down to the dungeon on the curtails of the archmage, Anders wandered what the hell was going on, this was his first day and he was already being waylay-ed into babysitting for some...idiots who tried to talk to the Archmage, stupid people, when would they learn, breeding and blood had its place and they were not among it.

He watched the prisoners with a strange mixture of disinterest and annoyance, which eventually led to intrigue as to what the hell where they doing.

He watched, as he was instructed, and waited for the Archmages apprentice.

It wasn't long, only a hour or two, until this older man, younger of course to the Archmage, but older than himself, he could have been a grandfather, but he walked like a man of younger age, closer to Anders.

He nodded to Anders and gestured to the cell door, getting up he unlocked it with due haste, and stood by the door, ready to be called upon, as was his duty.

When the apprentice started to grab his head and scream he knew not what to do, and so he stood, frozen in place, confusion splayed across his face.

1

As Oakenstaff clutched his skull, it was obvious the man was in a lot of pain, from what you are not sure, and your questions for him, fall on deaf ears, or ears of pain.

He falls to his knees, blood welling out of his ears, eyes and nose, as he continues to scream. The captain of the guard standing by not knowing what to do, it was his first day.....

And then a waft of hot air seemed to move over everyone, a strong scent of aniseed followed it, the air whirred before you and your stomach flip flopped, you know this feeling....no you knew this feeling, before, when...in the past, the present, no the future, when you were in the future....

The air suddenly retracts, the smell gone, and the heat holds for a second in the center of the room, a visible sphere of radiant energy, which then bursts, splashing the room with its energy, the aniseed smell blasting your sense of smell once again, but this time almost four times as powerful.

And at the center of the room, with a gentle tender hand stands a woman, two books floating around her, near chest level, a small dragon sitting on her shoulder, her blonde hair floating on unseen air currents, changing subtly as she moved, he face a serene look of dismay and concern, presumably for Okenstaff.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/33d78ddf729948081e0e41f4627cab4b/tumblr_mnw5vugHmv1rxekheo1_500.jpg

Looking up she looks at you all and narrows her eyes, her familiar Dragon screeches as she does, and you feel a certain power being directed at you, she radiated it, pure malevolent power, a raw thunder head being pointed in your direction, only to dissolve as she looked at the others.

You could tell instantly, she was not to be messed with.

Once she looked at you all, she opened her mouth to speak but caught her self, thinking otherwise, you could see the nonverbal argument behind those pretty eyes of hers, deciding with the nod of her head she spoke.

"You are all wrong, you do not belong here, Go, and do not come back."

She said quite simply, and as she did, she snapped her fingers, both books shone with eldritch energy, lightning energy crackling up and over each one, her hands began to glow and the whole room became a tornado of color, a maelstrom of arcane energy, with her in the center, yelling out draconic words.

"Qe gethrisja de tenpiswo, tir ti confn spical, gethrisj ekess svaklar wux re de!"

And with the last word spoken you begin to fade from view, the whole dungeon, shackles, floor and ceiling ebb from view, pulsing with the droning of the arcane storm, you seem to fall, but no rushing of air or the feeling of the pit in your stomach rising, and then you are lying on a grassy field looking up at nothingness, a swirling smoky smog trying to get out.

Looking around you see all of your are lying on the grass behind the tower of the Mages, the tower is how it was, blasted and smoking halfway up, smoke still rising from it, strange arcane energies dancing at the top of it, you see the Guard who let Oakenstaff into the cell is with you, still unconcious.

As you kneel, your stomach flip flops and the bile rises, just as the castle in the distance, erupts, a loud *CRAKOOOOMM* reverberates through the city, as huge chunks of rocks and debris fall from the mountain and land upon the energy dome covering the city, it would seem that the Castle itself is shaking, moving somehow....

Continue here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15631735)