Smorgasbord Alpha [M&M3e]

[Sojobo]

http://i.imgur.com/TJ9ER0nl.jpg
Grand Canyon, the Shadow Plateau
3:00AM Local Time

The Grand Canyon. National landmark, tourist attraction, and one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

The Hualapai maintain that after a great flood, the hero Pack-i-tha-a-wi set out with knife and club and carved the Grand Canyon out of the earth, to drain the water into the Sea of the Sunset. The Navajo claim that after the flood, their people turned into fish to survive, until the waters naturally carved out the Canyon, allowing the Navajo to return to human form.

The Havasupai say that it was the god Hokomata who threatened to drown the world, so his rival Tochopa hid away his daughter Pukeheh in a hollow in the earth, with provisions to survive the flood. Once Hokomata's rage drained away with the flood waters, Pukeheh dug herself out - and formed the Grand Canyon.

And what do the Pueblo say, the Anasazi, the "Ancient Ones"? No one knows, because the Anasazi disappeared mysteriously ages ago. Or so the modern world believes.

Adventuress knows better. She knows that the Anasazi were mystically powerful and tricksters by nature, and had fooled the world with their disappearance. In fact, she was there at the height of World War II when the last of the Anasazi sealed their last cave stronghold away behind shamanic magic, for fear that Allied and Axis occultists would steal their secrets and weaponize them.

But now she needed one of those mystical weapons; or rather, the monster slayer Fred Broll needs it, to combat the evil Siegfried von Arant, Nazi Occultist and leader of the Ubersoldaten, whom they believe is probably a lich. Or something.

So here they are, on the North Rim's Shadow Plateau, a feature of the Grand Canyon which doesn't exist, about to enter the cloaked and secret stronghold of the Anasazi, who were ancient when the world was young.

Ready?

Cue intro posts. I'm going to borrow something from *World games, which is basically an unmodified roll to establish some plot.

Adventuress, roll 2d6.

On 7-9, you get to pick one; the Anasazi aren't xenophobic; the Anasazi are on good terms with you (and you alone); the Anasazi are easy (for you) to find. On 10+, you get to pick two. Less than six, the Anasazi are hostile.

Fred, roll 2d6.

On 7-9, you get to pick one; you know the name of the weapon you are looking for; you know what the weapon looks like and what it does; you have something the Anasazi might be willing to trade the weapon for. On 10+, you get to pick two. Less than six, I'll give you two facts about the weapon; one will be true and the other will be a lie, and of course you won't know which is which.

Questions? Ask OOC.

[SuperCracker]

[roll0] blah blah blah

[ripleycat]

Here goes nothin'.

[roll0]

[SuperCracker]

The Shadow Plateau

Wind swept across the plateau, sending dust flying out into the night. All is quiet upon this secretive place, as it has been for year after year. Until tonight. A piton comes arcing over the lip of the plateau, stabbing deep into a rock’s crevice. The hand that drove the piton in grips the rock of the plateau. Muscles tense as it pulls the body up.

A man in his twenties climbs up onto the plateau. The first human being (mostly) to be here in a very long time. He wears a close-fitting, short-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and (you guessed it) black hiking boots. Across his torso is a harness, carrying various gear needed for the adventure. And at his side, tucked into his belt is a deep blue-lacquered sheath with a katana contained within. The handle is long and plainly wrapped with dark wrappings. The hilt is circular, and seems golden.

The young man’s features are as interesting as his choice of gear. His eyes are an unnaturally bright green. His hair is short, but is wild, naturally flaring up in portions. He is clean-shaven… handsome.

Oh… and he’s Fred Broll by the way. The herald of upheaval, the slayer of monsters, and one of the most dangerous men alive.

“…I’m not seeing anything, Izzy,” he speaks with a cool, baritone voice. He turns towards the cliff and leans down, offering his hand to the next climber. “Did we take a wrong turn at Albuquerque?"

[ripleycat]

Clambering up the cliff-face behind Fred is a tall, attractive woman with dark hair and eyes. Her skin is scarred and weathered beyond what one would expect for her apparent age, somewhere in her early 30's. She has on a leather aviator's jacket, buttoned across the front, khaki jodhpurs, and heavy knee-high leather riding boots. A broad-brimmed, flat-topped slouch hat sits on her head, and a pair of revolvers hang from her belt. Isabella Rose Warren, the ageless Adventuress.

She takes the offered hand and hauls herself up. "Oh yeah? Normally there's a motel up here with free HBO and a swimming pool. They must not like you."

She grins. "This is the place, Fred, trust me. They know we're here. They've known we were here since we checked in at the hotel back at the South Rim. Just, uh, let me take the lead, all right? I'm a friend. Kind of. Sort of. But I don't know how the Anasazi would take an obviously magical stranger poking around the entrance to their hidden stronghold."

[Sojobo]

You have been climbing up the side of this canyon (which doesn't exist on any map) for the last half hour or so, several hundred feet up, before you finally reach a relatively flat alcove where you can catch your breath and rest for a bit.

You can hear the wind blowing through the canyon behind you... it sounds like laughter.

And thats when you turn around and notice you're still at the bottom of the Canyon where you started, by the banks of a tributary of the Colorado River that doesn't exist. The only sign you've been climbing at all is your sweat and warm muscles.

[ripleycat]

Adventuress glances back over the edge of the alcove, only to find herself standing on the bottom of the canyon, staring back at the river's edge. After a moment of confusion, she swears under her breath and tosses her arms in the air.


"Very funny!" She shouts at the sky, before turning sheepishly to her partner. "Sorry, Fred. Um, I know I mentioned this already, but it bears repeating at this point. The Anasazi are very, very powerful illusionists. You have any tricks up your sleeve? I'd rather not spend another half-hour climbing the cliff that doesn't exist to get out of the canyon that doesn't exist."


She sighs and shakes her head at the thin air. "Fine, I'll play along." Isabella begins searching her way along the canyon walls. "Come on, give me something..."

Expertise: Magic [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Sojobo]

Expertise: Magic Check - This is very clearly Anasazi magic at work, but the fact the very realization isn't leaking out of your mind like water means the Anasazi don't actually care if you find them or not. Aka, they be trollin'

Perception Check - Hey, shouldn't the moon have moved by now? Its in exactly the same place it was when you started. Also, the river water is exceptionally clear tonight, unnaturally so.

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Fred’s bright green eyes gave Izzy a withering look as he folded his arms. This look was felt all the more acutely when she shouted to the sky and began staring at the walls of the canyon. “Yep. They just rolled out the red carpet for you, didn’t they?”

He exhaled a quiet sigh and glanced about idly. When he was fed up with just standing there, he joined her in taking a look at the rocks.

“Oh yeah, let’s go to the Grand Canyon, Fred. I know these guys, just trust me,” he muttered to himself.

”Take it easy on her, boss,” said a disembodied voice, ”It could be worse! They could’ve attacked ya with rock golems!”

“Guess you’re right. I'll let it slide this once,” Fred gave Izzy a small, small grin. As much crap as he was giving her, he still respected her. Considered her a friend, even. This was far from the first time they had teamed up. Too bad the Wolves in the van were hanging back at the road.

Perception check! [roll0]

[ripleycat]

Izzy gives Fred a weary half-smile. "Yes, I know, I know. Pile it on, Freddy boy. For your information, the very fact that I'm aware this is an illusion means they're just messing with us. If they were hostile, you'd be dead. Well, so would I, but I get better when that happens."

Adventuress rubbed her eyes and stared at the sky, trying (and failing) to tune out Fred's needling. As she looked, something occurred to her. The moon's in the same spot as it was half an... oh hell.

She points upward. "Look at the moon. That's where it was when we started climbing. The sky isn't moving. The whole thing's an illusion. Everything."

And if that was the case, the water... hmm. The Colorado was usually muddy brown or foggy green. Tonight, it was crystal clear, like something out of a dream. As he followed along, searching the rocks with her, she gave her monster hunter partner an innocent smile. "Hey Fred, can you swim?"

*Shove*

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

“I’ve heard that kind of thing a lot. Still here,” he said in response to her saying that if they were hostile, he’d be dead. After the eightieth random attack you suffer in a month, you tend to be a little blasé about certain threats. Fake canyon walls were one of them.

After a few minutes of staring at the rock wall and not seeing anything particularly helpful, Fred lightly rolled his eyes and turned his back to Izzy. He was standing by the water, fishing into his pocket to pull out some gum. Sometimes he really hated that he quit smoking.

He heard Izzy behind him, asking if she can swim. “Yep. Wouldn't be much of an adventurer if I didn't.”

Fred has a knack for knowing when danger is about to strike. However, he’s usually on-guard for things like snipers, or supernatural ninjas springing out of the walls, or any number of things other than an attractive woman pushing him into the water.

God damn it.

“Why do you—w--- fu---sh**!” Fred started to tumble, and out of pure instinct he spun around and snatched a hold of Izzy’s jacket. He had a nice, good handful of it. If she could stand strong, he’d not fall in.

But that probably wasn’t about to happen now… was it?

We talked about it ahead of time.

[Sojobo]

Fred catches glimpse of a smirking, laughing young face (not Adventuress's) in the corner of his eye... right before Izzy shoves him into the strangely crystal clear waters of the Colorado. He catches her jacket, tugging her in along with him.

There was no splash... just the sensation of falling and the wind whipping around your face. Whirling about, you both find yourselves plummeting through the sky miles up, as if you had jumped out of a plane, the Grand Canyon a gaping gash in the earth below you. Even in the dark night sky, you can see everything for miles around you with crystal clarity... even though the moon has disappeared from the sky.

And you aren't alone. A young Native American boy with shoulder length black hair, wearing jeans, Converses, and a baggy black hoodie, is falling alongside with you, though he doesn't seem to distressed about this. Adventuress notices he has the pointed, serrated ears that mark him as an Anasazi.

"Whats up?" he shouts over the screaming of the wind.

[ripleycat]

Someone else might have been able to keep Fred from falling in. Someone else might have been able to bend their knees and haul him away from the water. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your view), when given the choice between a quick stumble and plunging into a rushing river, the spirit of adventure is going to make sure things stay interesting.

Adventuress's footing gives way, and she falls after Fred with a yelp, steeling herself for the freezing water... which never comes. They just keep falling. And then they're miles up in an unnaturally clear night sky, and the moon has vanished, and they're up above the canyon, plunging towards the ground next to an Anasazi teenager.

Hunter S. Thompson wrote about situations like this.


"Whats up?"

"Us, looks like!" Izzy can do nothing more than laugh at the absurd, astounding situation. She shouts back in Anasazi, clutching her hat to prevent it from flying off into the nothingness.

"Awesome shoes! So, if you're here, you know we were looking for the Anasazi. Um, name's Isabella Warren. I've been here before a couple of times, but... we seem to have gotten turned around. Don't suppose you could point us in the right direction? I'm a bit out of my league right now!"

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Tom Petty wrote songs about this.

Fred spread his arms and legs out to catch some air underneath him. This may also be another illusion, but he wasn’t willing to find out if his mind would trick him into dying upon impact. He seemed rather calm about the free fall. He’s done things like this before.

“Nazi lich is assembling a staff of power. If he puts it together, he’s going to wreck the world. You have an item called, roughly translated, _________. I need it to kill him.” He was surprisingly calm enough to relay this information in free fall. Though he was scoping out a rock formation in case that didn’t work.

“My name’s Fred Broll. I’m not your enemy. In fact, I’m pretty confident in saying that I’m your enemies’ enemy, whoever they may be. So can we cut it out with the free-fall and have a less stressful conversation?”

[Sojobo]

"Awesome shoes! So, if you're here, you know we were looking for the Anasazi. Um, name's Isabella Warren. I've been here before a couple of times, but... we seem to have gotten turned around. Don't suppose you could point us in the right direction? I'm a bit out of my league right now!"

The boy laughs as he lazily orbits around you. "Point you in the right direction? Sure!" He points straight down.




“Nazi lich is assembling a staff of power. If he puts it together, he’s going to wreck the world. You have an item called, roughly translated, 'the Dawn Spirit Jar'. I need it to kill him.” He was surprisingly calm enough to relay this information in free fall. Though he was scoping out a rock formation in case that didn’t work.


"Man, straight to the point," the youth says, pouting. "You are no fun..."



“My name’s Fred Broll. I’m not your enemy. In fact, I’m pretty confident in saying that I’m your enemies’ enemy, whoever they may be. So can we cut it out with the free-fall and have a less stressful conversation?”


"Oh, I know you're not my enemy. If you were my enemy you'd never have been born..." That wasn't a threat... he was speaking as casually as a bored teenager would be reciting something he read on Reddit. While free-falling through the sky.

"But I guess you guys aren't impressed with all this," he says, waving at the sky around you, the motion causing him spin crazily about his axis. He clapped his hands...

...and you both land with loud *WUMPS*, unharmed but covered in dust, at the shores of the Colorado (still crystal clear on a bright but moonless night) where you had first "fallen" into the "water."

"... and besides," comes the boy's playful voice, coming from everywhere at once. He was nowhere to be seen, of course. "We remember Izzy... she did us a solid way back, when we were still meatbags. She's got moxie. But anyway, you want a Spirit Jar. Dawn flavored. Maybe with a cola. Why would we give you something like that, exactly?"

[ripleycat]

The boy laughs as he lazily orbits around you. "Point you in the right direction? Sure!" He points straight down.

"OK, so I walked right into that one." Adventuress seems to be enjoying the craziness a bit more than Fred, or at least has confidence that the Anazasi aren't going to just send her plunging to her doom.

*WUMP*

Izzy grunts and shakes her head as she lands in a cloud of dust, right on top of Fred. She gives him an embarrassed grin. "Ow. Hello, sir. Now, I think it's traditional to buy you dinner before we get this far, but..." She sits up, looking around wildly and blushing when the Anasazi teen's voice chimes in again.

"Um, thank you, wherever you are. And it was my privilege to help you out. Man that takes me back. I was on crutches for four months after that. As for why you'd lend us this Dawn Spirit Jar, is stopping the guy who wants to wreck the world not a good enough reason? I was kind of hoping that would be enough. Or I guess we could offer you payment of some kind..."

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy the craziness. He does, it’s part and parcel of this insane existence he is destined to participate in. However, he very much prefers to kill the monster in question before he starts getting too cheerful about things.

“Kid, you have skills, I’m plenty impressed. I just don’t have the time to—“ Slam! He grunted as he hit the floor. This was less than dignified. He fell in a heap, complete with a woman who is many decades older than he is. She gets to look him face to face right before they get up. Fred rolls his shoulders in a shrug.

“You could at least complement my attire.” He smirks as Izzy blushes and moves to get up. Fred himself hops up to his feet quickly. He starts talking to the teen, wherever he was. “You might want to give it to us because the power he’ll wield will ruin things for you, too. You think he’s going to sit around and let you stay hidden forever once he’s become godlike? Not likely. So instead of you waiting to deal with him then, why don’t you let me deal with him now.”

He stands there for a moment. Yeah, he realizes it's never that simple.

"Or we could work something out. Got any great evils you need killed?"

[Sojobo]

"Skills?" huffed the boy, who appeared, hovering, in the corner of your eye. You whirl to face him as he lounges in mid air, feet propped up on nothing, his hands fiddling with a little flute. "I'm a mystically attuned ancient human progenitor who's spiritually ascended to a hyperdimensional plane of reality... you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

He smirks at Adventuress. "Oh, yeah, we've been busy since you helped us disappear, Adventure Girl. Real busy. I just stick around the old haunts cuz of nostalgia. You know how it is..."

At the mention of the dangers von Arant posed, the boy rolled his eyes. "Godlike? Psssh. Give an ant power over all other ants... and he's still an ant. Why should I care? Maybe this lich guy'll stir things up, make things more interesting than the way things are now..."

The floating boy suddenly straightens up, a mischievous look on his face.

"Though... if you're a-hankering to make a deal, I love making deals..."

"There's another Anasazi... Pishuni, the Daytime Demon, the Birdsnake, the Giant Total Jerk. He's the only other one who likes coming back around Earth besides me, and he is seriously lame-sauce. Chaos this and chaos that. Gave humanity nuclear weapons and he thinks he's the harbinger of destruction. One hit wonder if you ask me..."

"Now, there is no way you could do anything to Pishuni, but you can break his playthings for me. That'd be totally swell... then I'll give you the Dawn Spirit Jar. Sound good?"

[ripleycat]

Adventuress holds up her hand as the boy finishes his pitch. "Hang on a tick. Pishuni? Because I remember that name, and last time I saw him he was wasn't the anything demon. He was a human, a strict old man with neat hair who was... OK, maybe the Giant Total Jerk label still fit, but he wasn't all about chaos, he was all about balance, and he was willing to let people talk. He even warmed up to me a little after a while. What... what happened?"

"Honestly, this whole thing is really strange to me. The last time I was here, you were powerful shamans, and you could create absolutely astounding illusions, but you were still people. You certainly weren't in the 'giving nuclear weapons to mankind' business." Izzy shakes her head. "...When did you become gods? What did I miss?"

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Give an ant power over other ants? This being had no concern for mortal life, be it human, werewolf, mutant, etc. That was troubling. Fred deals with amoral beings all the time. However, they tended to see people as a bit more than bugs to observe (and possibly roast with the magnifying glass). Not to mention it (no reason to keep viewing it as the teenage kid it most certainly is not) wants to play games with other ruthless beasts.

Fred started to mull over in his mind if he could possibly take this particular Anasazi if it came down to it. With the ability to warp all perception, probably not, barring an inspired sneak attack. That is, if Fred ever saw its true form.

Point being, he doesn’t trust this thing for a moment.

“Sorry, kid,” best to let it think Fred’s dismissive, “but I tend to trust Izzy more than you. If this Pishuni wasn’t anything like you describe, why should I trust you? What makes me think that you aren’t the chaos demon? And you’re looking to sew your seeds.”

[Sojobo]

The floating boy looks a bit peeved, then turns his attention to his flute.

"Hey, I'm not the one asking for a Dawn Spirit Jar... its you guys who came seeking out the Ancient Ones. I don't have to gain your trust, you have to gain mine."

Then the boy grins suddenly, his eyes flashing.

"But if you'd rather I be a chaos demon, I'll certainly play the part. What did your talking shishkabob skewer say, before, hmmm? 'Could have been attacked by rock golems?"

The boy plays a little haunting tune on his flute and fades from view, his eyes laughing. All you can hear are the tones from the flute, and then suddenly it is accompanied by the rumbling of stone.

Dust and gravel begin rising from the walls of the canyon around you as stone shapes pull themselves from the rock. There have to be at least thirty of them, red rock in the rough shape of ancient Pueblo warriors. From all directions, they slowly advance towards you.

FINALLY, one of you succeeds at my secret Insight checks! Fred, having experienced mystical mumbo jumbo in the past, you can tell these rock golems aren't entirely real - but you're not sure that they can't hurt you.

[ripleycat]

"Hey, I wouldn't have come here if I didn't already think I had your trust... aw hell." Izzy's watches the Anasazi boy fade from view and dozens of red rock warriors spring from the canyon walls.

Adventuress glares at Fred's blade. "I blame you for this, Starsoul."

She pulls her revolvers from their holsters and takes a couple of experimental shots at one of the golems. The stone chips and cracks, but the creature continues moving forward, seemingly unbothered. "Oh goody."

Attacking one of the golems with her pistols. [roll0]. DC 19 toughness. If it hits, [roll1]

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

“Attacking me with your little illusions? Bad move.” This wasn’t exactly convincing Fred not to try and end this little illusionist. The champion could see through the illusion enough to know it for what it is. However, he couldn’t disbelieve enough to be wholly unaffected by the things. Even if he could, if Izzy was threatened, he still had to act.

The swordsman and the archaeologist are surrounded by stone warriors. It would look like a very bad situation if these were any other people.

“I am blameless. Like a newborn baby,” the disembodied voice spoke once more, ”You should blame Dances-With-Hipsters for bein’ a jerk!”

With the noise of the gunfire… and the sword with attitude chattering away, Fred was quiet and calm. He took one deep breath through his nose. His mind cleared away all distractions. Fred didn’t ponder strategy. He didn’t plan out his next move. He would be one with the battlefield. No mind.

”Hold that thought,” Starsoul said, reacting to its wielder.

The calm was broken as Fred stepped forward towards the mass of stone golems. In a blinding movement, he drew the sword from his side and slashed the first golem. The starmetal glistened in the meager light, reflecting a prismatic array of colors from the bright metal. The first golem was struck plainly, but nothing seemed to happen. The assault was continued as the swordsman spun and slashed another one, then a third, with rock pieces flying from it as it's struck.

There was a moment of quiet as neither of the first two golems moved. Fred Broll exhaled, then sheathed his sword with a quiet click. Promptly, the golems fell apart, bisected neatly.

Using my sword’s attack to go nuts with takedown! Taking a 10 against the minions. Prepare for a lot of rolls, sadly. If I fail to take one out, it's a c-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!

Minion 1
[roll0] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll1] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 2
[roll2] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll3] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 3
[roll4] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll5] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 4
[roll6] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll7] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 5
[roll8] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll9] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 6
[roll10] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll11] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 7
[roll12] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll13] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 8
[roll14] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll15] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 9
[roll16] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll17] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 10
[roll18] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll19] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

Minion 11
[roll20] vs. DC 20 toughness drain
[roll21] vs. DC 25 toughness save (modified by drain)

(And 11 is where I cap out with normal attack plus fighting 10 as per your house rule.)

[Sojobo]

The eerie flute playing continues wafting about the canyon floor as the rock Pueblo warriors slowly surround you. Fred manages to slice apart two, but the first wave of creatures groan their way into attack range and attempt to split your skulls with their fists. They are ham-handed fighters, but they move together like an avalanche.


Rolls are here; its actually Damage 4 for their fists, not 6 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15325263&postcount=3)

Only 6 can attack each of you at a time (cuz of space); they are Team Attacking, 3 golems were attack, so thats 2 separate team attacks for each of you.

Adventuress
Team attack 1: two golems miss, a golem hits for base Damage 4. But you can tell the attacks are somewhat illusionary; Roll Will, DC19; if you succeed, no damage; if you fail, roll Toughness, DC19.

Team attack 2: a golem hits for base damage 4, another assists with 1 degree of success (DoS) for +2 Damage, last golem misses; Roll Will, DC21; on failure, roll Toughness, DC21

Fred
Team attack 1: first golem crits for base damage 4+5=9, another assists with 1 DoS for +2 Damage, last golem misses; Roll Will, DC26; on failure, roll Toughness, DC26.

Team attack 2: first golem misses, second hits for base damage 4, last assists with 1 DoS for +2 damage; Roll Will, DC19; on failure, roll Toughness, DC19.

[ripleycat]

Adventuress isn't sure what to make of the swarm of golems. She gets a few flickering feelings that they aren't real, but she's not sure how real anything in this canyon is. She ducks one blow and rolls with another, only to turn and take a rock fist straight to the temple. It sure felt real.

Izzy stumbles back, seeing stars. Through her foggy vision, she unloads into the advancing wave of rockmen, firing a hail of bullets... that doesn't do much at all, mostly ricocheting off the canyon walls or pinging harmlessly off the bodies of the golems themselves.

"N-Nex' time you want to give people ideas, start talkin' about the marshmallow men, or th' terrifying kitten hordes. Oh my head..." Adventuress points a woozy finger at Starsoul.

Power Attack (+5/-5) with Takedown, DC 24 Toughness saves for 4 Golems (Izzy's Fighting score). Used IC for the big pile of rolls. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4066968/

...Misses first golem. :smallsigh:

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Six of the golems converged on him at once. With that many on him at the same time, it was difficult to escape their grasp. However, his clarity of thought and purpose shielded him from the illusion. Stone hands struck true, but passed completely through him like the shadows they were. Unfortunately for Adventuress, the tricks were far more deadly. Fred’s features contorted with concern and anger.

“Boss, we gotta kick it up a notch!”

Fred nodded, quiet as he fought. He sank down into a stance, gripping Starsoul’s handle. The two were a partnership, a perfect harmony. And together, using the combination of skills and magic they each possessed, they could accomplish tremendous feats of destruction.

An intense, magical pressure filled the area… and at its apex, Fred drew his blade in another iaijutsu strike, slashing at the golem directly in front of him with a katana that was now glowing as brightly as the star it came from. Simultaneously, an arcing slash of light appeared before each and every golem within 30 feet of Fred, striking them all in unison as the attack was co-located into many spaces at once. The only being nearby that was untouched was Izzy. The result of this barrage is stone and rock flying everywhere, limbs and heads and torsos shattering under the power of this one strike.

Using Storm of Swords. Selective burst-area attack. DC 20 dodge check then DC 20/25 toughness save.

Dodge: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4067298/
14 failed
14 passed

Toughness (ones who failed, DC 25) – 11 failed and are destroyed : http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4067299/
Toughness (ones who passed, DC 20) – 8 failed and are destroyed : http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4067301/
Toughness (for one who passed but had his toughness drained last round) – Failed. Destroyed. : http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4067304/

Total Destroyed: 20 out of 28. Love them area effects.

[Sojobo]

As the Pueblo warrior golems collapse into piles of rubble that slowly fade away into nothing, the boy appears again sitting in midair, crossed leg, a peeved expression on his face.

"Golf clap. But I doubt you're much of anything without your fancy skewer... lets make things more interesting! Bring me the talky skewer stick!"

More rock and gravel begin pulling themselves free from the canyon face and come flying to glom onto the remaining Pueblo golems, cocooning them in stone. Eventually the cocoons unwrap, revealing the Pueblo golems are now equipped with gigantic stone eagle wings and wicked looking spears. Even though they must weigh a ton, the winged rock golems leap into the air and circle overhead, taking care to spread out as they begin dive bombing you, most of their efforts concentrated on Fred and Starsoul.

Winged Rock Golems: Eight of them, still minions, but their defenses are now 14 (DC24), Toughness 6. You can also tell these are no longer illusionary. They are keeping their distance by flying above you (Distance 1 - around 60 ft) and are dive-bombing you (move-by attacks). 6 attack Fred - two Team Disarms, actually. 2 Team Attack Adventuress.

Rolls here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15329569&postcount=4)

Adventuress: first golem misses, second golem hits. Roll Toughness, DC21

Fred:

Team Disarm 1: 1st golem misses, second misses, 3rd hits for Disarm DC16. Roll Strength, DC16; failure and you are Disarmed

Team Disarm 2: only one golem hits for Disarm DC16. If you weren't disarmed the first time, roll Strength DC16.

[ripleycat]

With her head clearing somewhat, Adventuress rolls effortlessly with the strikes raining down from the golems, dodging one and parrying the other out of the way like some ancient master, sending the golem tumbling away along the canyon floor.

Izzy then trains her guns skyward, clipping the wings of three of the golems as they begin their dive-bombing runs and then deftly leaping out of the way, sending them crashing into the ground.

She gives the Anasazi boy an odd look. Something wasn't right behind all the illusions. She had a few inklings, but there was no way to know for sure. Well, aside from just asking. "Hey kid, what's with your ears? Your real ones. You look like you lost a fight with a lawnmower."

Toughness: [roll0]

Power Attacking (+5/-5) with Takedown.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4068939/
Adventuress is finally effective! Three flying golems go down.

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

That’s sword, jerkface! Read a book or somethin’!”

The winged golems came soaring down, trying to seize Fred’s partner… his samurai soul given form. Not cool. The simultaneously young and ancient warrior rebuffed the assault with a few well-placed strikes of the hilt and the heel. The golems soared skyward once more, only to be shot at with great effect by the Adventuress.

Nice shot, Izzy, Fred thought for a moment, allowing himself a small grin. The remaining golems had gone skyward, circling and waiting to dive bomb again. They dogpiled, and they had done it time and again. Their predictability would be their downfall.

“I’ll give you the sword,” Fred said, finally speaking. His voice was cool, deep. His killing intent was on full display. “But you aren’t going to like the way I do it.” Fred readied himself, foregoing his attacks to wait.

The monsters came in once more for their dive bomb. They were fast. Fred had to sacrifice his own safety to reliably attack them. And he would.. he would absolutely. A flurry of slashes came from him, his blade’s shine flashing in the night. The rest of the golems fell dead.

Fred looked right at the boy.

"Your turn."

Readying an action to strike when they come down. And since they have dogpiled every round, I bet they will! He then attacks with his normal sword strike and tries to take them out with takedown attack. All-out attack for 4. He takes 10 to hit and will auto-hit.

Toughness save vs. Weaken Toughness (DC 20)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4069238/

Toughness save (to be modified by weaken) vs. Damage (DC 25)
Golem 1- Toughness weakened to -1. It auto-fails the save and is dead.
Golem 2- Toughness is weakened to 2. Auto-fails the save and is dead.
Golem 3- http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4069242/ - Dead
Golem 4- http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4069243/ - Dead

All dead!

[Sojobo]

The boy looks incensed. He is standing on... well, nothing, his fists clenched and his face red. Whether he's angry at his defeated rock soldiers or Adventuress' comment about the lawnmower isn't clear.

He simply smolders and stares for several long moments before opening his mouth to say...

"Very perceptive," comes a voice behind you. "And very impressive." When you turn to look, a tall and lean man with a face like brown leather is sitting on a nearby outcropping of rock. He is wearing a plain denim shirt, sun bleached jeans, and scuffed riding boots. If you look closely, his pointed, serrated Anasazi ears shimmer, as if they were illusory.

It is Pishuni, looking very much the same (other than the more modern garb) as the last time Adventuress saw him.

When you turn around to check on the boy, he's still standing in midair, caught in mid expletive. His body turns translucent and fades away, as does the crystal clear Colorado water. You aren't at the base of the canyon, after all - you've been on the vast, flat, featureless Shadow Plateau this entire time.

Pishuni is standing right in front of you, or has been this entire time. Illusions are screwy like that. "Sorry 'bout all the bull Izzy, had to make sure you hadn't changed for the worse in all these years. Also, had to make sure the brave you're with wasn't just some guy with a loose sword."

[ripleycat]

Adventuress spins around, guns at the ready. When she sees the speaker, she quickly holsters them, giving the man a lopsided grin. "Pishuni! I should have known." She watches wide-eyed as the entire scene vanishes. "Your 'tests' haven't gotten any easier. So was name-dropping yourself just a way to hear me talk about what a great person you are? And... sorry about the Giant Total Jerk thing. You're not. Maybe a normal-sized jerk."

She presents Fred with an elaborate flourish. "The 'brave' is Fred Broll. He hunts monsters. I'll let him handle the introduction, but rest assured, I trust him, and there's no reason you can't either. He's a good egg. Now, the sword? Ehh, that's still up in the air." Izzy smirks. "Fred, this is Pishuni, the genuine article."

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

While the boy was staring angrily at Fred, Fred was wasting no time approaching the boy-god-thing like a tiger getting ready to pounce and shred its prey. Fred is clearly about to do something not-so-nice here. His progress is only halted by the voice that requires him to turn around. Bright eyes narrow, glaring with irritation.

“I’ll show you how loose it is if you do that again,” he said, a forcefulness in his voice despite its lack of shouting. Such words were to be expected from him. Once angered, he routinely threatened to hurl people out of sixth-story windows and the like.

Izzy introduced him after showing some familiarity with this particular man. Fred continued glaring at him like.. well, like someone who just attacked him with thirty rock golems. “Charmed, I’m sure,” he said sarcastically. “Let me repeat from earlier. Dawn Spirit Jar. I need one of those, and I was asking nicely until you jumped us. So forgive me if I skip the how-do-you-dos. Do you have it or not?”

"Uhh… the boss ain’t happy." Starsoul seemed to feel slightly awkward.

[Sojobo]

Pishuni met Fred's glare, then started guffawing.

"Thought your brave was a monster hunter, Izzy. You'd think he'd have been tested by us wise-old-and-cranky shaman types before and not gotten his undies in a wad."

He spat casually into the dusty rock, then said, "I like you. Remind me of me. Don't take cud from no one, huh? Well, good..."

"Cuz I'd give you the Dawn Spirit Jar and you could be on your monster-slayin' way, except we don't got the Dawn Spirit Jar anymore. It, and a bunch of our other artifacts, were stolen or taken while we were busy relocating here. They are all over the place by now; good thing no one really knows how to use 'em."

"Lucky for you, I've been keeping an eye on all our stuff, in case we ever did need to retrieve 'em. So I know where the Jar is."

"Unlucky for you, its in the possession of some jackass supervillain, who thinks he can use it for some scheme or other. My shamanic counterparts near there assure me they've got champions dispatched to deal with it, but I never trusted those shiverers to get a job done quick..."

"I'll tell you what... I can send you near the Dawn Spirit Jar's location, and if you can find it, its yours. What a nice guy I am, huh? Don't answer that."

[ripleycat]

Izzy chews on her lip as she listens to Pishuni lay out the situation. "It's always something, isn't it? Never as easy as you think it'll be."

Adventuress sighs. "All right, I'll bite. Who's the supervillain, where are they, and who are these champions who might be there ahead of us? Is there anything else you can tell us? Not that I'm opposed to bashing a few actual solid skulls in to get the Spirit Jar, but jumping off into the unknown hasn't really worked out for me too well in the past."

In a more personal tone, she adds "And if I'm not offending, what did happen to your ears? Under the illusion, that looks... painful."

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Pishuni’s laughing was met with more glaring. It’s a good thing Frederick doesn’t have laser eyes, because Pishuni would be dead right now. Fred finally stops giving him the evil eye once Pishuni lays out the situation.

”…we don’t got the Dawn Spirit Jar anymore.”

“Of course you don’t.” Saving reality is never a simple process. You endure a silly test just to be told that you need to go off and fight someone else. Fred’s used to it… he still thinks it’s ridiculous. The silver lining is that Pishuni knows where the pilfered artifact is, not that he bothered to step foot outside of his realm to get it. That’s okay. Without fetch-quests like these, Fred Broll would have a dull life.*

“What do you know about the villain? Have you seen his abilities? Does he run with a crew?” Super-villains. It made Fred want to laugh. Fred had dealt with horrors from beyond space and time, ruthless elder vampires, and demons that sought out souls for their dinner. Super-villains tended to be stupid, flashy individuals who fight heroes that would punch them a few times and take them to the police. The few times Fred had been given the pleasure of an encounter with a super-villain, he had savaged the garishly-costumed criminals to the point of an extended stay in the hospital.

“Actually, hold that thought.” Fred took a small mirror from his pocket and handed it to Izzy, then produced a second. He stared into it and then vanished. A few seconds later, he reappeared from Izzy’s mirror. “Okay. Continue.” He looked over to Izzy. “Told them to head back and try to keep tabs on him.”



*Not really… the constant random enemy attacks make things not so dull anyway.

[Sojobo]

Pishuni smirked and passed a finger back and forth through his illusory ear.

"We fled Earth for another world... the natives there are pretty much like lawnmowers. But still, less meddlesome than around here..."

"As for the supervillains, wish I could tell you more. Like I said, we're not usually 'round these parts anymore... just know there's robots. Lots of robots. And its definitely a group, not just one evil honcho..."

Pishuni's eyes begin to glow, though he isn't gesturing or doing anything else typically associated with magic. "Now get ready... going to transport you as close as I can to where the Dawn Spirit Jar is, but I can't be sure exactly where... you might be going in hot. Make your preparations now."

Adventuress, your bruises are healed - they were in fact illusory!

[ripleycat]

"Robots? Robots I can handle." Adventuress blinks as the pain in the side of her head fades away. "Huh. Well, that's convenient. I guess I'm ready when you two are." Izzy nods to Fred and his blade.

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Okay. So it’s a foe he knows nothing about (except robots). They were going to be transported to a pretty-much unknown location. And Pishuni can’t even tell them if they will appear right beside the barrel of the bad guys’ guns. Fun.

“Sounds fun,” Fred said with a small smirk on his lips. He unsheathed Starsoul with a swift motion, and held it at his side, ready for combat. “Let’s do this.”

"Awwww yeeeaaah."

[Sojobo]

You're not even sure Pishuni was even listening to your response; the entire time he was murmuring incantations to himself softly, his eyes a blinding white. The vast, empty expanse of the Shadow Plateau around you begins to shimmer, grow translucent, as if it were only an illusion transposed upon your real surroundings. As the Grand Canyon sky slowly fades away, you begin to see where your new destination is - some gigantic cave complex, lined with gigantic computer consoles and machinery embedded into the walls.
http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/1884503-secret.jpeg

And yes, lots and lots of robots - what appears to be robotic chimpanzees - dozens of them - are manning the machines while armed men in white arctic military camo mill about. On multiple screens, you see what appears to be some sort of aerial battle taking place in a snowy mountain region.

"Oh sh*t, thats not where..." Pishuni says as he notices where he is sending you, but it is too late. He and the Shadow Plateau disappear entirely, and there you are, smack dab in the middle of a veritable platoon of cybermonkeys and armed mercenaries.

"What the hell..." says one mercenary.

"Oooh ahh ahh!" says a cybermonkey in a crackling electronic voice.

Then there is a cacophony of assault rifle bolts being pulled and cybermonkey laser fists powering up.

The transportation leaves you both Dazed for one round unless you can make a DC18 Fortitude save: you both get an HP regardless of the result.

More minions! The twenty cybermonkeys will act on Init 12; they are Defense DC20, Toughness 4. The ten mercenaries will act on Init 5; they are Defense DC15, Toughness 4. They are somewhat decently spread out; the most a standard AOE can target is 5 cybermonkeys and 3 mercenaries, with each successive AOE reducing the targets by a third as they learn to spread out and dodge.

[ripleycat]

Adventuress

Izzy looked woozily around at the herd of villains. "Um, hi? We're the health inspectors?"

"...You're not gonna buy that, are you? Fine. Hard way it is."

*Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop*

Almost too fast to follow, Adventuress has her revolvers out and firing. Four of the cybermonkeys fit the floor, sparking and smoking.

"Who's next?"

Taking 10 and using Power Attack (+5/-5) and Takedown attack to tag 4 of the cybermonkeys.

Toughness checks for the monkeys, to save our illustrious GM a few seconds: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4078763/ 4 down.

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

“Yep. This was what I expected.”

Naturally. Cyborg chimpanzees. No wonder he has no respect for super villains. It’s self-mockery at this point. While Fred was used to being dropped into a horde of enemies like this, he preferred to buy himself some time… play it smart. He could teleport away, off into a bathroom or something. Unfortunately, he’d be leaving Izzy here to lose one of her nine lives. Not going to happen. After she lights up these Optimus Primates, Fred moves into position amongst the enemies, lets out a kihai shout, and slashes down overhead, stepping forward. Starsoul blazes brightly as he does, once again co-locating that strike to each and every villain within reach. Glowing arcs formed in the air where all of the enemies were, lashing out with the force Fred put into his initial swing. Should the enemies be struck, the cyborg monkeys would be absolutely destroyed with no mercy, but the mercenaries, while being grievously wounded and losing some blood, would only be hit in non-vital locations.

”We’re gonna make PETA angry today!” Starsoul shouted gleefully.

Going for my 5 cyber-monkeys and 3 mercs. Rolling!

Monkeys!
Dodge checks: Three monkeys fail, two pass. The three who fail cannot pass the save. Dead. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4078802/
Toughness Saves for the two: Miraculously they both pass it. 19 and an 18. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4078806/

Mercenaries!
Dodge checks: One fails. Incapacitated. The other two pass. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4078812/
Toughness saves for the two: One passes, one fails. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4078815/

Three monkeys and two mercs down.

Some of the cyborg-chimps and some of the gun-toting thugs go down in a fit of sparks and pain. Some of the ones attacked were lucky enough to move or block at just the right time, however. Still, five enemies total go down.

“You have one chance… you can leave here with all your body parts or without them. Your choice.”

[Sojobo]

In the ferocious fight, more than a third of the cybermonkeys fall to sword slash or bullet hole, and two of the mercenaries collapse unconscious from the pain of lacerated muscles.

In the corner of your eye, the intense aerial battle on the computer screens is getting crazy - it looks like a pair of... robots? ... are fighting more robots amidst a crowd of robot birds. Pishuni wasn't kidding: lots of robots.

From Pishuni's insanely bad teleporting, you were plunked right in amongst the computer consoles and your victims were mostly the cybermonkeys controlling them - you are now surrounded by mercenary guards and robochimps, but thankfully that means none of them were able to hit panic buttons or alarms before they were taken down.

A mercenary seems to be thinking the same thing, though. "Intruders!" No duh. "Get past them and sound the alarm, there could be more!"

They clearly intend to try to get to the consoles behind you. The mercenaries fire their stun rounds - clearly, they don't want to damage any machinery - while the cyber monkeys rush in with loud digital chimp sounds, their giant piston powered fists crackling with plasma.

The entire cave complex is beginning to rumble and hum with some sort of increasing power. A voice with a weird and heavy accent is blasted from some PA system within the complex:
"Capacitors at 30%, Etheron particle generation commencing!"

Sorry for the delay!

A lot of rolls which I just did IRL, so you'll have to trust me.

13 Cybermonkeys left, 8 mercenaries.

5 cybermonkeys Team Attack Fred, 5 Team Attack Adventuress, 3 attempt to maneuver around to get at the consoles and they will unless they are picked off.

The 8 mercenaries break up into 2 Team Attacks of 4, one for Fred and one for Adventuress. They are ranged and take -2 to attack cuz their cybermonkey buddies are diving into the melee.

Fred: Cybermonkeys: 2 miss, 1 hits for Damage 6, 2 assist for 2 Degrees of Success for +2, make a Toughness check, DC22.

Mercs: 1 miss, 1 hits for Damage 4, 1 guy CRITS but its still only 2 degrees of success, another guy hits for 1 degree of success -> Damage 4 + 5 (3 DoS Team Attack) = Make a Toughness check DC24.

Adventuress:
Cybermonkeys: 3 miss, 1 hits for Damage 6, 1 hits for 1 DoS for +2, make a Toughness check, DC22.

Mercs: 2 miss, 1 hits for Damage 4, 1 hits for 1 DoS for +2, make a Toughness check DC21.

Your actions.

[ripleycat]

The mercs come close to tagging Izzy, but she dodges away expertly, leaving her with nothing more than a couple of holes in her jacket- and turns right into a cyberchimp fist. "Son of a- OK, that's enough out of you!" With a trickle of blood running down the side of her head, Adventuress turns and blows the offending chimp's head clean off. Continuing her rampage, she picks off the three monkeys making a run for the consoles. "Anyone else want to try that?"

Toughness Saves: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083540/

One made, one failed by 10. Adventuress takes a hit and is staggered.

Used HP to reroll. Result of 24 in the OOC. Both saves made.

Standard Action: Taking 10 with Power Attack (+5/-5) and Takedown, targeting the three monkeys going for the consoles and one other. DC 24 toughness saves for the lot.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083550/

And all 4 go down.

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

The cyber-chimps surrounded him quickly. They attacked with little grace but boundless ferocity. Fred stood his ground, parrying the glowing fists and trading kicks to keep some of them at bay. Unfortunately, Fred only has so many arms and can only move so fast. One of the fists caught him in the back of his knee, causing Fred to let out a sound of pain and drop down involuntarily. It was at this time the hail of bullets came flying. With his mobility down, Fred twisted and turned, only to be caught in the upper arm with a bullet, a flesh wound that sent blood splattering back onto the panels.

His teeth bared, and a few breaths were taken. Then his rage was unleashed with another barrage of slashes, focused on the chimps that surrounded him at the moment. Fred intended to give himself some breathing room.

And boy did he. Each slice struck true and gave way to a monkey massacre.

1 hit + dazed - http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083434/
Really really bad result vs. the mercs… hero pointing it! - http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083436/
2 hits + still dazed - http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083438/

Now… as for attacks! Fred uses his standard attack. He’ll take a 10 to hit the monkeys. Not sure what their Fortitude defense is. I’ll use 4. You can correct as you need to.

Fort saves vs. weaken toughness – Two pass. Two lose 3 toughness. One loses 10 and goes into negatives. --- http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4083570/ -- Also, I realized this doesn’t matter after making the roll. *chuckle*

They can’t pass a DC 25 damage save. All five monkeys bite the dust using Takedown Attack.

Current Hero Points: 0
Current Status: 2 hits + Dazed

[Sojobo]

The cybermonkeys don't even notice that the vast majority of their numbers have been cut down - they continue leaping ham-handedly (laserhandedly?) into the fray, only to be cut down again and again.

The mercenaries, however, were clearly not paid enough for this kind of heat.

"Frak it, lets get out of here!" A few fire their rifles at the two of you as cover, but the rest begin a hasty retreat.

I'm satisfied with the scene - the two of you took some licks and most everything is dead. I want to expedite things to more juicier stuff, so we'll say all the cybermonkeys are destroyed.

The mercenaries are retreating - whether or not you chase is up to you.

[ripleycat]

Adventuress

"That's right, run away, suckers." Izzy keeps her guns trained on the mercs until she's convinced it's not a ruse and they're actually fleeing. She hops free of the tangle of cyberchimp body parts and glances around the facility. The walls were humming and starting to rumble.

"That, um, that voice over the PA. The one shouting about capacitors and Etheron particles. I've run into those before. Soviet secret project, back in the 1950's, very, very mad scientist, long story short, ended up leveling about 4 square miles of Siberia when the base exploded. I was the only one who made it out alive."

"Anyway, point being, Etheron particles are magical energy, basically. They were using magical artifacts to try and power a bunch of really high energy scientific stuff. So, I think we found our spirit jar."

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

The death glare Fred is giving the fleeing mercenaries showed what he was feeling about the subject. He wanted to run them down then run them through. However, he wasn’t here for any of these cowards, he was here for the Spirit Jar. Saving reality itself.

“You better run, I’ll come get ya! I’ll come get ya!”

“Stowe it, Starsoul,” Fred replied, cutting off his chatty weapon. “Stay focused.”

“Got it, boss,” Starsoul was trying to play it cool.

Fred stood up onto both feet and slashed his sword down once, flicking the blood off of the prismatic blade. Then, with ritualistic care, he sheathed his weapon and looked up to Adven while she explained what she knew about… Etheron particles. Science.

“Right… so, they have the Jar. They’re generating massive amounts of energy. If we don’t stop them quick, they’ll either blow something up—which, being the bad guys, is probably not a thing we want—or they’ll screw up and blow themselves and us up in a sub-nuclear blast.”

A grin came to his lips.

“Just another Monday. Let’s see if anyone around has seen the Jar lately.” Fred began to do another one of his weird things. (Izzy has seen a lot of weird stuff happen around him). His bright eyes suddenly went pale. He wasn’t speaking to Izzy anymore. His voice was soft, respectful to who he spoke to.. at least for now. “Hello out there… My name is Fred Broll. I’m looking for something called the Dawn Spirit Jar. It’s a potent magical artifact… I’m wondering if anyone around here has seen it lately.”

He could feel the spirits groaning awake. Every thing has a spirit. From the rocks and trees to the computers. And if you know what you’re doing, sometimes you can speak to them. The spirits didn’t use words so much as visions and impressions. They could be muddy or crystal clear… it took some training and mental fortitude to understand. But those clues could be so valuable, particularly to one who hunts.

Using Speak With Spirits post-cognition. Perception check to determine how accurate it is: 33 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4086123/

[Sojobo]

You could, conceivably, view reality as a bunch of animation cels all stacked up on top of each other, with each cel adding some amount of detail to the world, or maybe obscuring the cells below it.

As Fred began his spirit commune, those first layers of reality grew more and more transparent, until the layers below came into blurry "view." He saw the rocky mountain cave facade give way to the spirit of the mountain itself, peeved at the impertinence of the short lived mammals burrowing into it, yet stoically patient and content with the knowledge it would survive them all.

At Fred's question, the mountain spirit gave him the impression that a vessel of mighty spiritual energy was near the top of itself, near the mountain peak, and that whatever it was, it was dangerous and the focus of the stupid short lived creatures and their metallic slaves that had riddled its rockiness for the last year.

Before Fred could ask more, that odd accented voice boomed over some PA system, "Capacitors at 75%, releasing initial Energon stream!".

There was a pause in reality - and then Fred and Adventuress found themselves on the floor. The entire mountain was shaking, as if they were in the middle of an earthquake, and a loud, dull roar like a supersonic jet engine seemed to permeate the walls.

Before Fred's spirit commune ended, he could almost hear the mountain spirit say, "Oww..."

[SuperCracker]

Fred Broll

Adven would watch Fred stand there with that faraway look. He speaks in quiet tones with something that no one else can perceive. Spirits like this mountain are far older than mankind. Fred listened respectfully to the old mountain. He gave it such deference, in both body language as well as tone of voice.

And the old mountain told the Champion of its troubles. The servants of this villain had come and violated its existence in the material world. It was angry. It wanted the gone.

Everything stopped. Then everything shook.

"Boss! What the hell was that, boss?!"

Fred blinked several times, his eyes still pale but beginning to brighten up once more. A look of anger crossed his face and he spoke to the mountain spirit before their tie was severed. “Mighty one. I honor your enduring wisdom. I will give you a fitting tribute and destroy those who have infested you.”

By the end of his sentence, his eyes were bright. He was out of la la land.

“Izzy… they’re up above, near the peak of this mountain. Let's go.”

Fred looked about for any likely route... and if all-else failed, he just picked one and ran.

[ripleycat]

Adventuress

As Fred went trancy and started speaking in whispers, Izzy just shrugged and pulled her guns, watching the hallways in case more bad guys decided to show up while Fred was doing... whatever he was doing. Her knowledge of magic is mostly of the when and where and why variety, and less of the spirits and glowy eyes variety. Then the entire mountain started rumbling like it was going to come crashing down, and they hit the floor.

Adventuress stumbled against the wall as she tried to stand up through the violent shaking. "Oh, that's not good."

Izzy skidded through the corridors next to Fred, also searching for a way up towards the peak. "Hey Fred, now may be a good time to let you know I don't actually know what this Energon stuff does, other than be energetic and magical. The last time I encountered this, the base kind of... exploded before anything reached this stage. Basically I don't know how screwed we are, so we better hurry."

Perception, if needed, to find a way up toward the peak. [roll0]