a tale of five orbs

[boomwolf]

easy-to-watch char sheets.

Matthew D'Malek (http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=21571)
Augustus Andronicus (http://www.rpgwebprofiler.net/view.php?id=61239) NPC for now.
Sling Spears (http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=19443) NPC for now.
Thyria (http://www.rpgwebprofiler.net/view.php?id=61323)
Wisp (http://www.rpgwebprofiler.net/view.php?id=61393)

now that i've set that up lets get on with the story.


...i will send you to the plane of heran, search for the one called terenis, he will guide you further...
and with these words, the world around you crumbled, and you appeared in sitro, the capitol of heran.

the capitol was not to impressive in your eyes, mid-level housing was all over seemingly in no order, with a glimps you have from your position you can notice a tavern, a few houses, some market tents, and a big structure guarded by man in yellow robes, seems to be a center of power.
the enviorment around you was also quite poor, desert sand as floor and a few plants, all seems very dull and unimpressive save a single little plant that has purple leafs and is guarded by one of the men in yellow robe, he looks at you and the closing portal without much thought. planeswalking must be common thing around here..

feel free to roam around and attempt to gather info in any way you think is best.

[pingcode20]

Wisp looks around and takes in the surrounds, before silently putting her mask to her face and swinging around to look at the yellow robed guard, her garb of the day shifting into a yellow robe, while making no attempt to change identities.

She smiles, and holds the half-mask slightly cocked to the side as she looks at the guard.

"Well, where are we?" she asks, a little too cheerfully.

[boomwolf]

"another miss-direction planeswalking?"
sais the guard, seemingly unhappy.
"getting quite common our days actually.
this is sitro, capitol of heran, city of the prophet, bless by the light of Lord Famret.
actually you went up right before the palace." he said while nodding to the large structure.

[Krelon]

Thyria, standing unmoving, straight and broad-shouldered, has a stunned expression on her face for a second before she regains her composure. Squinting at the sun she quickly pulls her hood over her head so far that her horns are covered and gathers her cloak around to hide the spikes adorning her armor and tries to appear smaller than she really is in an attempt to look less dangerous.

She peeks suspiciously at the three lighter humanoids next to her who have been seemingly tranported as well: the dark skinned elf, the strange small man with pointy ears and the human.

Hearing the brief exchange between the woman - apparently her fourth companion - and the guard, she hisses under her breath, so that only the three men next to her can hear her "No word to the natives about what happened, we must speak first".

Quickly she makes a few steps in the direction of the guard saying, "Well, hello good man. Let's say you are right and we are lost, where can we find a person or a place with books & scrolls that can guide us to some person who might help us along?"

[boomwolf]

the guard, seemingly stunned by thyira's figure of speech says in return "well. if i knew who you want to find i could direct you to him. in any way, if you are looking for some item to buy it will probably be in one of the market stands or off this plane."

[Krelon]

Smiling at the guard Thyria continues, "Ah, you're so very helpful, even though standing on hard duty under the hot sun. Forgive my ignorance, what is it exactly you are guarding here, must be something of value on this plane?"

After giving the guard the opportunity to answer, she continues seemingly unsure.

"Hmm.. you said you can help, good thing my parents did travel a lot on the planes and you hear a name or two here and there. So, what names do I associate with Heran?" she pauses briefly, tipping her nose with a finger "We are in Heran, right? See, I don't know these persons personally but maybe you know something about a... Kalayda? Terenis? Guskor?"

[Chaos Perfected]

Augustus grabbed his chest as he appeared, his eyes darting to and fro from all the strangers gathered here. You see, long had he been under the belief that his land mass of Vasanr was the only place that existed and there was nothing beyond the great blue, not that they could go on it, and certainly no other planes of existence. It seems he was wrong.

"What in Gaims name.." He silently whispered to himself, backing away from the chatting humans. Humans were barbaric people, how were they talking? Perhaps things were different on other planes.. Was that an elf? He eyed the Drow unknowingly and then returned his attention to the conversation at hand. He would test the mettle of his companions at a later time.

His grip on his sword and chest loosened. The city was vast, he had not been in a large city all his life. He shook his head, human rulers that would not try to kill him on sight.. this would be an interesting adventure. But he had to return.

"We must contact who brought us here, I must return to my home." The halfling whispered to Thyria. "You seem to have some knowledge of these things..."

[boomwolf]

"Terenis..." he says "sound familiar but i cant quite put my finger on it"
"anyway. the important people of this plane are Lord Famret and the prophet, the rest are pretty common people."
"and for the plant, we use it essence to create planar portals, its quite rare around here so we always keep guards on it."
"never heard about kalayda andguskor due" he added with a board voice.
he looks at some sort of amulet and says "well, my shift is over" then he leave, quickly to be replaced by another man in a yellow robe.

[Krelon]

((OOC:this happens only if no one else wants to iteract with the guard.
btw, if you feel spammed by my posts I'll limit myself))When the guard turns around Thyria tugs Augustus' by the sleeve of his shirt and pulls him out of the guards (and any local citizens who might be around) earshot.

"Yeah I wish we could, I'd love to talk to our abductor in private. He certainly doesn't stick to the appropiate way of business proposals." Her orange eyes with small black pupils take his measure, looking up and down the small humanoid wonderingly. "Are you one of the fabled small races, like the kobolds? Or did the planar travel shrink you by half? I heard there might be dangers. You know, you can't be more than 3 feet high!"

"Anyway, all I know is that we seem to be on an other plane, this Teneris fellow is the only hint we have. And that someone didn't care to talk payment before sending us here. That bloody plant over there could be of some help as well. So what do you know about what's going on?" this last sentences are directed as well to Augustus as to any other of her companions who cares to listen.

[boomwolf]

OOG:
no need for yourself to restrain posting, if i want to wait for others to respond i'll jest hult the game until they do. but in this part its unimportant.

well...this naturally calls for others to respond.

[Erikkin]

Sling Spears:

The short drow shudders as he is teleported once more to the world of light. His hands quickly move to his hood and he draws it around his face, cloaking it in shadows. He examines the others while he fingers his kukri. He ignores the initial contact with the guards; instead, he muses to himself in his native language of Undercommon. "Hmmm... I have never been contacted by a god before. However, if I was to be contacted by one, I would think it would be Shar. Do any of you feel that this is odd?" He waits a few seconds for anyone to respond before he realizes that noone else can understand him. "Bah. Infidels. It appears once more I find myself among th uncultured speaking in primitive babble." He frowns a bit before switching over to the common tongue. "I asked if any of you had ever been contacted by a god you'd never heard of before. A god who failed to mention his name. It seems we may be footmen in their cosmic war. I will be blunt for just a moment. I don't trust any of you yet, and I don't trust the nameless elder. I will however, search for Teneris." He folds his arms and looks at the new guard.

He quietly walks up to the new guard and looks at him. "Greetings, friend. I have a little question which your previous officer couldn't help me out with. I would appreciate it if you could help me out, and I would just hate for anything untoward to happen to you. Do you perhaps know Teneris?"

OOC: I like to color code languages, so when Sling speaks, it will be: Common, Undercommon, Elven, and Abyssal.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Chaos Perfected]

"Though a Kobold may be a worthy companion, I am a Halfling, good lady. And what are you, may I ask? You are similar to the barbaric humans.. and yet different." Augustus responded, "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Augustus Andronicus, leader of the Daystars. Who are yo-" He began to address his question to the group, but frowned as the Drow wandered off and spoke in low tones to the new guard.

[boomwolf]

oog:
quite disappointed the rest didnt post yet, ho well. they will catch up...

ig:
the guard looks at sling and says "a drow huh? not quite the common thing around here, we`ll keep an eye on you, but i have never heard on that teneris."
after a little thought he adds "i bet you can ask the prophet. if anyway knows it will be him."

[Krelon]

When the drow passes by talking about gods, Thyria quitely replies without interrupting him "I don't need no gods and I'm no ones footman". She eyes the drow suspiciously as he moves on.

Turning towards the halfling she straightens up proudly. "I'm a tiefling, in the common language 'those from the deep planes', call me Thyria and skip the lady. I'm a ... sailor, battleproof and waterproof, not some noble squirt."

She turns back and listens to the inquiry. As soon as Sling Spears is done a small grin appears on her lips. "It seems we team up, at least util we find Teneris ... not that I would trust a drow, yet"OOC: about the origin of the word tiefling see this wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefling)

[Chaos Perfected]

"A drow and a tiefling, eh? Never heard of them. For a minute I thought he was one of those legendary elves." Augustus said with a slight chuckle. Then he looked over hard at Thyria. "I meant no disrepect, Thyria. Women have fought and died at my side in the trenches just as much as anyone."

"It seems we have a trust issue. This is going to be a problem, and one I don't need. I need to be able to trust each of you at my side so that we can quickly return to our homes. So lets just put all of this i'm a distressed loner who doesn't trust anyone attitude behind us, shall we? We're all doing this for the same reason, and I do not want to be trapped on an unfamilliar plane of reality." The little halfling said, stepping among the group as he talked and finally walking to the front of them.

"Now.. tell us, fair guard, where might we be able to find this Prophet?"

[ForzaFiori]

"A dark elf, a Tiefling, a Halfling, and a human. While I could have picked more interesting creatures to travel with, I doubt that really matters right now." Matthew says from behind the group. "What matters now is two things. One, who is this Terenis, and who are all of you? I am Matthew D'Malek, a Telepath from Sigil." As the drow voices his distrust, Matthew turns to him "Dont worry Drow, The fealing is mutual. I wouldn't trust a female drow, let alone their male servents."

[Krelon]

"Like I already told Augustus", Thyria nods in the direction of the halfling who walks away towards the guard, "I am Thyria, sailor from Arguntum, the largest city in the Great Empire of Gesis"

Gesturing towards the dark elf she says, "Our friend over there has a valid point, I have to admit that. Whoever sent us here could be this Tarzif guy himself, let's keep that in mind. Anyway, in the end it doesn't matter. My plan is to get my hands on the orb and then I'll have - I mean we'll have - an extremely valuable token for negotiations. I suggest that we should all work towards these ends." She looks in the direction of Augustus, "Hear that Augustus? You'll be able to trade it for a passage home", returning her gaze to Matthew she adds "I know nothing about Terenis, except it's our only clue so far"

While she takes on a more relaxed stance, waiting for the guards reply, she asks Matthew "What is a Telepath?".OOG:the world of Gesis has no psionic adventurers. Maybe mind flayers would qualify but they are creatures from the very deep, even less known than the drow. Even if some telepaths came through the newly created gates in the last years that knowledge is limited to scholars and nobility. Mind reading itself is known because there are spells and rare artifacts for that.

[pingcode20]

((As a side note, I realised male and female humans have different base heights, and rerolled height and weight.))

As she heard the words, Wisp swung around to look at Matthew, swinging the mask across her face again and shifting into the very visage of Sling, only distinguishable by the fact that she was still holding her signature mask.

But with a quick flick of the hand, it too vanished.

"And pray tell, Matthew, what is wrong with a drow?" asked "Sling", sounding almost exactly like 'his' real counterpart.

[roll0]

[ForzaFiori]

"What is wrong with a drow? You mean besides the fact that your race operates on more dark and evil secrets than the tieflings? Besides the fact that your race is a corruption of elves that was never meant to happen? Or that you are the most untrusted humanoid on Sigil, hub of the worlds? In your very veins flows deceit and trechery. When Thyria asks about his profession, Matthias answers "I am a Psion who specializes in contact and control of the mind of others. We can read minds, communicate telepathically, turn a monster into our best friend, or make it our slave for life."

[Krelon]

Looking amazed at the supposed shapeshifter Thyria exclaims, "Wow, you're a wonder! I think I know illusionists and this was soo natural - who are you, really?"

Then realization strikes her at what Matthew (Matthias?) just said and she takes a step back involuntarily, interrupting her talking to Wisp. "Just to spare you the effort finding it out, if I ever learn that you messed with my mind in any way, you will not like my personality at all... yes, your abilities are very powerful and welcome. And frankly, there are tons of races that operate on more dark and evil secrets than the tieflings, I don't doubt that there are more evil humans in the multiverse than evil tieflings"

She turns back to the human female/drow man, "Sorry, I was distracted for a second. So, who are you? I'd go so far to say that you have a sort of magnetic personality, are you a Psion like Mat here? I'm not inclined to trust strangers at all, but you have this likeable look all about you."

EDIT: ok, removing that part
((OOC: just re-read last few posts and noticed that we look for teRENis while the guard was asked for teNERis. I think I misspelled myself in some of the posts above. If this has no game relevant importance, I'll delete this part of the post.
btw, I don't roll height and weight. Within what's given on the tables I try to find the best values that fit STR,CON and class/profession of the char.))

Looking between the two drows and trying to find a difference she says, "By the way, wasn't that Terenis - not Teneris - we are looking for?" And louder towards the guard in a sweet voice: "Pray tell, good guard, does your distinguished knowledge of persons include a Terenis?"

[boomwolf]

((OOC: i slip by things that your intention was clear, i wont kill you for misspelling.))

"no, i've got nothing." say the guard, clearly unwilling to talk.

[Krelon]

"Well, this nice little man" pointing at Augustus "asked politely how we can get in touch with the prophet. I bet you've got something on that, don't you?"

[Chaos Perfected]

"My friend.." Augustus began, looking at the guard. "You mentioned the Prophet, how could you not know of his location? Its only a simple thing to tell us.. and i'd like to move on from this place as soon as possible."

[boomwolf]

"well, actually...he has not come out of his room for quite some time, but if you want to try your luck you should lok for the temple of the six by the northen gate" he says, pointing to the direction.

[Krelon]

"Ok, let's go to the temple. On the the way there is plenty of time to finish introducing ourselves", she looks at those who didn't tell their names yet "if we're lucky we'll find a tavern or two on the way. I'd love to get a cool beer and some answers from the common folk".

Thyria is trying to identify a tavern or two in the direction of the temple while she moves on.

OOC:
knowledge local [roll0]
spot [roll1]
search [roll2]

[boomwolf]

i will wait to see if anyone is not willing to go?
if you wont respond for long i will take it is a no.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling glares evilly as Matthew mentions the drow females. He speaks in a low and evil voice. "Then it is a good thing you are not dealing with a servent foolish one." He looks at Wisp intrigued as she assumes his form. Then looks as Matthew bashes his society. He quickly offers his rebuttal. "The drow society does function on those secrets, yes, but can you say that your human society doesn't? I have spent time in human lands, and yet you profess that your race of ignorant barbarians is better than mine own? I don't care what your history tells you. The elves are a corruption of the drow that was never meant to happen. You weren't alive then. There are more evil humans than there are anything. Your pathetic race breeds faster than goblins and kobolds." He turns his attention from Matthew to Thyria. "Lead on water demonchild."

[Chaos Perfected]

"I havn't had a nice one in a long time.. all the best bars are in the capital of Thermopolye. The Den is alright but its not exactly what you'd call beer." Augustus said to no one really, remembering the cobbled together mixes they made. He hoped his troops and Zion were okay. He had trained them well.

Augustus shot a glare over at Matthew and Sling, "Stop it, both of you. This is no time for bickering." He looked sternly at Matthew, "In my world, i'd have killed a human on sight. Terrible creatures, barbaric, feral, and they live underground in these.. caves. They can't even speak the way we do, no more intelligent then animals. Remember that things won't be the same everywhere.. its a concept i'll have to get used to."

[ForzaFiori]

Your mind is your own. As long as you do not seek to work against me, you will find all I will do is to create a link between you and others. Attempt to harm me, however, and you will find that I have abilities other than just messing with your mind.

[Erikkin]

"I never said that I would hurt you, only that your society is not as great as you seem to think it is."

[ForzaFiori]

"I was not talking to you, drow filth. I was speaking to the demon-blooded girl."

[boomwolf]

((OOG: even that we made nearly 0 plot advancement...this is quite a funny conversation...))

[Krelon]

Thyria droops her head and appearing genuinly hurt* she tells Augustus "You are right, looks can be deceiving. When I gew up the oh so nice human kinds called me names like devil-gril, " pointing at her horns "horny-girl and" you see a purple-violett tail that suddendly wriggeles itself from the folds of her cloak and that she catches with her left hand just under its hairy end "ugly-tail"

She draws a deep breath and continues "Now I come to another world only to hear demon-blooded** this and whatever** that. I wished they would be more like you and just call me Thyria ..."

She looks at the human and the drow over her shoulder ((so that Augustus cannot see her facial expressions)). There is a wicked gleam in her pale orange eyes and her teeth are bared half an inch, her voice sounds a little more icy than before and she continues " ... so we can be friends"

She turns back to Augustus smiling shyly "May I treat you to a beer?"

OOC:
* bluff check to appear like she might start crying: [roll0]
** attempt to let her voice sound a bit like Matthew and Sling Spears

[pingcode20]

((Heh. I just realised that Wisp has a disguise modifier as high as a doppelganger operating at full capacity))

Wisp's half-mask rematerialised in her hand, as 'he' sighed at the telepath's bigotry. She apparently had chosen to take on Sling's appearance and mannerisms for the time being, miming his actions expertly.

"It is sad that you would judge on appearance alone, D'Malek. While I have never had the pleasure of knowing the trade language of the underground, I have never allowed myself to judge on appearance alone. Appearance means nothing. Voice means nothing. All is mutable."

She passed the half-mask into her left hand, where it turned into a kukri, and allowed it to rest against her side.

"A shapeshifter, you say? I suppose you could call me that. To most, I am known as Wisp, yet I have many more names, and many less."

[Chaos Perfected]

(OOC: Don't make me smite evil, you guys are the worst party a Paladin could hope for. >>; Oh, i'll been leaving for two or three days, just drag me along for then.)

"No, no need, Thyria, its quite alright." Augustus said, moved by the womans tale. It didn't take much to sway this Paladins heart. He was even misting up a little, the old softly. Even if he had grown up with war, hate, and death his whole life.. he still understood her plight.

He puts his hand on her shoulder lightly, "Come on, i'll treat you to one. Why don't you tell me more? Dwell on happier times." He said, smiling at her.

[boomwolf]

((OOG: am i really needed in this game?))

your bluff has failed, but not to a level to make them notice you try to bluff.

[pingcode20]

"Ah, young love. What a motley crew we are." commented Wisp, with a wry smile on 'his' face. "Well, I'm off to cause havoc." 'he' said, with a flippant manner that no doubt would make Sling cringe.

[roll0]

((EDIT: Looks like I've just clobbered Thyria's Bluff [EDIT: Twice] times over... And managed a hunch to boot.))

[Krelon]

While keeping an eye on Matthew and the drow just in case their verbal duel becomes more physical, Thyria talks to the other 'drow', "Wisp, like in will-o'-the-wisp? Most fitting your mutable appearance. Say then Wisp, EDIT:before you take off to to pursue your hobbies, do you care to accompany us to get a drink and ask the locals a few things. If I could employ your help to find Terenis, I'd be grateful. As you know some people judge others by the looks, it's not always possible for a tiefling to get an honest answer ...now I guess that's not a problem for you"

"Are you with us in the attempt to find those valuable orbs, to trade them for what we want most? Like our Augustus here, who wishes nothing else but returning home"

EDIT:(( OOC: got ninja's by pingcode20 while writing this post. Therefore edited a bit, adding additional text in italics.
p.s. lucky natural 20 you :smallwink:...

EDIT2: right, boomwolf must decide how much you get with your sense motive:

she sobs a little too theatrically, can't be that bad for her
however, her childhood story sounds too natural to be false
it indeed bothers her to be called names, as much as the talk about evil tieflings
'ugly-tail' is accompanied by a deadly gleam in her eyes, not a good idea to name her so
she is not hurt, she is getting angry
she is angry because she might indeed be an evil tiefling who doesn't want everyone to know
she is not showing her anger to Augustus deliberatly, distracting from 'evil tiefling talk'
currently she actually seems to like Augustus and his attitude for whatever reason
'horny-girl' seems to be thrown into the mix, with a trace of amusement

[pingcode20]

Heh. This is the second time we've ninja'd each other, Krelon. But yeah, there's no reason for Wisp to raise the issue right now anyways - it'll probably crop up a little later with a dropped hint, or something of the like.

Another trivia point - Wisp is the eldest of all the party, counting Sling's age in 'elf years'.

Wisp appeared to drift into a different speech pattern, making little attempt to speak with the persona of Sling, but it was unclear whether she was actually drifting into her real personality or not. "Why not? The multiverse imploding doesn't sound too pleasant, nor does permanent enslavement."

[Krelon]

Nodding, Thyria quickens her pace.

"Let us start learning things"

((OOG: am I guessing right, that no-one objects visiting a tavern and all sort of agreed to be looking for Terenis? Ok, Thyria will lead on if there is any tavern so we can start asking questions. If there is no tavern, she'll simply try street vendors and the market. If all fails, she'll just go straight for the temple of the six.))EDIT:how do you count elven years?

[boomwolf]

((OOG: i am not quite sure actually, but you can use the tables that are in one of the books, forgot what one.))

i also assume you got no problems. (as i really want to get on with the game)
you see a tavern down the street, its so big its actually quite hard to miss.
as you sit down around a table a waiter comes to you asking "what can i get you?" with slight fear in his voice as he sees sling and thyria. "a drink will cost you a single gold each, and a meal will cost two."

[pingcode20]

Or is it Sling, Sling and Thyria?

Elf years? No idea, but I just subtracted maturity age and Wisp ends up older.

"Sling" sits patiently, and mirrors the real Sling's actions and mannerisms, ordering exactly what he orders only slightly out of phase.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling looks angrily at the waiter. "I would indeed like to purchase a drink. However, I would prefer it at regular prices instead of these exorbitant ones. Although I doubt a servant such as yourself has any say in the price. I would like the best elven wine you have. Preferably a drow recipe and not one handed down to you by those coddled surface whelps." Sling glares at the waiter once more before flipping him a gold coin. He stops the waiter right before he is about to leave. "Also, if there is anyone with any intelligence back there, it would suit you well to ask them about Terenis."

[ForzaFiori]

And the piece of filth wonders why others despise his race. Matthew mutters. Turning to the waiter, he stops him before he leaves Bring me something exotic to drink son. He says, slipping him 5 gold pieces And see if anyone knows a Terenis, would you?

[Krelon]

"A cool beer for my companion" touchning Augustus' arm briefly "and me. Say, do you have a lavatory or at least a latrine here? It was a long journey"

When the drinks arrive Thyria will toast the group and after a short while she will leave with her hood covering most of her face. In the private room she will take a few minutes to carefully adjust her hair and hide her horns using a piece of cloth to create a pirate-like headdress. With her hood drawn back, the cloak hiding her outfit she tries to appear human and less dangerous.

On the way back to the table she stops at the bar looking for a helpful bartender or another waiter and initiates small talk asking about Heran and things of interest, trying to find out more about the local king "What kind of man is Lord Famret, this is your ruler, correct?" at some point directing the talk towards the prophet "Yeah, the prophet at the temple of the six, he is quite famous, isn't he? What can you tell me about him, what's his name for example? How can you get a prophecy from him, does he sell divinations?" At last adding, "Thank you, here.." taking out a gold coin "Let me buy you a drink for your time. You know what? this place looks very propserous and with you being here a lot, maybe you happen to know a person who might help me on my journey, name is Terenis. Or maybe you know someone who can help me finding?"

She repeats the questioning at the table of some talkative local patron and finally, she returns to the group.
OOC:
on the way to the bathroom (if there is any) she looks for and memorizes escape routes
walking among the patrons Thyria listens to the talks
she is trying to identify interesting persons in the tavern
listen [roll0] spot [roll1] search [roll2]

she hides her tiefling features and uses diplomacy to sweet-talk the
bartender: disguise (minor details+5,another race-2,bluff synergy+2) [roll3] and diplomacy [roll4]
local patron: EDIT2disguise (minor details+5,another race-2,bluff synergy+2) [roll5] and diplomacy [roll6]

EDIT: if the bartender was the average indifferent he should become friendly now. :smallbiggrin:, I base my estimate on this skill description (http://srd.plush.org/skillsAll.html#diplomacy)
btw, if the bartender is cute and friendly, she'll make a pass at him (she is a bad girl after all) and ask his working hours

EDIT2: checked the skill, you get only one disguise check per disguise.

[boomwolf]

LOSE GOLD:

matthew: 5 gold
thyria: 3 gold (you, agustus and the commoner)



the waiter is soon to come after taking you money, givs wisp and sling their gold back saying "nothing elven in here sir, would you like something else?", and handing thyria and augustus cold beer.
matthew is given a color-shifting drink and the waiter says "usually reserved to royals, but you pay high." when matthew tastes it he wonderusly finds out it takes the flavor of all his favorite tastes...


thyria's info-hunt has come up with the following info: (rest are NOT to know it, you may look, but using the info is metagaming.)

-lord farmet is seems to be very loved, yet a few praise him with a little sarcastic voice.

-terenis is NOT a human name, or elven, or any other common race for that matter.

-the prophet has not come out for a week, yet he usually come out twice a day.
he usually his works for minimal fee, and provides rather clear answers. to get a prophecy you jest need to be waiting when he comes out, he answers a few people, before they even ask, and then leaves.

-a few guards on the back are talking between themselves on the growing amount of gnoll raids lately.

[Krelon]

Before sitting down again Thyria pauses briefly marvelling at the sight of the drow twins. "Yeah, we are perfectly screamingly outstanding", she says eyeing them both, "you should know, just in case you are thinking of some drow business here in town".

Now that she is back from the restroom she is looking more like a regular human girl, her tiefling features are disguised. The purple scarf that she had knotted around her right tight-high-boot before now functions as a headscarf that gives her the look of a corsair.http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~csaa074/Thyria.jpg
http://www.claycritters.com/new-pirate-bandana.jpg
Back at the table, "No luck finding Terenis, but I heard the prophet is a really good one, top class diviner. Might be that he is already waiting to give us a prophecy, he is rumored to know the answers even before people ask them - and he doesn't charge a lot either."

"Let's drink up and move to see the prophet if you don't mind. This tavern is a bit too expensive at the moment, being on a short hunting practice I didn't take all valuables with me"

She waits to see if any of the group members want to do anything else in the tavern, if not then she drinks up and leaves. On the way out she pauses to say good-bye to the nice guy she was talking to previously. "Thank you for the nice talk, hope to see you soon."

((OOC
unless something happens, she'll lead on to the temple of the six

in case the nice guy showed any interest before, she'll also ask him if he knows some nice places to spend the evening and if he suggests anything she will say, that she'll contact him later, asking where to find him))

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew finishes his drink, and asks the waiter what it's called, then follows the tiefling out the door.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling disrespectfully declines a drink. "No. I would prefer to not partake of your inferior beverages at this time... thank you so much for offering." He watches his companions quietly as they drink. Almost every time he looks at Matthew, he fingers his kukri. As Thyria comes back and voices her plan to check out the prophet, Sling stands up. "Very well... Thyria... I was beginning to tire of this inferior establishment. I do hope the prophet does not overprice his services as much as this place." Having said that, he follows the tiefling out the door.

[boomwolf]

((OOC: i did say my multiverse economy is a bit different from the books right? 10 gold might get you a MSW blade in some places...these prices are not outstanding high. jest a bit. food is the main outcome for the avarage man...))

the waiter says the drink is called "Soul Seeker".

i assume you all follow your over-friendly demon chick....

opon arrival to the temple you see its actually pretty small and with little decorations, two guards are standing in front of a simple, yet quite big (3M wide and tall), wooden door, with six statues standing in two rows on a platform, a quick look reveals the right row is 3 males and the left is 3 females. probably statues of the gods.

sling only:

you can see a small piece of metal is stuck from the other side of the door, as though as a sword is stuck in it. small and close to the edge its quite clear how people always missed it.


send me the char sheets to [email protected] so i can avoid problems with the site. they are buggy...

[ForzaFiori]

making a mental note to look for the drink if and when he ever gets back to Sigil, Matthew follows the others to the temple. Once there, he admires the door for roughly 1 second, and then walks up to a guard. I heard that there is a great prophet in this temple, and that he gives answers to the questions of others. Is this true?

OOC: you want us to send the Character sheet to that E-mail?

[boomwolf]

((OOC: yes, as the sites are buggy and often fall down when needed.))

the guard replies "Its true, but you may not enter, he would have come out to you." then added in a low, worryed voice "but...he hasn't come out in a long time."

[ForzaFiori]

Well then, dont you think someone should go in there and make sure he's alright? He could be dieing in there for all you know. Why dont you two guards go make sure he's ok?

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling glares at the guards as they deny him entrance. It seems like that's the only expression he knows: an angry, harsh glare. "Yes, we had heard that he hadn't come out in a while. That does indeed lead to a few conclusions. Some of them not so good. Perhaps he is ill? Have you not sent anyone to see what is wrong?" Sling moves gracefully past the guards and examines a random section of the door near its edge. He gently slides his hand over a small section of the door. "Yes. I have some little skill prophesying, and I believe something terrible may have happened to your prophet."

OOG: [roll0]

[Krelon]

Thyria looks very worried while saying, "You better listen to him. You do know that drow are sensitive to darkness, death and disease, right? You can practically call it a racial feature"

"Besides I heard the prophet didn't come out in a week. Doesn't he need fresh food and water at all?"

OOG:
hehe, over-friendly demon chick. Sofar we are only about 1 hour in game, why should she blow her cover this early? Opportunities will arrise, like for example Wisp has a hunch already.

anyway, bluff to aid Sling : [roll0]
EDIT:yup, that should be enough (aid another is always DC10 I think) to give him a +2 circumstance bonus on his actions

it looks like I can export my char sheet to XML only. If you want I could print it as PDF but it doesnt look very goood and the notes are not complete.

[pingcode20]

As the group heads to the temple, Wisp ducks into an alley and re-disguises herself as one of the guards she saw earlier, making a sort of composite face from the guards she had seen that hinted at being the guards but was just different enough that it was easy to dismiss it as a trick of the memory.

Following the group from a ways back, and walking with a hurried, yet proud pace, she reached the temple a moment after the group.

"I must see the prophet at once! This is a matter of the utmost importance!" 'he' announced, motioning for the guards to move aside.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[boomwolf]

when hearing sling and tyria they say "we put in a plate of food and a bucket of water every day" yet they seem a little worried.
when the "guard" (wisp) shows up they tell him "you know the rules. no coming in."

[pingcode20]

"Rules be damned, I have reason to believe that there may be an attempt on the Prophet's life in progress as we speak!" exclaimed the 'guard', appearing as exasperated as possible.


[roll=Perform(Act)]1d20+10

[pingcode20]

((Stupid brackets. [roll0]))

[pingcode20]

((ARGH! [roll0]))

[boomwolf]

the guard looks at wisp the guard in horror, then he turns around and opens the door in an instant.
with a quick look yuo can see two rotting guard corpses, and a hole in the ground. the guard yells "THE PROPHET! THE PROPHET WAS KIDNAPPED!" and he runs to call for help. the second guard tell you all to get in and help him look for clues.

[ForzaFiori]

I hate it when i'm right! Matthew runs in and starts looking everything over for clues

search: [roll0]

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling enters the room and gives a quick look at the doors. If a sword is lodged in the doors, he will pull it out. He next goes over to the deceased guards and begins examining them. The first area he examines is their belt, looking for coin purses. He then moves onto their wounds and examines those for a second.

OOC: [roll0]
Here's one search check. Make as many more as you need to at +8.

[Krelon]

Thyria

Surprised by the fast development she is beaten by the quick thinking Sling to the guard corpses. Instead she examines the inside of the temple and the hole in the ground. When the first frantic search is over she takes a look at the dead guards, too.

OOC:
darkness is not a problem (darkvision)
spot anything: [roll0]
if by any chance she notices at all, that Sling is stealing it depends on how much she sees...
if there are only a few gold she will ignore it completely, if it looks like he found a gem or something like it, she will even create a small diversion for the rest of the group saying "look what's this over there?" at the right moment ((no, not out of goodness of the heart))

search temple: [roll1]
search the guards afterwards: [roll2]
and examine their wounds (heal?): [roll3]

EDIT: right, nearly forgot to add that when searching she also tries to find out if there are some gnoll markings on the ground or the bodies (clawed feet, bite marks)

[boomwolf]

your searchs provides the following results:

Sling:

5 gold.
claw marks all over, a dagger suck with deadly accuracy, probably the killing blow, a beastly nail stuck in one of the body's. there are signs of extrema efficacy. one or more of the attackers is an expert killer.
both guards are armed with longswords.


Matthew

a dagger is stuck in the door, there is also blood trails near no body's, some leading to the hole.
and a purple leaf, with a little scorch mark on it. and general scorch marks around it.
both guards are armed with longswords.
you can feel the traces of a destructive soul, not evil, but highly destructive.


Thyria:

the hole leads to a tunnel shut with stones a few feet in. there is a little silver ring near the sealing, broken. there are heavy scorch marks on the sealing.
there is a broken chain hidden under a bed, attached in one side to the floor.
several different marks on the body's, including claw marks, stab marks (and a dagger stuck in one of them) and blunt marks. some wounds are dry yet a few are very fresh, as if someone left them dying some time ago, and someone else that came later finished the job.
both guards are armed with longswords.

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew pulls the dagger out of the door, and examines it closer.

appraise (untrained): [roll0]

[boomwolf]

seems like it made a hole all the way to the other side. you wonder how nobody saw it.

other then that, seems like an ordinary dagger, save the fact its all black.

[Krelon]

Thyria curses "By the nine hells, it could have been so easy.. meet the prophet, say hello, get the prophecy, but no... he got his bloody a$$ kidnapped by some some bloody beasts"

While cursing she yanks at the chain to find out if it is connected to a trap door. Since she's already there she also searches the bed. At some point during her search she palms the small broken ring.

To the guard "The prophet is a spellcaster, isn't he? Look there" she touches the scorch marks at the ceiling and adds "We must find out where this tunnel leads, you know this city, hurry outside and see if you find the other opening, could be hidden in a shack or abandoned building somewhere near."

OOC:
how fresh are those fresher wounds, still wet?
is there anything else in this temple (another room?) that could be searched
searching for traps (tunnel): [roll0]

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew puts the dagger in his belt. an extra weapon is always helpful, and he'd like to have it looked at by someone at some point. Then he walks over to the others So what all did you find?

[boomwolf]

the wonds are pretty fresh, mid wet.

the room is pretty empty. 4 beds and a few dozen plates of food, none of them eaten. most are rotting.

the search for traps in the tunnel shows none, but it DOES revel that the scorch marks on the sealing where made later on, in an attempt to destroy it.
the search on the bed revels nothing new.

no other rooms, told you its quite small. the door covers almost an entire wall.

((OOG: tip for the entire adventure, sometimes the little details matter.

[Krelon]

furrowing her brows Thyria continues the investigation...

EDIT: She also asks the guard "What is the prophet's name? What race is he?"

Thyria kneels and checks the dead guards facial features and the size of their teeth.

OOC:
is that correct?
- The ring is in the ceiling of the temple room
- The scorch marks are in the ceiling of the tunnel
- there is only this small room but there are 4 beds

Do those beds look like simple guards beds?

Is the ring wide enough to thread the chain hidden under the bed through it? So let's say if there was a cage hanging from the ceiling and the chain was running through the ring back again to the floor it would fit?

when Tyria searches the floor just under the ring in the ceiling... are there marks on the stone floor exactly under the ring? Like something hit the floor hard or was dragged towards the tunnel?

Remembering things: when people told us about the prophet, did they say he only leaves the temple during daylight, only briefly, always with guards?

EDIT: do the "older" wounds look like they were healing (closing?).
EDIT: Are those older wounds bite and claw while the newer are weapons?

EDIT: when asking the race of the prophet, does the guard flinch?

EDIT: between the corpses and the tunnel are there some marks in the dirt or on the floor that remind of drops hitting the floor? If there are such, are they red or clear like water, or maybe they are dry now but a smudge of salt is left where they fell down?

[boomwolf]

SO MANY EDITS!

anyway:

its a ring like the one you put on your finger...and its broken. sheesh.

beds are rather simple. you not poor. midclass stuff... and were you ever in a school trip? you know how 4 people get into one little room? yea... not alot other then beds.

the scorch marks are on the blocking itself.

the guard replys "nobody knows his name, but i am sure he is human." with a sound of wondering in his voice.

Remembering things: when people told us about the prophet, did they say he only leaves the temple during daylight, only briefly, always with guards?
correct.

older wonds are all kinds, newer are clean cuts. and the older wounds were healing.

the guards are not vampires if that was your point.

[ForzaFiori]

How long had the prophet been here? How old was he?

[Krelon]

Thyria lets the ring disappear in her pocket for later examination during a moment when the guard is not watching her.

"Are there guards with different access rights? Like some are not allowed to enter, some stay here with the prophet? Those two dead guys here, they are your colleagues, right?"

OOC:
are there differences in clothing between the guards that were standing outside and those that were inside? Any similarities to the guards at the plant?

my point was to find out if the guards had some animal or feral features, not vampires, more like were-something

[boomwolf]

"they are not really my colleagues, they are from a different group, and the prophet was here before me."
when he said it, you notice the guards inside has the same armor and cape, but red instead on yellow.

[Krelon]

Thyria
"I see... the red cloak. Is this a mark of a special unit?" while speaking she examines the blocking again.

"Surely you have seen the prophet. Can you describe him? If we know what he looks like it will help finding him."

EDIT: As soon as the guard doesn't pay attention to her she examines a spot near Matthew and whispers to him "I have a hunch that something is not as it should be. These yellow cloaks don't have a clue. Soon more red cloaks and their boss will arrive, can you read their minds?"

OOC:
does the blocking look old and the scorch marks fresh?
meaning: looks like someone tried to blast away the blocking

or, does it look like the blast caused the blocking?

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew frowns, and then whispers back no, i'm afraid not. Not without them knowing that someone is attacking their mind anyway, and in that case they would hear my thoughts too.

[pingcode20]

Wisp looks around, deciding not to blow her cover and instead simply combing the area for clues.

((Taking twenty to search as much as possible starting from the tunnel opening. Total search = 22))

[boomwolf]

the guard says "well, they got a different chain of command, but leading to Lord Farmet too in the end of it.
as for the prophet, he is always with a hood on, so its hard to tell."

the scorch marks and the blocking were made about the same time no more then two days afar, hard to tell when, but the scorch marks seems to be an attempt to break it open.

a green guard runs in and says "some of the towers reports seeing some gnools come out of a pit near the walls lately! might be related!" then he leaves and says "follow me!"

wisp:
as these event happened in about a minute i cancel your "take 20", do you want to perform him anyway or change your action?

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling remains silent as the others question the guards. He stares in disbelief as the green guard comes in. "Do you mean to tell me that you actually let some gnolls tunnel under your walls? Honestly, is there any group of guards that isn't incompetent." Shaking his head in confusion, Sling follows the guard.

[Krelon]

Thyria wispers back to Matthew, "Never mind. Tell me, if we can snatch a lone redcloak later, can you get the truth out of him?"

When the guards storms in and orders to leave she follows behind the rest. On the way to the tower she falls slightly behind, so noone can see what she is holding in her hand and examines the broken ring very closely.

OOC:
checking the ring for runes or letters inside and outside

[boomwolf]

the guard says "i blame the politics, who is the idiot that allows WHITES to guard?" he says the word "whites" like a curse. "these idiots are as floaty as the clouds senviv, goddess of air if you don't know, makes." then he add in a rather low voice, like a loud thought "and the shorain guys are too trigger happy! trust the follower of germo for such jobs!"


thyria: one rune are on the ring. you got no idea what it means. the breaking seem to be right on it.

[Krelon]

"So each color" looking at his green cloak "means, you worship another god? Temple of the six means that there are guys of 6 colors in the city guard? What are those gods, what do they stand for? Are they all good or neutral? Which color corresponds to which god?"

OOC:
Thyria can read common, infernal, draconic and dwarven runes (those are the alphabets for the languages she speaks). Does she have only one part of the ring or both parts (if it broke in two)?
Is it possible to fix the ring?

[boomwolf]

((OOG: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

at least if you are jewish like me...(actually i am only from birth, but heck i still do holidays!)

anyway...))

the guard responds "good and evil in nothing all that obvious with the gods, but we have:
Senviv-goddess of air-white. (hate 'em...)
Germo-god of earth-green. (the best of the best...)
Shorain-god of fire-red. (trigger-happy loonys...)
Tinia-goddess of water-blue. (lack own will...)
Karasha-goddess of death-black. (spooky silent guys...)
Eldin-god of life-yellow. (the dominant, looks reasonable...)"


as for the ring:
i know. you cant make and sense of that rune anyway.
and its one part, broken in one place and a bit twisted.
probably fixable, but it might lose it's magic if any.


so far only mf11 and krelond mailed me char sheets, MF-you missed the entire point! i want to have them offline...not a link...

[ForzaFiori]

OOC: my b man, how do you want the character sheet? I mean, its an e-mail, its kinda always an online version, isn't it?

If I can get him alone, I can read the thoughts on the top of his head maybe. I was never the best at mind reading. I can do more like...mind connecting.

[pingcode20]

((I'll just fake it then. Sorry, posting might be a bit scarce because it's coming up to exam week))

[boomwolf]

((OOG:the point is that from E-mail i can download it to my computer, so i dont need to rely on these buggy sites.))

no further actions/questions?

[ForzaFiori]

((no sir. You may call your next witness. lol.))

[Krelon]

"What can you tell me about the Gnolls around this city and the raids lately?"

OOC
except this optional question, please proceed to the tower

[boomwolf]

tower???
who said anything about tower? you are going to the pit...


anyway...

"well...not a lot to know...they show up of nowhere, strike while killing all they can, and run away...from every direction possible, on all known towns.
then he adds
"but they DO use some unexpected high level tactics lately, suppressing even own military commandeers time to time..."

after a bit of travel out of the walls the guard says "here it is, thats where he said it is anyway." and you see a cave in there, you CAN walk in if you lower your heads. you also see a small trail of blood leading away from the city.

[Krelon]

Thyria

"Guards, you stay here. I'll check the pit, it might be a tunnel entrance - no lights, whoever sees in dark can go with me, the rest follows in a secure distance" looking at Sling "Do you come?"

She adds silently, "We must separate from the city guard, something strange is going on"

Drawing her weapons Thyria enters the pit.

[boomwolf]

((oog: can we PLEASE see a little more living game here? krelon is the only one saves me that seems to be posting on a regular basis. and i cant do a game with that.))

[Krelon]

((oog:
Actually the guys post about once per day which is a good pace for PBM.

With no immediate deadlines at the university right now, I can afford to spend a lot more time on gaming than others do (pingcode wrote about exam week, chaos perfected was leaving for a few days, and soon I'll have less time as well).

Actually because I check this thread so often I do many of the obvious things like going into the tunnel before others have the chance to reply. The other guys may post less but they are higher quality (Wisp is a stroke of genius... never saw a bard before that was so cool; Augustus is the perfect tough yet soft hearted guy, who wants to believe in his companions; The tension between Sling and Matthew is grand and each of the chars is unique in its own way... I wished I had such a distinguishable and sound concept mayself)

btw, boomwolf must be a psychic... the site with my charsheet is down since hours... I think he hacked it somehow to prove his point :smallwink: ))

[boomwolf]

its the tenth time it went down this week actually...not a lot of psychic there...and i don't think i can hack it...
i could make a hacker i know hack it...but it will take tooooooo much work...

anyway...i will wait until the rest to show up and post...(and i think EVERYONE can check in twice a day, morning and evening.)
stuff are going to get pretty important now...


anyway...who got tests now!?!!? school is on for less then two weeks damn it! i got another week before my first test, and at least a week till the next one.

[pingcode20]

((Sorry about the lower activity - exams are occurring, so posting is going to be more or less sporadic. It'll pick back up within a week or so, I'll post as often as I can though.

EDIT: My school does. The exams are earlier, though the major subjects are in November.))

"No, I'm going to come with you. If the prophet has been kidnapped, it's our duty to find him." allowing a slight waver into Sling's voice as the 'guard' followed Thyria into the tunnel, deciding not to draw any weapons, not knowing what weapons the actual guards were supposed to use.

[roll0] to transmit secret message: Hinting that this particular 'guard' is in fact Wisp.

[ForzaFiori]

(I can't check in on the thread in the mornings, I get up at 5:30 and barely make it to school on time as it is. I get home at 5:45-6PM due to CC. On most weekends, my posting will pick up. However, any day I have a CC meet (most saturdays, a couple thursdays, and 1 monday) my posting will drop even more. Sorry for having a life, but I cant post like Krelon, I dont have the time. I have at least 1 test/quiz EVERY WEEK, usually more than 1.)

Matthew steps forward. I am going into this pit with you. My powers may be useful.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling pauses a second before following the others. His eyes sweep the room one last time, looking for anything they might have missed. Seeing nothing of interest, he jumps down into the tunnel after the others. "It seems whomever we are opposing may have gotten here before us. A prophet is useful no matter who you are. Perhaps we should allow the tiefling to go forward as an advanced scout?"

OOC: The crashing is why I use theTangledweb. It doesn't seem to crash.

[pingcode20]

((How odd. For me this was the first time RPGweb has crashed on me. I've lost multiple characters to TangledWeb, though.))

[Krelon]

Getting Wisps message Thyria nods at the 'yellow' guard "Fine, but someone must wait here guarding the entrance, it's very important. You! Green guy, you look reliable. Please stay here, can I count on you?"

With a mischievous glint in her eyes she asks Sling "Getting cold feet when it comes to unknown dangers, honey? I was so hoping we could become a lovely couple boldly scouting hand in hand into darkness no humanoid has ever seen before."

She tries to give Sling a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying forward.

OOC:
for the guard to convince to stay: bluff [roll0] or maybe diplomacy [roll1]
tunnel: move silently [roll2], hide [roll3], spot [roll4], search (traps) [roll5]

((poor mf11, I'm really lucky I guess. My university is like about 15 bike minutes from where I live and my part-time job is 5 minutes away from the university.

I have been using rpgwebprofiler for a few months and this is the first time it crashed for me. In future I'll export a copy to Tangledweb for backup))

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"I am not scared. You just seemed extremely eager to go first. I also assume that you're as skilled as I am, and there is little point in sending both of us. Gnolls really aren't that clever or observant. I will go with you if you want me to, however." Sling follows Thyria down the passage.

OOC: Move Silently: 21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1261413)

[boomwolf]

after walking for a few minutes you see a light continue of the tunnel, with a slight look you see there is a man in red robes lying there, holding a ball of fire in his hand.

[Krelon]

Pressing her finger to the lips Thyria silently winks Sling back with the other hand.

((I assume the others followed in a safe distance with a lit torch or are standing in the entrance, guard outside))

Back with the group she whispers, "Be quite and listen! In the temple there were 4 beds, 1 with a chain. I strongly believe that was for 3 guards and the prophet who was their prisoner for years." She lets her words sink briefly and quickly continues "Over there there lies a red guard, probably still alive. He is one of the bad guys and he will not tell anything to strangers." she touches Wisp's arm "You are god sent, dear. If you assume the shape of a red guard and make him tell you all that happened so you can find the prophet and undo the disgrace that was brought upon the folllowers of Shorain - that's your god of fire - maybe he tells you everything. What happened, who fought, the opening in the ground, how the tunnel collapsed, the broken chain. You are the only one who can pull it off"

[pingcode20]

Wisp nods silently, and thinks back to the appearance of the red guards, and shifts guise into a red robed guard, with a wave of her mask.

"So these guards are the followers of Shorain... Do you know anything more of them?"

[pingcode20]

Oops, forgot the roll.

[roll0]

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"They're trigger happy."

[ForzaFiori]

((Pingcode: LUCKY 20 man))

"besides the fact that they are kidnapping maniacs, no idea. Just roll with it." Matthew says with a smile.

[boomwolf]

((OOG: jest showing i'm here. soo... waiting for you to take action...))

[Krelon]

"He might be dead already, just give it a try"

[pingcode20]

"Only waiting for the blessing of Shorain." replies Wisp, with a smile as she walks down towards the fallen guard. As she 'spots' him, she breaks into a run, and places her fingers on the neck of the fallen guard, checking if he is alive, while trying to figure out what the fireball is.

---
If he is alive

"By Shorain! What happened?" exclaims Wisp, picking up the guard and shaking him, whether he is unconscious or not.

---
If he is dead

"He's long gone. Let's move on.", she calls back to the group.

No access to character sheet right now, guessing on Spellcraft
[roll0]
[roll1]

[boomwolf]

no rushing. it leads to me needing to "backstep"

once the man spots you he starts screaming "NO GET AWAY FROM ME!" and points the ball of fire to your direction.

[pingcode20]

((Spellcraft on fireball?))

'Wisp's eyes appear to widen a little, and she slowly starts to back away.

"Calm down, nobody wants to hurt you..." she says, and puts her hands forward, as if trying to defend herself. "I only want to be your friend."

Cast Charm Person, DC 15 Will Save to resist

[boomwolf]

the fireball is a fireball spell, for some reason not leaving his hand. (took you time to figure it out.)

the man takes a closer look and says "you are not one of the silencers...who are you?"

[Krelon]

((how far does the fire illumination reach? if it is like a torch or light spell that would be 20ft light+20 ft.shadow. Thyria is hiding concealed in the darkness outside the illuminated area, ready to charge in case the man tries to attack Wisp.))

[pingcode20]

"Blown my cover, have I?" replied Wisp, "Yes, I'm not one of the 'silencers'. Call me Wisp. Now, might I ask, who are you?"

[boomwolf]

its about like a torch, maybe i should have cleared that up....

the man says "well...they are going to kill me anyway...i am zrull, high priest of shorain and one of the warders of terenis...we used a cover of a prophet to hide him, forcing him to answer people..." the man coughs up some blood and continues "but we failed, and now we know things that should be "forgotten", tarsiv is sure to have sent silencers after us, before we manage to tell lord farmet the truth..." then coughs up some more blood. the fireball disapeers and the man says "shorain's blood!" in a curse-like voice, while he lits another.

[Krelon]

Thyria takes a deep breath and sheats her weapons silently. With her arms stretched to the sides and hands open she slowly approaches the red robed man. Even before emerging from the darkness she begins to speak.

"Wisp is not alone, my name is Thyria. We have been secretly summoned from different worlds by elders who oppose Tarsiv. We couldn't win in an open fight against Tarsiv but his agents are not aware of us yet, therefore we have a chance of thwart his plans"

She stops 20ft. away from him, near enough to be illuminated by the light but clearly out of weapons range.

"Our only chance right now is to force Terenis to give us a prophecy that shows us the right path. We must be quick about it. If you care about the fate of the multiverse you must tell us what happened in the temple of the six, what Terenis is exactly, how he could escape and how we can force him to help us."

[pingcode20]

"Hold still for a second." replies Wisp, placing her hand on the Shoraini's chest, allowing a bluish glow to flow from her palm to the high priest's broken body.

[roll0]
[roll1]

"So, Zrull, what exactly happened, now that your life is out of danger?"

[boomwolf]

"my life..." he murmurs "will end soon anyway, you only gave me a little more time..." he reveals a stab wound in his chest "poisoned"

after a small sigh he says "fighting tarsiv is doomed to fail. he controls the entire red and black high priests as puppets, attempts to take the blue, fools the yellow and the white is too drugged to notice a thing...the green are the only ones facing him, but they are heavily outnumbered, and untrusted by the government, irony..."
and attempts to stand, fails and says:
"as for terenis, i am not sure what he is, but he had a ring that makes him look human that was burned into his flesh, he is an enemy of tarsiv but old and incapable of a real fight."
then he looks to the rest of the tunnel and says "and the temple? after the gnolls opened a hole in the night, they burst out, wounding us all until we were unable to move, and took terenis. i was lucky to be in this side when they sealed the tunnel, as i heard a planewalk noise from inside a little later, and then the cry for mercy from my comrades."
and with these words he passes out.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"He's done. Let's go." Sling quickly passes the body and moves down the passage. His kukri is out and he is glancing warily around him.

OOC: Move silently +9 Listen & Spot both +5 if you want to roll.

[Krelon]

"Is he?"

Thyria checks Zrulls lifesigns.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"The wound was festering. It was obviously poisoned. There's nothing we can do... None of the other orders will help him. They're all corrupt. We can't save him. Move on."

[pingcode20]

Wisp looks at the dead priest, and shakes her head, before re-disguising her face to look like the fallen Zrull's.

"Poor Zrull. May his name fight on."

[pingcode20]

Disguise as Zrull [roll0]

"Say, Sling, can you tell what kind of poison it is?"

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"It doesn't matter what kind it is. It's killing him and there's no one who can help him. I know many different kinds of poisons. I don't know what kind this is. It is most likely extremely deadly and possibly incurable. Every second we delay means Terenis is taken further away. We shouldn't waste time looking for help when there is none."

[boomwolf]

none, he's no more alive then a rock.

[Krelon]

Thyria

"Our drow cutie is right on that, the others are all corrupt, we can depend only on ourselves. But there is one last service Zrull can provide to aid us."

She begins looting the corpse, "Honey, you can scout ahead - I saw you moving, you are good. The tunnel obviously leads to the collapse under the temple but maybe there is still someting interesting on the way or at the cave-in on this side. Don't forget to pick me up afterwards, or I'll pout, badly"

Directed at Wisp, "So, you are mage after all, fine... can you see magical auras? I have an item I never got a chance to check and old Zrull here might have interesting things as well that we could miss otherwise."

ooc:
if needed take 20 on search+7 = 27

[pingcode20]

"A mage? Why not?" replies Wisp, as she dons her signature mask.

((Not sure if I have Detect Magic, thanks to RPGweb, but I'm reasonably certain I do. Casting Detect Magic now.))

[boomwolf]

i am not sure you have as well...but nothing is magical around you...

thyria:

you can find massive amounts of empty bottles marked as healing potions, and a sealed letter addressed to "High Priest Gorgo of Germo"

[Krelon]

((is the twisted ring I found magical? I show it to Wisp

EDIT: taking the letter of course and if it is not magical, open and read
no gold or weapons?))

[boomwolf]

no gold, no weapons,
letter not magical, ring with slight traces (fading), i thought its safe to assume wisp will answer you...

anyway...
the letter says so:

"To High Priest Gorgo of Germo
i am sad to inform you your suspicions were right, the exile, tarsiv has returned and took over the red temple, i also know he took over the black temple, the few who are not working for him are bounded by fear.

you can trust no other temple, the blue is halfway infected, and the yellow is fooled, the whites are never to be trusted at anything important as you know.

the only thing you can do is stand on your guard to attempt to stop tarsiv's agents from entering the green temple as well, you are the last beacon of hope.

contact the gnolls, they work for terenis, he is the prophet that we hold captive-against our will. they will help you purge the other temples.

and whatever you do, NEVER send anyone outside of the city walls alone, tarsiv's agents are always watching.

-yours, Zrull, High Priest of shorain."

[Krelon]

((are you sure about the gnoll's, they work for tarsiv in the letter? from the context I expected to see Terenis thee))

[boomwolf]

yes that was a screw-up...

[ForzaFiori]

Let us move on, we need to find this prophet

[Krelon]

"You should see this" Thyria lets the rest of the group read the letter then hides it away.

"I am unsure how to proceed, it seems we landed in the middle of a big mess. For starters we better tell no one about the letter and we either hide old Zrull somewhere in the tunnel or carry him out but tell no one that he gave us any information. Maybe what he told us is true, but for all we know this Terenis could have also manipulated Zrull to believe that crap and the temples are not infiltrated at all."

"Ideas what to do next? Except telling everyone what we are really up to, I'm open to suggestions"

[pingcode20]

"It used to be." replies Wisp, to the query of the ring.

Removing her mask, and dismissing the magic, Wisp looked at the body, and back at her own disguise.

"You know, they don't need to know Zrull is dead. Here, hand me the letter - I'll make a copy of it for our own reference, then we should hide the body and deliver the letter."

[Krelon]

Thyria

"Here you go", giving Wisp the letter.

"Let's do as Sling said and finish scouting this tunnel first. After that, shall we go after the gnolls first and deliver the letter later or the other way around?"

Carrying Zrull she follows the rest of the group to see what else can be found deeper in the tunnel and looking for a convenient spot to hide the body.

oog:
Thyria tries to carry Zrull over her shoulder: can carry another 120lbs, if Augustus takes her backpack then that's 140lbs. Otherwise she must ask someone for help.

[pingcode20]

((I know I bought a spellbook and ink))

Wisp produces what appears to be spellbook from within the robes, and thumbs through the pages of arcane gibberish and diagrams before arriving at one of the blank pages.

Placing the letter on the opposite page, she copies out the letter as closely as possible for future reference and passes the original back to Thyria.

"Thanks." she says, the spellbook and inkpen vanishing once again into the robes.

[boomwolf]

((showing i'm here, waiting for your actions.))

[Krelon]

((actions?
I thought Sling already left scouting deeper into tunnel, now tyria carries dead Zrull behind to deposit near the blocking [using stones from the cave-in] or even better if there is some good place on the way, hide him there.
))

[boomwolf]

ok...

zrull's body is hidden...
nothing else in the cave...

[Krelon]

"Now, you have all read the letter"

((if not, Thyria will show the letter to read (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3200787&postcount=130)))

"We can either go into the desert and look for Terenis directly, following the fresh trail OR deliver the letter to the green guys and make a deal with them. They help us with Terenis, we help them with the other temples"

"Any preferences, anyone? I'm slightly inclined to go to the green guys, cause we'll need supplies and a guide into the desert anyway. Plus, purging the temples sounds interesting"

[pingcode20]

"I believe we should see this High Priest Gorgo of Germo. The gnolls don't seem to be the sort to simply welcome us, so I'd rather have the opportunity to learn Gnoll first, if at all possible."

[ForzaFiori]

"let us work together with the green. We will most likely need all the help we can get."

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"Inform the high priest of the green. We can't let any of the other factions know about it, however. Wisp, I believe you should have the honor."

[Krelon]

"Fine, let's do it then. The guy who brought us here is a green guard, he can tell us how to find Gormo."

Nodding at Slings suggestion, "Wisp, you wanna do the talking? You used to be a yellow guard when coming in here"

Thyria leaves the tunnel.

((EDIT: any lifesigns from Augustus?))

[boomwolf]

((well...he IS outside...and nothing happens there right now...so i THINK he is still watching, but not posting.)))

[pingcode20]

Wisp nods, and staggers out, clutching the wound tightly.

[roll0]
[roll1]

"Urgh... Gnolls... captured Terenis... Got the other guy... Need to see Gorgo..."

[boomwolf]

Augustus, Matthew: you are back in "action"

the guard looks at wisp and asks, with a venomed voice "and why would that be shorain scum?"

[Krelon]

Thyria tries to disctract the guards attention from Wisp and directed at the green guy asks, "You guys really hate each other, don't you? I guess that temple of the six business didn't work out as planned. Whose idea was it anyway?"

[Krelon]

((OOG: about online char sheets nad the sites being down again:

there are a few sites that can be used instead of rpgwebprofiler:

http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/ (it appears it has been hacked recently and they are rebuilding)

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?

http://pifro.com/pro (a guy from the oots forum opened his private rpgprofiler for public use)


EDIT: just saw, there is even a thread about it (more links inside): http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57197

EDIT2: allright, after rpgwebprofiler went down and just before tangledweb crashed I tried to salvage some of the charsheet of the group. I managed to put them on a stable site. It is crappy, because it is only static, but at least you can access the sheets as they were when I had a look at them here:

Sling: http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~csaa074/backups/SLINGview.php.htm
Matthew: http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~csaa074/backups/MATTHEWview.php.htm
Thyria: http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~csaa074/backups/THYRIAview.php.htm

I'm afraid I was too late for the rpgwebprofiler sheets.

EDIT3: for tangledweb check: http://profiler.thetangledweb.net/
but it will be oflline until end of year, so you have to migrate from there
))

[boomwolf]

((tnx for your time and work, highly appreciated.))

the guard says "the white's idea...only decent one they ever had, without united temples we would have probably gone to open war a long time ago...same for the yellows and the blacks..."

[pingcode20]

Wisp stands there, coughing and clutching her stomach tightly. "Urgent... About... Terenis..."

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew comes up from the tunnel "Whats all the commotion about?" as his eyes travel to wisp, and he hears what she is saying, he continues Gods man! Your comrade is clearly in need of help, and you stand there and do nothing? Get them to whoever it was they were talking about before they die!

[Krelon]

"Yeah, don't forget you are united in the temple of the six. Like you said yourself"

[boomwolf]

((can i note the green guard knows NOTHING about terenis? do you mean tarsiv?))

[pingcode20]

((I'll go with Terenis.))

[boomwolf]

((ooookkkkk...x_?))

the guard says "terenis? who is terenis?" with a suspecting voice.

[Krelon]

"Oh come on, we also found something out about the prophet. If you're not interested I go and sell the info to the other colors. Heh, actually, that's a pretty good idea"

[boomwolf]

the guard looks at you with a raised eyebrow and says "i cannot allow you to know the location of the green main temple, yes main temples are separated, without a good reason, cant do it."

[Krelon]

"OK, now I get it. The temple locations are a secret. Well, I guess news about the prophet and more should be still interesting."

Directed at the Wisp, "Now, what if you write a message to Gorgo? I happen to have a piece of parchment and a piece of wax."

Directed at the green man, "Could you deliver the letter secretly and safely?"

[boomwolf]

after a short thought the guard answers "i believe i am allowed to do so. where is your letter?"

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"Couldn't you just give him the original copy of the letter? We've got our backup to reference if we ever need to." Sling mutters to Tyrntha while trying to stay mostly in the background.

[Krelon]

Thyria

"Sure but the seal is broken.. if our Zrull takes it and reheats the wax it will look sealed and it is the original handwriting after all. Later we can even admit that he died from poison after giving it to us.", also muttering very quietly.

EDIT:

She turns back on the guard (blocking the sight) and gives Wisp the original letter, "It's your call"

[pingcode20]

"You didn't find a signet ring, did you?" whispers Wisp, when the thought of the ring returns.

"Quick, hand me that ring you found. The broken one."

[boomwolf]

((eeemmm...i NEVER said there was a signet on the sealing...jest that it was sealed. not a visable signet anyway.))

[Krelon]

"It's just a blob of wax, you only have to reseal it. The ring is completely different story"

[pingcode20]

((Ah, right.))

Wisp looks at the letter, and revises her false assumption.

"Right, won't be a moment then." she says, as she takes the letter and staggers back out into the tunnel. Taking out the spellbook again, she uses the un-inked nib of her ben to 'write out' another copy of the letter, before lighting the lantern and remelting the wax.

Pressing the wax into the letter and letting it cool, she waited for a moment before letting out a groan and collapsing, as realistically as she could manage, and letting the sealed letter fall to the ground.

[roll0]

[boomwolf]

the guard picks up the letter, then snaps his fingers.
the letter starts glowing in light green and then disappears, and the guard says "its there now."

a few moments later you hear a loud voice that you cannot understand, and a green planar gate opens before you. two heavly armed green warrior and a green priest comes out of the gate and says "come with me please.", then the priest enters the gate, leaving the guards to...well...guard...

[Krelon]

Thyria

Thyria makes a quick step in, trying to catch Wisp before she falls to the ground, and checks on her briefly while putting her down softly. Before standing up again and turning around to the guard (blocking his way in if he tried) she takes the letter.

She looks at the guard, forcing the letter in his hand "So you've got what you wanted. Hurry now, and don't forget to tell your boss, that we want to ally with the green. How do we get your reply?"

To make it look more realistic she bends down and kneels next to Wisp again, placing a blanket under her head and adjusting her more comfortably.

------------------------------------------------
EDIT: arrggh... yes ninja'd and didn't even notice!!

[boomwolf]

((you got spartaned by me...if you look above your post, you GOT an answer...))

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"He's talking to us, isn't he?" Sling asks uncomfortably. Cautiously, he follows the man into the portal. His hand rests on his kukri, and he glances around fervently.

[Krelon]

Thyria

"This getting more and more interesting"

She bends down and kneels next to Wisp again, and says with a hushed voice "Do you want to keep playing along?"

if Wisp wants to play unconscious
Thyria will pick her up and and carry through the gate.

if Wisp doesn't want
Thyria will extend a hand to help Wisp up

She follows through the gate. EDIT: carrying Wisp.

[ForzaFiori]

"why can't we ever be summoned through a letter? why is it always so odd like this?" Matthew asks to himself, before stepping through the gate.

[boomwolf]

waiting for our little paladin (pun intended) and the ultra-split personalty to respond.

[pingcode20]

Wisp, being 'dead', and therefore not allowed contact with the living, simply tugs on Thyria's leg to motion that she should probably be carried through, at least until there's a chance to vanish without any of the guards around.

[boomwolf]

((where on earth is chaos damn it?))

i ASSUME the paladin goes in as well, as he is not responding.


walking through the gate, you get a strange feeling, you cant put your finger on it, but its disturbing.
on the other side, you get dazzled, not by magic or hit, but from the colors.
green, white, purple, pink,yellow,orange,brown. so many flowers, trees and animals from butterflies to birds and from mice to elephants. most animals you don't know, but they are all beautiful and colorful.
after a few moments you understand that you are inside a huge, wooden building, with an entire planar-scale eco-system inside of it, then, you notice a man sitting in front of a wodden desk, wearing a green robe and holding a letter.
with a sweep of his hand wisp transforms back into a human female, and he says "i think i could recognized my cousin's finger print. that was not a very good fake."

[Krelon]

Thyria who is carrying Wisp over her shoulder is startled briefly, then regains her composure and shakes her head. She releases Wisp and replies, "It's not a fake, sir. It's resealed. You recognize his handwriting for sure. Without looking into the letter, how could we have known, who to trust and to whom we should deliver it?"

[boomwolf]

the man says "the letter itself is real indeed, but the sealing was poorly made. you are armatures, and i have no idea why on earth HE thought you are the best choice to fight tarsiv. he can create planes but cannot find strong hero's? i KNEW i should have done it myself." then he looks at you with a raised eyebrow and continues "but you were chosen, and i got little choice now. i jest hope you will actually prove me wrong. but i believe you should talk to terenis, not to me." and he points somewhere where you can see someone is a brown cloak that covers him completely sitting on the ground and petting a wolf.

[Krelon]

"Ah, Terenis. So, tell me why I've been summoned"

[Erikkin]

Sling:

"Ah yes. Terenis. That's what who we were looking for. Our instructions were to talk to him. We did not anticipate you setting up a fake murder scene for him." Sling looks at the figure indicated to be Terenis. Frowning a little, he moves closer and gives a slight bow. "Greetings. I do so hope you know this superior language. We were sent to receive instructions from you, so instruct us. Who do we need to take care of?" If Terenis does not understand, Sling sighs exasperatedly and repeats his statement in common, but substitution "What do you require us to do?" instead of "Who do we need to take care of?"

[ForzaFiori]

Speak in a language everyone can understand, not your filthy tongue, you damn drow. turning to the one that claims to be Terenis, Matthew introduces himself. I am Matthew, of Sigil. Do be so kind as to tell me why the hell i'm here.

[Erikkin]

"I'm supposed to speak in a language everyone can understand? I shouldn't have to speak your language just because you speak it. Perhaps you should learn my language. I stooped to learning your pathetic excuse for a language. If I actually find someone who actually speaks my native language, I will converse with him in such. It is awkward for me, talking in this heathen tongue. My speaking habits will not change."

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew switches to Infernal This is the language you should be speaking, you filthy bastard

[boomwolf]

((wow, haterd.))

terenis looks at you two and says "fools. language is only an illusion to make the simple feel like a part of a group."
then he stands up and says "curse temno for picking a bunch of idiots like you, i would kill him if tarsiv havn't beat me to it!"
then, with a sweep of his hand (that you can see that has a glove, nothing of his body revealed) he says in an impressive voice "will you take a mission, one that you are likely to die in the way? one that is far beond the ability of the avarage mortal?"
the in a quite voice he adds "one that will lead your very souls to thier edge?"

[Krelon]

"You have a business proposal here. Very well, if the payment is adequate, I'll accept. We are to do great things for you, what do you offer in exchange?"

[boomwolf]

terenis looks at you with a raised eyebrow and says "the "job" pays for itself. as the mission is to locate and collect several artifacts of massive power. i do not care what you do with them, the point is terenis must not get them. with them all in his hand he could dominate the multiverse unchallenged even if all gods will work as one to fight him."

[Krelon]

"I accept on these terms"

[Erikkin]

"Powerful artifacts of massive strength are always a good thing to have. I accept as well. What are we to do?"

[boomwolf]

"your task is simple. locate, defeat the guards, and claim all five orbs of creation. by my analasis each orb will accept only one of you, unlike tarsiv that will be accepted by all. the orbs power depends on the power of the user, and the number of orbs he has, so i trust your incapeabilty to actually gain too much power of them" says terenis

he waits for a few moments for a respond and says "if you accept, i will take you to the last knows location of the first orb."

(sigh. i think i gonna need to NPC the paladin until we find a replacment. choas is not posting and not responding to PMs....))

[pingcode20]

Wisp was somewhat surprised at having her magical disguise dispelled, but oddly enough seemed to have been disguised anyway, as she picks herself up off the ground, a full mask covering her face and half mask in hand.

She laughs at the fact that Gorgo saw through the disguise only because the seal was made poorly.

"Amateur?" she repeats, "You speak of amateurs, though it took a slapdash forgery to realise the disguise! Were there no need to seal the letter, you would never have known the difference!" laughed Wisp, before turning her attentions to Terenis.

"And, pray tell, why do you tell us to keep the orbs from your hands, of all people? Refusing adventure was never one of my strong points, I accept. I shall do my best to keep them far away from you."

Wisp knew full well it was likely a slip of the tongue by Terenis, but she was exploiting it all the same.

((No roll for disguise, as the 'backup disguise' is fairly clearly a disguise and doesn't attempt to do anything but conceal Wisp's identity.))

[boomwolf]

((damn your char is complex. i might get an headache from it.))

terenis looks to the paladin and the pasion and asks "and what about you two?"

((if choas wont answer soon i'll look for a replacement and will NPC him meantime. you NEED a five-man (and woman) team.))

[ForzaFiori]

"I'm in, if only to keep these hellborn from getting to much power."

[boomwolf]

"so shall i!" says agustus ((need to find replacement.))
terenis puts out a small laugh and says "very well then, off you go!" as he takes a purple leaf out of the cloak and tosses it into the air, a brown glow surrounds you and feel like you are melting, then you reform in another place.
you see around you a small (50-70) round floor, surrounded by nothing, no walls, no earth, nothing. and a stairway leading down, and one leading down. then you hear terenis's voice (he is not there) "the riddle plane of timno. easy to go in, hard to get out. the last knowen place of the mind orb was in the bottem floor, only way out is on the top."

Xp bonus: intro finished. 200 Xp each. ((you took a HUGE shortcut, but that cuts down the combat Xp...)

[Krelon]

Thyria

((OOC: is there natural light or only our own?))

"Right, that leaves us the stairway down.... I propose Sling and I take turns on scouting, one stair down and change on the next floor. The rest of you follows in a safe distance"

She draws her weapons and sneaks downstairs.
move silently: [roll0]
hide: [roll1]
spot: [roll2]
listen: [roll3]

[boomwolf]

((there is enough light for normal vision, source unknowen.))


Thyria:
when going down you can see two little red creatures messing with a human body, they seem to not notice you and by their effort to make him move they could not have killed him. at least not with psychical force.

[Krelon]

Thyria

The Tiefling sneaks back upstairs and tells what she saw, adding "They could be dangerous despite their size. I think it's best we sneak down and try to take them by surprise before they can cast spells or whatever. If possible we could try to capture one of them and see if we can get it to talk. Any other ideas?"

[ForzaFiori]

If you feel they need to be destroyed, I'll trust your judgment I suppose. Although taking one for questioning would be best. If they do decide to attack, Matthew will cast Force Screen (+4 shield AC) before setting off towards them.

[Erikkin]

Sling draws his kukri and grins. "Consider it done. Questioning is always easier with one gone." He proceeds down the stairs with a red gleam in his eye.

OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]
Not sure if I need any other rolls yet. Initiative is +5. Attack +2. 18-20/x2 crit. Damage 1d4+1 +1d6 sneak. I can roll them if you need me to, or you could.

[boomwolf]

unfortunately, they see you, then they run and attempt to hide behind a hat, not very successfully.

[ForzaFiori]

((Behind a hat?))

Matthew comes down the steps behind Sling, and sees the creatures jump behind their makeshift hiding spot. sighing to himself at their stupidity, he quickly concentrates, sending a ray of frost at the closest one.

ranged touch attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

[Krelon]

((start of combat?))

Thyria attacks the creatures trying to capture one of them.

need initiative? [roll0]

if both still live, Thyria will grapple the damaged one (you said they are little, if small they get -4 or more on grapple)
if Matthew killed one, Thyria will try to grapple the other


no matter which one, it can react it gets an attack of opportunity, my AC is 18
melee touch (unarmed strike with weapon finesse) [roll1]
grapple check [roll2]
piercing damage(spikes):[roll3] + non-lethal[roll4] (hoping that grapple works and non-lethal pushes it into unconsciousness)

[pingcode20]

[roll0]
[roll1] to know about creatures.
[roll2] to know about location.

Wisp follows behind last, her disguise having seemingly restored itself to the yellow-robed guard from before. Reaching into the robe, she produced the 'spellbook' once again, and allows it to fall open to one of the pages.

Reading off the book, she begins intoning a series of strange syllables and waving her hand. The words, while strange, also have an oddly melodical quality to them, though it is easy to dismiss as a trick of circumstance.

Bardic Music use Expended for Inspire Courage

[ForzaFiori]

((oops, forgot initiative))

initiative: [roll0]

[boomwolf]

((wow...you REALLY want a fight do you? well these two are not in the power level to even THINK they can fight one of you.))

the two scream and run to the edge of the plate, then jump off. going "weeeeeeeeeee"

wisp:

these two were minor demons. the average prey of such level demons is rats, sometimes cats. these kind is VERY fast and capable to outrun every humanoid with ease.


((i DID roll intuitive. they got much higher scores.))

[pingcode20]

As soon as the minor demons run off, Wisp simply slams the book shut, and stuffs it back into the robe, the large bulge vanishing as the book completely disappears into her possessions. ((Since they beat us on init, I take it the Inspire Courage didn't actually fire off?))

"Well, that went well. We just scared off the demonic equivalent of a housecat." she says, walking casually over to the hat they left behind and picking it up.

Spinning the hat on one finger, Wisp continues. "This hat would have proven more than a match for them."

"Since they seem to have been trying to drag off this here corpse, any volunteers for pillaging their possessions?"

[Krelon]

"Great, just scavengers" Thyria loots the corpse, also examining the wounds that brought the human to death.

OOC:
search: [roll0]
spot: [roll1]

[boomwolf]

((why is everybody's rolls so low today?))

Thyria:
you find that the man has a shortsword and 2 gp on him that you can find.
you dont know what killed him, but his hearth is missing (there is a hole there, you can clearly see its missing).

[Krelon]

Thyria

"My, nearly nothing left here, one more corpse like this and I can pay the next round of beer."

She puts the two gold coins visibly into her pocket and wields the shortsword for a practice thrust to find out if is of high quality or just ordinary.

"So... Sling, your turn?"

EDIT:
((OOC: had to move my char sheet to another profiler, see signature))

[Erikkin]

Sling:

As the demons flee, Sling rushes to the edge and peers after them. With a shrug, Sling stops looking over the edge after the two demons. "Odd things those. Demonic equivalent of a house cat you say?" He nods acknowledgment to Thyria as she says it's his turn. He keeps his kukri at the ready as he stalks to the other staircase and cautiously creeps down it.

OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[boomwolf]

sling:

the lower level is a plate like the two you saw so far, the only thing you see in the plate is a pedestal with a round gray stone on it.

edit: ((eeem...people? are you all dead or what? losing one player was harsh, but now all other four seem to disappear too. is there some holiday i do not know about or something?))

[pingcode20]

((OOC: I was waiting for sling to post - there was little I could do ICly without metagaming, because he didn't do one of Krelon's 'I come back and relate the information', so we can act on it.))

Wisp, having become tired of waiting for sling to return, decides (quite understandably) that something must have gone wrong, and being of a relatively good nature, decides to follow him down in hopes of finding out what happened to him.

[Erikkin]

Sling:

Sling sheathes his kukri and stares at the pedastal for a while. As Wsip approaches, he snaps out of it and turns back around. "Everything's fine. You all can come down. There's nothing here but a pedestal. I'm going to go check it out." Having communicated his intentions to the group, he stalks toward the pedestal. As he nears, he examines the ground around the pedestal for any traps. After examining the ground, he moves on to the gray stone.

OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]

[boomwolf]

sling:
will save please.

[ForzaFiori]

Matthew heads down after Wisp, and stands back as Sling checks out the pedastal

[Erikkin]

[roll0]

More characters for postage length...

[Krelon]

Hearing him Thyria follows slowly always keeping an eye and ear back and up, just in case, to be able to notice anything shadowing the group.

[boomwolf]

sling gets knocked away by an invisible force, taking [roll0] points of damage. you all hear a voice that say "only the true minds may pass"

Thyria:
you hear weak voices coming from the level above you, something is doing a whole lot of effort there

((i hope you guys have backups of your chars, cuz non of them opens.))

[Erikkin]

Sling flies away from the stone. He is slams to the ground with tremendous force and hits his head. All he is able to do is lie there groggily.

OOC: HP=0
The link to Sling in my signature works.

[Krelon]

Thyria

"Someone is following us, Wisp can you work your magic on him?" pointing at Sling "Whether I like it or not, we may need him badly now"

"I'll check on what's going on above", she sneaks back.

move silently: [roll0]
hide: [roll1]
spot: [roll2]
listen: [roll3]


EDIT: not so bad, if they don't hear me, they may not look in the fist place, at least I'm hearing well.
languages known: common, infernal, draconic, orc, goblin

she goes very slowly, one weapon drawn, the bow in the other hand and adjusts weapons depending on the situation:
enemy close and aware = two melee
enemy far or not aware = bow and ready a shot

((OOC: please use the link in my signature, I always update the links when a site goes down - I have my chars on 2 now and a local backup))

[boomwolf]

((seems it does, and thats one of the disadvantages of being a drow in lower levels.))

Thyria:

you see two little red creatures messing up with the body. you cant tell if these are the same two.

[Krelon]

((OOC: when you said:
you hear weak voices coming from the level above you, something is doing a whole lot of effort there was it sounding like speech or was it the sound of those creatures?))

Thyria waits for a short period of time to see if there is anyone else on the platform. when she is sure it was only the little creatures, use bow:

surprise round:
shoot: [roll0]
damage (with sneak): 1d81d6

initiative: [roll1]
shoot: [roll2]
damage [roll3] and if I won the initiative, sneak: [roll4]

should one or more of them escape, follow them (but not jumping anywhere) to see where they go.
in any case: search the entire platform to find the way up they took (secret stairs?)
spot: [roll5]
search: [roll6]

[boomwolf]

your first attack was dodged.

unfortunately, your initiative is way below their's, they notice you one jumps of the platform with a "weeeee!" the other running upstairs. also going "weee weee wee we weeeeeee"....


you can find nothing on the entire plate, there is the body, the stairs down and the stairs up, thats it.

[ForzaFiori]

((my comp is having problems loading TW right now, when i can get it to work i'll post the new link to my character.))

[boomwolf]

((meantime you can continue playing. nothing that really NEEDS the char sheets is up now. and the little that is i can recreate with ease.))

[Krelon]

Thyria returns to the lower platform.

"It's the red critters again, I hate those midgets." Her glowering promises swift death to the little creatures at next opportunity.

"So, what has happened to Sling and does anybody know what to do with the altar? Matthew, you are a master of the mind, aren't you?"

[ForzaFiori]

Yes, I am a master of controlling my mind. I have been contemplating touching the pedestal while you were off chasing little red devils." He pauses, then sighs "well, nothing ever got done by standing around" Matthew walks up and puts his hand on the pedestal.

Will save (I'm assuming I'll need one): [roll0]

[pingcode20]

((OOC: I've mostly managed to rebuild my character, trying to remember exactly what spells I had.

But I believe I'm now out of 1st level spells.))

Wisp, instead of climbing back up to annoy the housecats again, strides quickly over to the nearly unconscious Sling lying on the floor. "Well, that can't have gone well. Come on, up you get." she says, helping Sling to his feet while muttering a spell.

[roll0]

"Feeling better?"

[Erikkin]

"Yes. Much better. Thank you." Sling looks at the stairs up. "I'd really like to kill one of those demonic things. I personally don't like being thrown about and those things are just annoying. Next one we find, let's try communicating with it until we get close enough to get rid of it."

[ForzaFiori]

One Character (http://www.thetangledweb.net/addon.php?addon=Profiler&page=view_char&cid=436)

[boomwolf]

((tnx mf11))

Matthew also gets knocked back takeing [roll0] damage.
you all hear a voice saying "you must prove your worthiness!"

[ForzaFiori]

Damn. Well then, anyone got an idea for this pedestal?

[pingcode20]

Wisp casts a Detect Magic cantrip, raising her signature mask once again, and gazes deeply at the pedestal, looking for some hint of what the pedestal actually is.

She concentrates for the full three rounds on the pedestal, as well as anything else of interest that may ping on the detect-magic-o-meter.

((By my reckoning, I now have one use of a cantrip left))

[Krelon]

While Wisp analyzes the altar, Thyria searches the rest of the platform looking for any writing, at last she walks around the pedestal and looks for runes or letter on the pedestal and the gray stone in the middle of it.

"Since we are on the plane of riddles, that must be one... I just wonder what the riddle is. It's hard to solve something if you're not told what it is. Do you think we must get hold of the stone on the pedestal? If so, we could use a rope to drag it down instead of running into the barrier"

((does the stone just lie on the pedestal or is fixed to it? how big is the stone?))

[boomwolf]

((stone is quite small, can be held in one palm. as far you can see nothing is fixing it to the pedestal. no writing anywhere.))

wisp:

the whole place is more magical from anything you ever seen, and i mean EVERYTHING is highly magical.

[Krelon]

Thyria uncoils her rope and takes each end in different hand. Stretched the rope now extends 15ft. away from her, makes an U-turn and returns back, forming a very long loop.

Standing 10 feet way from the pedestal she carefully swings the loop over it, so that the small stone is inside the loop (and repeats several time until it works) then gently pulls at both ends of the rope at the same time, moving the stone off the pedestal.

[boomwolf]

you have managed to get the stone to drop of the pedestal (i rolled use rope)

[Krelon]

Thyria moves the stone a bit further away from the pedestal then lifts it from the ground to examine it all around.

She looks at her comrades saying, "I'm not crazy, if you have a better idea, you're welcome". Then, holding the stone on her palm, she closes her hand and concentrates on saying aloud and thinking it at the same time: "Tell me, how do we prove our worthiness?"

[boomwolf]

unfortunately i have to ignore the second part. you fail to get it away from the pedestal. its like something is blocking it.

[Krelon]

Thyria stops 1 foot away from the pedestal and asks the thin air "Hello, somebody here? Tell me, how do we prove our worthiness?"

((OOC: there is no further way down from this platform or did I miss it in the description?))

[boomwolf]

you hear a voice that says "well...this is the entire riddle...knowing the question leads to the easy answer...but finding the question is the real hardship..."

((no, there is no way to go more down, at least not any that you can see.))

[Krelon]

"Oh... hi, there. Isn't it lonely hanging around here? Btw, my name is Thyria, who are you?"

"Say, it must be frustrating waiting long time then seeing all these people coming and going away without solving the riddle. I mean, the second part of your job is letting them go further. Lemme guess the pedestal is a gate, right? Wouldn't it be satisfying actually finding the worthy individuals and putting them on the right track?"

[boomwolf]

the voice says "what is time for a rock? i am here to make sure only these with the power of mind will be able to claim me."

[Krelon]

Scratching her head Thyria faces her comrades and says "I tried, sorta out of ideas now." Looking at Matthew, "Besides, I don't understand why the rock didn't let you take it."

[ForzaFiori]

I dont understand either. So much so that I'm going to try to take it once again Matthew walks up once again, and tries to take the stone.

(i must be insane or something, hoping the forum rollers will roll high for once, but whatever) *crosses fingers*

will save:[roll0]

[boomwolf]

you are getting pushed away again, but not in such force to hurt you.
you hear the voice saying "psychical force will not stand with you."

[Krelon]

"You don't happen to be able to move it with your mind? Touching is impossible and the rope is blocked"

[ForzaFiori]

I never learned much telekinesis, working instead in telepathy. At least, not any that wouldn't have a chance of hurting it. However, if we have no other ideas, I do have one power that will move it, though i may miss, and it may damage the stone.

[Erikkin]

Sling shrugs at Matthew. "Stone doesn't care. If he's got a problem with it, he'll bring it up." He then looks back at the stone. A look of bafflement appears on his face. "Would you repeat the riddle please? Or rephrase it? I'm not a natural speaker of this language."

[pingcode20]

((Wisp's sheet has been rebuilt. (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26574)))

Wisp, walks up to roughly the same distance that Thyria is from the rock, and removes the half mask.

"Well, little stone, the question is, what is the power of the mind? Is it the power to spur muscles beyond their limits? Is it the quickness to respond to that which surrounds it? Is it the will to resist what would destroy it? Is it the strength that drives thought? Is it the dexterity to avoid attempts on it? Or is it the force of being which drives it?"

"Perhaps it is all of these, and none of them."

[boomwolf]

you hear the voice again "that is up to you to find out. find the meaning of mind, and you shall find the answer. the riddle is to find the riddle."
after a short phase you hear it again "i assume i am allowed to say even a god will be unable to hurt me, or any of my four siblings, in any way..."