Spark to the Flame - An MtG Game (IC)

[Jangoose]

There is a state between sleep and wakefulness, where the unconscious mind begins to wander and time has no meaning. Through interminable darkness, you sense the echoes of other minds. It is peaceful here in the void, but no peace can last forever. For the briefest of moments, you feel the flicker of another presence. A vastness… and a hunger.

Light.
Sound.
Pain.

You can't breathe. Though distorted, you can see the bodies of several others floating through the air around you. No... not air, some type of liquid. You catch each other's eyes as you begin to look beyond, a hint of panic creeping in. Outside your spherical prison, white robed figures draw elaborate symbols through the air, though their chanting seems labored and distressed. Another flash, and a resounding crash you can feel to your core. The robes jump back in response, their hands a little slower to resume the ritual. A web of cracks begins to trace its way around your bubble. Flash. The robed ones begin to panic. One breaks formation, the glow dying from his eyes as he makes for the back of the room, two more backing away to follow suit.

The runner barely makes it halfway to the far wall before exploding in a cloud of embers. Around him, golden lines reveal a live ward enclosing the ritual space. Other robes turn to look in horror. A few cast spells at the wards, but the paltry magic just sparks off the glowing barrier. At the center of the commotion, the last of the robed figures lowers his hands, abandoning the spell, and pulls back his hood. An older man, stout and balding, he turns slowly and looks up. High above the ward, a small balcony looks out over the space. A young woman with silvery blond hair looks down. Their eyes meet briefly, and then everything turns to white.

When your eyesight returns, the world outside the bubble is still. Marble white figures frozen in agony. Time inches forward. You hear a faint crack, then another, and another, until finally your glass prison gives way.
----

You stand in the center of a dark room, surrounded by the remnants of your shattered cage, huge jagged chunks of cracked glass. The fluid that surrounded you fizzles and disappears as it flows out and contacts the still active but faintly flickering ward.

You are wearing/carrying nothing but a simple pair of underwear. You have no weapons or tools but those you can find within the ward.

Begin.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra looks warily around, the others here appear to be in a similar predicament, that does not necessarily mean they can be trusted. Keeping half an eye on the other figures from the cage she looks around for something suitable as a weapon, her stance defensive, ready to raise her arms against attack.

"I am Liandra of the Guard, if any of you can shed a light upon this situation I'd be much obliged."

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

With a sputtering cough forcing the last of the water from his lungs, the small blue man rises shakily to his hands and knees. At Liandra's introduction he gets a nervous look on his face and backs into the three-quarter remains of his glass cell weaving a shimmering cloak of energy around his form that vanishes as the spell is completed. "The guard! Guard. Consulate. Enforce, enforce, enforce... you don't see." He touches his left eye and you notice a ragged scar around the socket. "What harm did I? I create! You can't take it away now... now it's IN me. It and me... from the trees. Such beauty in the trees..." his expression changes for a moment from defensive to concerned. "Horace? HORACE?!? Have you seen my bird? He was there a moment ago... though so was I..." the pleading look gives way to confusion as he seems to notice his surroundings for the first time. "Where is here?"

Casting Mage Armor on myself.

[Amaril]

Arin

The conquering king must come with violence...

Three and a half days in there...we thought...

Never should've brought him here...

We won't get another chance like this...

You can do this, okay? Just stick close to me...

Sis...? What's--

Wake up!

The world spins; falling on all fours doesn't stop it. Fluid fills Arin's lungs, spasms forcing hacking coughs to clear it out. His head pounds, awareness slipping through the cracks between impressions like sand through spread fingers.

Where...what's...how did I...?

Coughing up the last of the stuff and sucking in air, he slowly lifts his gaze; the motion sends another spike of pain through his skull that makes him retch. Sparking flickers reveal the glass walls, frozen figures beyond--others, less frozen, inside.

A woman and a man are saying things, or at least it sounds like they are, but they're not words he knows...but somehow, he understands. This has to be a dream...come on, think...you went out with the raiders, and then...

It hits him like slamming into a wall. Shouts. Flashes of pulse-fire. Drudge. Bodies...

With a strangled cry, Arin recoils, falling onto his back as he scrambles to get away from the speakers. "Nonono I've got to get back I have--" He cuts off as he bumps head-first into something behind him. Reflexively, he turns his head to look up, and instantly regrets it. A creature, like a person but with a face like a rat's, covered in fur, tails, one, two, three...

A louder scream fills the remains of the chamber as Arin scrambles to his feet, nearly overbalancing again as he backpedals, but he still can't get away before painfully hitting the back of his head on the wall with a ringing thud. His eyes dart from face to face, wide with panic. "Whatthef***whatthef***whatthef***whatthef***whatth ef***..."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang lands on their front, gasping for breath. Utterly bedraggled, they rise onto all fours and shake themself, becoming only mostly bedraggled and splattering those nearby. "Apologies," they pant, standing up.

They look around at the bizarre sights, trying to make sense of what just happened. The kami? No, it… went away, somehow. And then… Nothing. They remembered nothing. No, they remembered nothingness. Nobody else’s words made any sense, either. They'd never heard of a "Consulate" before.

Someone throws up. The sound cuts through Dawn-Fang’s whirling thoughts, and they immediately move towards Arin, their own concerns set aside for the moment. Arin scrambles back from the other two people, bumping into the kitsune’s leg.

Dawn-Fang reaches down a hand to help him up, and does their best to project a comforting serenity. They weren’t much good at The Voice that some clerics had, but they were good at looking the part. The rusty patches of dried blood on their muzzle and chest somewhat diminished the effect.

Arin screams and leaps away.

Dawn-Fang winces, realizing the hand they’d reached out with was stained with blood too. So that kami fight definitely happened, at least. They sigh, and utter a small prayer before slowly approaching Arin again. "It’s okay," they say automatically, slipping into triage mode. Wait, this seems very much not okay. Oh well. "I'm Dawn-Fang. I can help you." Golden light glimmers on the kitsune’s palm, faint enough that it could have been a trick of the light. They stop a few arms lengths from Arin and glance around at the other recovering figures. "Is anyone else hurt?"

Dawn-Fang casts Guidance on themself.

[Majin]

Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)

"Urgh...

Radek grunts, and gingerly starts standing up, wary of the shattered glass on the floor.

The last he was properly awake, and free, was at his mentor's house. Hawke had just confessed to... Radek sighs, closes his eyes and starts forcibly calming his mind.

Before the white light, there'd been figures in robes, in the middle of some sort of ritual, that had apparently gone wrong. "Good riddance", Radek mutters. After a few deep breaths, Radek manages to push his anger down. It was so easy, he was probably in shock or something. In any case, he should now focus on survival. He'd noticed some other people were imprisoned as well. They seemed to be conversing now.

"Wait, Gavony? What's that, some new Boros regiment?" Radek asks. "Name's Radek by the way. Of... no guild."

Radek cringes as the kid starts panicking. "Alright, let's just... Calm down and asses the situation. First of..." Radek eyes the room, but his eyes stop at the odd creature, who'd introduced themself as Dawn-Fang. "Umm... Don't mean to offend, but what the heck are you? Don't think I've seen anyone like you before."

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Radek's curiosity seems to pique Darevod's as well. His wrinkled form creeps to the edge of his broken sphere, his neck straining forward for a closer look as well. Hi speech is slow at first as though piecing together information, gradually building in both volume and speed as his excitement builds. "Fox man... More tails. No nails... No bolts no volts? Who made you? Was it the Aether?? Did you drink of the tree's teat too like Darevod?!?" his eyes widen with the last question as blue fingers pat his chest seeming to indicate his own name.

Darevod seems genuinely intrigued by Dawn-Fang but doesn't emerge yet, flashing wary glances at Liandra.

[Jangoose]

As you glance around and begin to converse with the others, you get a better sense of the situation around you.

Though dim, you have enough light to see. A pair of sconces on the far wall beyond the ward remain lit, but the various candles and ritual flames within the ward are all out. The remaining light comes from the ward itself as it flickers dimly.

You were all being held in a singular glass sphere about 8ft high, filled with an unfamiliar liquid. Though nearly perfectly clear, it is slightly viscous and effervescent. The sphere was supported by a brass ring at the base, with sturdy feet to keep it stable, and anchored into the ritual circle. Aside from the five of you, two additional prisoners were being held with you in the same sphere, though both are unresponsive. One is thoroughly impaled on a massive shard of glass.

The floor around you is smooth stone, a stark contrast with the walls, which are rougher hewn.

The ward encloses a spherical volume around the ritual space, roughly 40 feet in diameter. It extends about halfway to the entrance on the far wall, but intersects a fair segment of the other 3 walls. The balcony and the high vaulted ceilings beyond extend a fair ways above the ward.

@Liandra: You look around grimly, a trained eye searching for tools and weapons in a dangerous situation. There are a number of ritual daggers scattered around the area, having tumbled from the grasps of desperate cultists in their frantic final moments. One acolyte had been in the process of slashing a larger sword at the ward (ineffectually) when he was frozen in place. Though the tip is cut off where the blade crossed the barrier, the edge is razor sharp. There are an assortment of tomes, scepters, platters, trays, cups and other items that could potentially serve as small bludgeons. One such platter sports a pile of what was once fruit, frozen to marble like the acolytes.

@Dawn-Fang & @Darevod: You whisper your spells, your voices as much a comfort in the unnatural stillness as the protection and security you feel as your magic rushes over you.

I'll try and answer requests for information in the IC thread whenever I can, as it is a good excuse to do environmental description, though please do take the opportunity to request information in character as well :)

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang blinks, and tilts their head at Radek. "I'm a healer?" they say. "A cleric?"

Darevod's words make them realize Radek wasn't asking about their profession. Recognition and newfound confusion dawn on the kitsune's face. "Volts? Tree teats? What? I'm a kitsune," they say, equal parts incredulous and confused. Those two must be from some far-flung reaches of Kamigawa, to have never even heard of a kitsune before.

Dawn-Fang looks for Liandra, recalling she said she was with the guard. "Hey! Uh." They pause, trying and failing to recall her name, and press on anyway. "You're with the guard? New Eiganjo, maybe?" Surely if she worked in the castle she'd be familiar with kitsune.

Twiddling thumbs a lil' bit before Dawn-Fang notices/processes that there are bodies on the ground, in case Arin responds.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra cautiously moves towards the sword and picks it up, still wary of the nearby ward, she answers Dawn-Fang as she does so "I'm Liandra, I get the sense the guard means nothing to you - so think of me as a soldier" she nods to Dawn-Fang again "They are a healer, I assume the rest of you have some useful skills? We may need to use them if we're going to get out of here before we slowly starve to death, or end up like those.".

A little more confident with a blade in her hand, she takes a few test swings to get a feel for it.

[Amaril]

Arin

Listening to all the others talk only makes Arin's head pound harder, the pale man's urging hardly calming him down. The sensation is bizarre, hearing what sounds like gibberish but somehow having the meanings just appear in his mind, though incomplete, filled with concepts that don't make any sense...hells, just looking at them makes everything spin--that animal-person-thing reaching out toward him, fur matted with what looks like blood, and when the light flickers, he's pretty sure the short man is blue...

One thing Dawn-Fang says registers through the panic: cleric, or something close. A jolt of renewed fear makes Arin tense against the glass. What's a cleric doing here? He's heard stories about the creatures some of the Ascended have in their armies, things more dangerous than drudge...but this one doesn't seem like a threat...

The woman's found a sword, talking about leaving. "W-wait," Arin speaks up, voice shaking as he peels himself off the glass. "I, I don't understand, what's going on? Who are all of you? How did I..." Another spike of pain cuts him off; more memories. Mira on the ground, surrounded by blood, and then blinding light and noise and speed...and then here, just like that. Cold dread presses down on his chest. She's not...she can't...she's okay, she'll be fine if I can just get back...

[spinningdice]

"I am no great philosopher but we are not all from the same place, certainly I have never seen the likes of that one before," she indicates Darevod. "So this is either some delusion or we have been captured by something with the capacity to pull us from distant lands, I don't intend to wait here for more of them to arrive to see what happened, I'm not convinced we want to wait around for whatever killed them either."

She raises her voice a little "I do not intend to die here, I would appreciate the assistance, but with or without you I am leaving."

[miinstrel]

"Guard means Consulate. No guild means renegade. Cleric kitsune means..." he mutters to himself, understanding escaping him. Liandra's declaration interrupts the thought. "Leaving, yes. Back home we should go. Horace must be so frightened."

His head darting around the room like a caged animal, Darevod gauges the distance to the upper balcony to see if it might be close enough for his short range teleportation. With a word, a piece of glass rises from the ground and travels next to him making its way toward the field of energy surrounding their space. He mentally pushes the glass into it observing the reaction and trying to understand the energy - and if he thinks he can bypass it with his spell.

Possible to Misty Step (30 feet) to the balcony? Maybe if I climb atop the glass sphere?
Mage Handing the glass.

If needed, here's a [roll0].
If INT check, +5. If Arcana, +9

EDIT: Fastest post in the west! pew pew

[Jangoose]

Liandra's words ring out, but in the stillness that follows, you can hear ever so faintly the far off peal of an angry bell ringing beyond the walls, though who or what they call to action you don't know.

Arin stumbles backwards as he speaks, flustered and scared. He accidentally knocks one of the statue-like bodies of the acolytes over, tipping it into the ward. Its top half is vaporized instantly, the ward above it flashing a brilliant tracery of gold sigils.

Intrigued, Darevod begins to puzzle over the problem, attempting a few simple spells. Though interestingly, neither seems to do anything. Though he succeeds in flickering out of existence briefly, the whole ward flashes in response, and he is knocked to the floor on reappearance. Taking another tack, Darevod attempts to lift a chunk of glass with his magic only to find the glass stubbornly refusing to respond and take to the air.

@Dawn-fang: As you approach the others and engage in conversation, your roving eyes find the bodies of the other two prisoners. One clearly dead, the other unresponsive. Your healing instincts kick in and you can't help but lean over to investigate further.

@Darevod (Int [Arcana]): You may be a specialist transmuter, but you do recall some interesting theory on force and energy constructs that may apply here. Energy is typically polar, and requires direction and flow to manifest physically. These principles fuel much of the magitechnology on your home world of Kaladesh, in the form of circuits to channel Aether energy. Though you cannot see a source, the ward is clearly representing a direction of flow, with each interaction causing a ripple of flickering travelling upwards from the point of contact.

@Liandra & @Dawn-fang: Though you are not necessarily paying attention directly to Arin or Darevod when it happens, you both can very distinctly sense it in your mind's eye whenever the ward flares . You cannot quite explain it, but its energy seems familiar.


@Xiagu: Please give me a medicine check
@Miinstrel & @Majin: I need investigation and/or arcana from you
@Xiagu & @Spinningdice: insight please

EDITS: We posted simultaneously. I've cleaned things up here as much as I can. @Amaril, if you could edit your post to reflect what happened in mine that would be amazing. (Most relevantly that Darevod was unsuccessful in lifting the Glass with magic.) Thanks!

[Amaril]

Arin

The pounding headache and disorientation make the strangely filtered gibberish hard to process, but the general idea reaches Arin's reason. "Escape...yeah, we have to escape," he agrees, wracking his brain to remember anything else that might explain how he got here. It hurts to try to focus, the image of Mira hitting the ground pushing into his thoughts...they must have captured me after the raid...she's right, I've got to get out of here...

His train of thought is abruptly derailed when he sees Darevod suddenly vanish and reappear, with a flash from whatever it is that's giving off the light.

Arin goggles at the blue man. "What was...how did you do that?" He can't see any device in the man's hand that could be responsible...what in the hells is going on here?

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra watches as Derevod flickers and smiles grimly, "I must admit you're brave for trying, for all we know the ward could have scattered your essence across the room and the rest of us would be none the wiser as to whether you'd escaped or died trying."

She eyes where the ward is intersected by walls, "can any of you tell if the wards go through the walls? As ridiculous as it may sound it may be easier to go through the walls."



Insight: [roll0]

[Majin]

Radek

Radek frowns, looking at the panicking youth. "What're you talking about kid? That was just magic, don't tell me you've never seen any before. You're young, but nobody's that sheltered."

Radek shakes his head. The kid must be in a shock.

"I'll try to check what's on the other side", Radek responds to Liandra. He walks to the wall, attempting to see through with his third eye.

Set Psychic Focus to Third eye, gaining 60 feet of darkvision.

Spend 3 psi points to activate piercing sight, which allows Radek to see through walls that are up to 1 feet thick.

[Amaril]

Arin

Again, the word the pale man uses fails to make itself fully understood in Arin's head. However, where most of those gaps in the meaning have been completely blank, within this one, Arin feels a faint glimmer of something he recognizes. Magic... Older memories rise to the surface--things half-whispered by others in the resistance, old stories. A chill runs down Arin's spine. The power of the gods...

He falls silent as Radek turns his attention to the outside of the chamber, his eyes once again darting over the others' faces. All of them are clearly aware of what just happened, yet they hardly seem surprised or confused. But...they can't all be Ascended...there's no way... He tries to remember all the legends, wishing for the first time that he'd paid more attention to the elders growing up. Command over the elements. Mastery of life and death. Even space and time themselves bend to Their will... He swallows a fresh assault of nausea. But that's just stories...

The others all seem distracted examining something they keep mentioning--"ward", the meaning forms, though Arin still doesn't really get it. He tries to think of what to do, how to get out of this, but what option does he have? Just have to stay out of their way... He leans against the glass sphere, focusing as best he can on fighting back the headache and sickness. It's only then that he becomes aware of his undress; his face burns, and for a moment he reflexively tries to cover up, before realizing that the others are all in the same state, and don't seem to care. New priority: find clothes...

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra approaches Arin while Radek examines the wall, and speaks quietly "Keep it together - however we're acting - this is a shock to all of us. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to discuss?", she keeps her newfound blade lowered and held loosely, trying to minimize the threat he'll see in it without relinquishing it.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Darevod pops up with a shiver, jittery from the unseen impact. "Only physical stimuli so far, but it's in the in between," he mutters to himself after the failed experiment. Darevod doesn't seem to notice Arin's question is directed at him, too focused on understanding what's going on around them.

Trying to manipulate the glass with a word he moves forward expecting it to follow but it remains still. He looks down confusedly. "Up!" he yells at the shard, shaking his hand as though demanding it spring to life. "UP UP UP!!" With a sigh of frustration and intrigue he bends and picks it up manually, holding it up in the dim light and inspecting the strange, magic resistant substance from every angle. "Interesting... aether proof."

His eyes dart toward the shimmering wall of force then back to the glass shard. He sets it down and picks up a larger fragment, one slightly unwieldy for his tiny frame. Holding it in front of him he gently pushes the glass forward into the ward, humming a jaunty little tune as he does so.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang's ears wilt as Liandra has no idea what they're talking about. They'd already assumed some of them were from far away, but everyone? Were they all from across the seas? And none of them seemed to be familiar with each other either. How many seas could there be?

For a few moments, the kitsune felt very alone. And not in the peaceful solitude kind of way, which they enjoyed from time to time, but the crushing loneliness of being an untold distance from home and surrounded by surprisingly alien humans. And an... akki? Could akki be blue?

Then the light flickers and Dawn-Fang realizes the bodies on the floor weren't marble, but flesh and blood. Arin immediately becomes lower priority. They stride to the impaled body and kneel down, examining to see if there was any life left in them. Healing was... if not simple, at least something they understood.

[Jangoose]

@Dawn-fang: At first you aren't able to discern much about the bodies, your mind a bit scattered by the trauma around you. Breathing deeply though, you take a second to center yourself and realign your thoughts, before beginning diagnosis:

- The first body is obviously dead, though your initial observations on their blood-flow, and clammy skin suggest that perhaps their heart stopped even before being impaled by the glass.
- The second body is breathing, though ever so slightly. With a dexterous front paw you find a faint pulse and pull up an eyelid to expose heavily dilated pupils, twitching with a strange energy. They are alive, but you can't tell much else about their state of health/unconsciousness.

@Dawn-fang & @Liandra (Wis [Insight]): You both recognize a certain resonance about the magic inherent to the ward. A lawful energy to it much like the mana you use to channel your most cherished spells of protection, control, and healing: this spell likely spawned from the branch of magic known as Heiromancy; the magic of laws and rules. In a further flash of insight, Dawn-fang detects a splash of that same magic in the glass shard impaling the body in front of them.

@Radek: You take a moment and concentrate, extending your sight beyond your eyes, focusing your mind's eye into the material world.

- Beyond one side wall, you can see another room in the same style as the one you're in, though it seems mostly abandoned. Here and there, scaffolds and tools suggest the site is old, but being restored or rediscovered.
- Beyond the other side wall, you find a room that seems to serve as an impromptu storage or staging area. A few sets of archaeologists tools, tomes, and artifacts, as well as a few crates of scrolls and gear. On the far side of the room, you spy the corner of something only you would have been able to recognize as your favorite jacket tossed haphazardly over a chair. Where the ward extends into the room, some items have been destroyed, but the majority of the room is untouched.
- Behind the back wall, you find the bodies. You've counted past 30 when you need to stop and hold back revulsion.

---

Darevod strolls about, muttering to himself as he ponders the problem. Holding a shard of the thick glass of their cage to the light, he can just barely see a pin-prick pattern of lights embedded in the glass that hint at its magical nature. With a new idea, he heaves a larger chunk into the air, and then, bracing it against his body, he slowly pushes it into the ward.

With a satisfying hum, the glass lights up as it touches the barrier, but it does not vanish. Like a hand parting a stream of water, the ward parts around the glass. Golden edges ripple as the energy field flows around the disruption, leaving a projected gap in the ward above it.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

"ha.. ha HA... HA ha HA HAAAA!!" Darevod cackles with the small victory. He moves the shard back and forth watching the field dance and shift and fill itself in with each movement. "Can't keep old Darevod caged. Take my house, take my toys, but can't take my mind! no-no-no..."

While the shard he's holding is large, it's not quite of a size where he'd be comfortable crossing over itwithout bumping into the deadly field. "Now then, more glass! More more more! You there!" he calls out to Liandra who is seemingly the most muscled of their unlikely cadre. "BIG shards! The bigger the better. We place at the base and vanish without a trace!" He scampers back toward the sphere in search of more suitable fragments to utilize, setting the first one down where the ward touches the stone floor. His run, if you can call it that, bears an exaggerated vertical bobbing motion to it making it almost a hop.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
AC: 12, Psi Points: 41/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Oh hell! That's my stuff!" Radek shouts as he sees his duster. He turns paler, and turns away from the wall as he sees the bodies. "Oh... Gods..."

"Yeah, uh... The ward does extend beyond the walls. There's room with at least my things there, so I suggest we'll swing by it if..." Radek glances at Arin, and changes his wording. "...when we get out." What the hell were their captors doing here? Were those bodies victims of this ritual?

Radek walks away from the wall, and to Darevod. "You got a plan to get out? I'll lend a hand then."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang sighs. With a heavy heart, they close the eyes of the impaled corpse and softly intone a prayer for their soul.

When Darevod pushes glass into the ward, they instinctively glance up. They raise their eyebrows, nod, then return to their work. So the glass is similar enough to the ward that it doesn't burn. Or maybe just spelled strong enough to resist it. Interesting.

Dawn-Fang shuffles over to the other, still breathing body, which seems to be under the influence of some strange magic. Maybe the same spell that had been on them all earlier? They brings their hands together in prayer, then holds them to the unconscious body. They speak a word and channel healing light, trying to detect if their patient's condition improves.

"Make the hole big enough to carry someone through," the kitsune says, without looking up. "This one's still alive."

Recasting Guidance, and casting Healing Word: [roll0]

[Amaril]

Arin

Arin grits his teeth at Liandra's intrusion, more gibberish making his head hurt worse. In spite of her helpful intent, he fights back a sudden rush of annoyance--where did that come from?

"I..." A hundred questions fight for primacy. He has no idea who this woman is--from what he's seen, she might well be a servant of the Ascended. But who else can he turn to here? "How come I can understand you?" he says without really thinking about it. "It sounds like you're just making noises, but I know what it all means...why is that?"

[spinningdice]

Liandra

"I don't know, maybe it's the magic of this place, or something in that liquid we were in. Try not to dwell on it, looks like our blue friend has found us a way out - hopefully we can all get back to normal soon." Liandra reaches out her free hand to pat him on the shoulder, but reconsiders, he seems skittish enough that physical contact might sned him further over.

She looks at Darevod's work, "For all your babbling you really are a clever little thing aren't you. Lets make ourselves a door." Liandra lays her sword down and plays it safe, moving glass she can pick up comfortably, no sense in losing her grip and dropping it, careful to watch her hands near the wards,

[Jangoose]

@Dawn-fang: With a word, you channel healing light into the body. You sense it relax a fraction, and watch as flesh knits together where it had scrapes and bruises, but it does not regain consciousness.

Together, Darevod, Liandra and Radek put together a sturdy threshold of glass chunks, leaving a broad gap in the ward above it. Beyond, the rest of the chamber stretches out before you. At one end, a pair of sconces cast a flickering light on the sparse area. Around you, you can find various ritual paraphernalia, and a short table and stool that seems out of place among the ancient looking pillars of the chamber. A shuttered metal and glass oil lantern rests on it, holding down a sheaf of parchments as if to prevent them from blowing away, along with a few instrumentation and measurement tools, ink, and quill, and what looks like an elaborate astronomical chart.

A number of unknown bulky objects are covered with canvas tarps.

The doorway beyond leads to a dim hallway with passage either left and up or right and down.


@Majin: Left will take you to to the empty room with more archaeological tools, while right will take you towards the gear you saw.

[Majin]

Radek

"Great work, old man! Let's go grab our stuff! There was also some... I suppose archeological gear on that other room." Radek indicates to the left. "Also, uh, I think they store their bodies here, so brace yourselves for that."

Radek takes the right path, intending to grab his gear.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

After everyone comes across, Darevod kicks all but one of the shards back into the cage, allowing the field to stretch up to its peak again. The last one he takes with him. "Yes - our things! You saw them? You saw my books? My rocks? Coming Jasper and Agatha! Coming!" Darevod follows after Radek toward the gear room singing a little song to himself, "Shiny red with golden streaks, bendy blue with rings and rings."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang feels better about moving the body when they feel it relax a little, more confident that it wasn't in immediate danger. They look around, but two of their party has already gone on ahead. "Hey, Liandra. Or..." They turn to look at Arin. "I didn't catch your name. Are you feeling up to helping me carry them? I think they're in stable condition. More or less." They nod towards the body.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra had paid little attention to the bodies, "They're alive? Just one, maybe we should leave him here, if we're attacked I can't fight while carrying someone..." even as she speaks she finds she doesn't really agree with that course "Maybe he'll know something we don't...", she hauls him up over her shoulder, careful that his limbs aren't going to hit the ward as she crosses it.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

"They were trapped like us," Dawn-Fang says. "We can't leave them here!" They squeak in surprise as Liandra hefts the body over her shoulder. Jumping to their feet, they hop nervously from paw to paw, then do their best to help her carry the body across the ward.

Once across, the kitsune looks back. The short table and stool catch their eyes, and after making sure the unconscious body is held securely or set down, they pad over and look over the contents. Dawn-Fang pays special attention to the stack of parchments and the astronomical chart, hoping that some of it, any of it is familiar. Even the other side of the world should still have some of the same stars...

spinningdice, if you wanna edit your post, I can edit mine too. Or we can just roll with it like this.

[Amaril]

Arin

Arin does flinch a little when Liandra reaches out, but her reassurance makes him feel a little calmer. "O-okay," he stutters, trying to stand up at least a little straighter. Luckily, her attention is quickly drawn away from him by the blue man--Darevod, Arin registers--capering about proclaiming he's found a path to freedom. Before Arin can make sense of what he means, the others have already started picking up and moving the glass shards.

More memories return as he watches them carry the glass over to what looks like a wall of light rising from the floor, though these are even more confused and blurry than the rest. As if from underwater, he remembers seeing the robed figure run at the barrier and turn to ash on contact. He has a moment to be grateful that the others have found a way past before he sees Dawn-Fang kneel over another fallen body, not marble like the rest, and wounded flesh knit in seconds as the beast-man lays hands on it. His jaw drops for a moment before he catches himself, trying to seem unfazed. So the cleric has powers too... Dawn-Fang's words remind him that he hasn't given his name. "Arin," he mumbles as Liandra hefts the still-unconscious body and follows the pack. "Th-that's my name, just...by the way..."

For a moment, he hesitates, eyes darting around the chamber for some other avenue of escape. Seeing none, he takes a deep breath, screwing up his courage, and falls in behind the others.

[Jangoose]

@Dawn-fang: As the others begin heading out to pick up gear, you stop over at the desk to browse its contents. You find:
- A sheaf of papers listing unfamiliar names, places, and times in a hasty looking scrawl. It seems innocuous at first, until you spy your own name a little over half-way down the second page, along with Arin, Darevod, Liandra, and then Radek a few lines later.
- A leather bound journal detailing intricate ritual arcana, though it is left nearly illegible by edits, smudges, and calculations.
- What had looked like an astronomy chart from a distance, instead appears to be something quite different. The detailed intersecting circles and orbits may as well be gibberish. They certainly don't map to any stars you've ever seen or heard of, but one word does stand out to you, tucked away near a small pinkish circle in the bottom left. Kamigawa.
- A small handheld telescope, a compass, a calligraphers tool-set, and a small but ornate oil lamp.

----

As the last of you finish up in the first chamber, you head out into the hallway, and take a right towards the room in which Radek spied your gear. In it, you find a chest containing your gear, along with a basic selection of weapons and armor, and a table with what is left of a meal.

Pulling on your* gear, you are beginning to feel just a bit less vulnerable, when the ground begins to rumble.


*Note that this gear drop is an abstraction. If your character did not have gear with them before their capture, you are welcome to find the appropriate gear from your character sheet now. This can include found gear being allocated to describe items you "purchased".
Xiagu: roll arcana please

edit: I will retract the lead until everyone has had some time to chat/introduce themselves/puzzle over findings etc, then post it anew when people are ready to move on

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang's heart skips a beat when they see Kamigawa labeled on the strange chart. They slip the loose papers into the journal and pick up it and the chart, following the rest of the group while they puzzle over what they've found.

They pad up to Arin as they both walk down the hallway and show him the chart. "Arin," they ask, "do you recognize anything on here?" If he says yes and points somewhere else, then... I don't know. That's probably bad.

--

Dawn-Fang walks into the gear room to find everyone else in various states of dress. They blink, and glance around. When they spot their armor and weapons off to the side, their golden-brown eyes light up. Dawn-Fang sets the journal and chart down on a table, and thinks back to the names on the sheet. Who were the two wizard-y people? Ah yes. "Darevod and… Radek? You ought to take a look at this," they say, before practically prancing over to their gear.

Their fur was mostly dry by now, but of course the bloodstains hadn't gone anywhere. At least it was their own blood. The kitsune wrinkles their snout at the rusty patches before sighing and putting on their clothes anyway. It couldn't be helped now. Hopefully they'd get a chance to take a real bath soon.

Dawn-Fang draws their sword and makes a face at the green grassy stains on it. "They didn't clean it," they mutter, shaking their head in disapproval. Well, I guess I didn't clean it either. But I apparently passed out after that fight, so I think I'm exempt. They set it down, not intending to put it back in its scabbard without cleaning it, and start putting on their armor.

[Amaril]

Arin

Arin barely manages not to jump as Dawn-Fang comes up behind him, staring confusedly for a second before noticing the parchments in the beast-man's hand (paw?). Carefully accepting them, he takes a look and is met with what looks like a bunch of random circles. "Uh, I don't..."

One of the labeled points jumps out at him, the apparently random squiggles somehow rearranging into intelligible script just like the others' speech. This, at least, feels comfortable--he may never have been any use on raids, but the resistance had often had use for someone who could read. Still, he can't begin to guess at the meaning of what he's looking at. "Well, here," he says, pointing at the spot labeled "Thalend". "But I don't know about the rest..."

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra dressed herself, she almost puts her commoner clothes on, but on a whim digs her uniform out, drawing comfort from it's familiar cut and colours, though it's far from pressed having sat in the bottom of her pack for months.

Her hand brushes her neck as she finishes buttonning up and she glances around the others, no-one had mentioned her scarring - do they not have Vampires whereever they are from, or was it simply not important in their current situation. Regardless, she felt better to have it hidden beneath the high collar again.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

As they enter the room Darevod scans around, his eyes finally settling on a reddish tunic with assorted plates and straps attached. With outstretched hands he rushes forward, "Hello, friends! I didn't even know I missed you." Before dressing, the blue man digs through his pack setting things aside and taking inventory of what's left. The bag seems to hold an impossible number of things... He kisses each of a pair of polished stones, gently placing them atop his clothes. When he finds a large tome he squeals and holds it to his chest with a sigh. Only then does he dress himself.

His things packed haphazardly again, Darevod, seemingly far more at peace now, strolls over to Dawn-Fang with an expectant "Hmm?" The papers in hand, the Vedalken scans through the images and text. "'Ghirapur' here by me... central city. The grand jewel of Kaladesh," he says with a bit of disdain. "Used to live there. Then a hole. Then not even a hole. Consulate spies on everyone, secret takers on every street - not surprised they have a list of me, though none of you have the inventor's talent. Maybe that one," he motions with a nod of the head to Radek. "Not sure why they'd care about the others."

He wasn't much of an astronomer, more focused on the physical sciences, but he inspects the circles pondering some kind of creative design amid the chaos - a blueprint maybe? Satisfied, or perhaps not, with the papers he hands them back to Dawn-Fang and narrows his eyes looking the creature over inquisitively. "Not man... not machine... too furry for automaton. So you lifecraft or what?"

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

I did a bit of juggling trying to stitch the scenes together. I intended to leave the chart / journal / papers on a table so anyone interested could check them out while Dawn-Fang was gearing up.

I wonder if that Arcana check had relevant information... oh well!
(in the hallway)
Dawn-Fang frowns when Arin points at a different spot. "I was worried about that. This one here--" they tap at the pink Kamigawa dot "--says Kamigawa."
(then Dawn-Fang gets to the gear room, goes inside, and puts the papers down on a table.)

--

Dawn-Fang is busy strapping on various armor pieces when Darevod wanders over and inspects them. They look back at the vedalken and raise an eyebrow. "Lifecraft? I don't know what that means," they say. "I can assure you I was born, not made, though. Flesh and blood." They scrub at the dried blood on the back of their paw, to minimal success, and sigh. "Definitely blood," they mutter. "I want a real bath."

They twist to reach another part of their armor, which looks like nothing Darevod has ever seen on Kaladesh.

"Question for a question. What are you?" they continue, glancing at Darevod over their shoulder. "I've never seen anyone... blue before."

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
AC: 13, Psi Points: 41/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

Radek sighs in comfort as the familiar feeling of the worn leather settles around him. "Okay, now I'm ready for business!"

As Radek dresses, he notices Liandra glancing around. There'd been something about her that had bothered Radek, and the high collar drew his attention to her neck. There had been scarring there.

Radek sends a telepathic whisper to Liandra, deciding to be discreet about the matter. "So, that scarring... Would you say you're associated with vampires?" He'd dealt with vampires before, and would now too, if it meant getting out of here. Though Liandra didn't seem to be a vampire, it might still be a good idea to be wary. If she was, well, confronting her might not be a good idea.

Radek walks over to Radek and Dawn-Fang. After a moment of looking, he points to a dot. "No, Ravnica is here. This is where we are. And you're mentioning strange names... Strange clothing... And the map."


Radek shakes his head, trying to get his thoughts into order. He looks at the people gathered around the map, and stabs his finger at the Ravnica dot. "Are you saying you're not from here? Either you don't know astronomy at all, or you're trying to pull a fast one on me. Or..."

Radek leaves the question hanging.

[Amaril]

Arin

Digging into the trunk once Radek clears out of the way, Arin is relieved to find his own clothes. The feeling fades as he catches sight of a red stain on the dusty browns, his stomach turning as the ozone smell of pulse-fire fills his nose, images of bodies flashing before his eyes--don't think about it. You have to get back. Just get back and everything will be okay. Feeling covered again does bring some comfort, even under the circumstances.

Checking to make sure his goggles are in working order as he finishes dressing, Arin turns back to the others gathered around the parchments. His brow furrows in puzzlement as he catches some of the same unfamiliar words from before repeated--this time, from the context, he gets the impression they're place names. "I've never heard of Kamigawa or Ghirapur or Ravnica...what Lords' domains are they in?"

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra's body tensed at Radeks words... not words, in her head. She looked back at him and tried to think in his direction I was attacked, left for dead, I survived. she tries to shrug it off as if it was nothing but the tenseness in her body doesn't go away.

Armed and equipped she looks to the others, "Unless there is something in that journal that helps us now, pack it away for later, doesn't matter if we're in another land, another world or drawn into the depths of hell, all that matters is that we get out of here"

Of course the thought that if she was in another world played across her mind, it occurred to her that it could hardly be much worse than the one she came from, a chance to forge herself as something new...

[Jangoose]

It is beginning to feel almost comfortable as you go about more mundane tasks. Tending to your armor and weapons, rummaging through your supplies, and chatting with the others. Even if each one of these strangers only serves to remind you how far away from home you really are.

@Dawn-fang: You show your findings to the others, anxious to see if anyone can figure out just what is going on. The list names is certainly unsettling, and you have neither the technical background, nor the time to make heads or tails of the journal, but even as you pass it around, you have a hard time taking your eyes off the map. Something about it seems off. As you hand it to Radek, you notice that the ink has a faint shimmer to it, a powdered silver additive, used in the creation of active magical documents and spell scrolls. On your home world, you recall the sages painting beautiful calligraphic scrolls with ink much like this. Scrolls of power, that could ward off spirits, or bend reality itself. This document is heavily enchanted, and with pricey materials no less, though for what purpose you cannot say. If you could just find a way to activate it...


Anyone else who would like to join in on investigation of the items from the desk, please give me arcana, insight, or investigation rolls.

[miinstrel]

"Question for a question. What are you?" they continue, glancing at Darevod over their shoulder. "I've never seen anyone... blue before."

"Well I've never seen a talking fox, so it's a 'new' day." As Dawn-Fang scrubs at his fur unhappily, Darevod runs his hand over it, the blood vanishing from the coat at a touch. "Haven't had a proper bath in years. Takes too long. Automa-scrub did it for me while I worked," he explains to the incredulity.

"Darevod's Vedalken - inventor people. Most are sky high, head in the clouds. I'm tiny. Better fingers for small projects. Detail work. Must think about the small parts, yes yes yes." he adds as a bit of explanation. "Question for a question... why so many tails? Better for balance?"

As Radek joins Darevod looks at him quizzically. "Ravnica, Kamigawa... must be in the outlands. Ghirapur stretches for days, had to walk far to get to the woods. Maybe you from even farther."

Arcana on docs: [roll0]

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang turns their paw side to side and looks at their newly-clean fur with astonishment. They look back at Darevod with newfound respect, tempered somewhat when he says he hasn't had a bath in years. "Thank you," they say, and give the vedalken an appreciative nod.

The kitsune tilts their head and listens to the explanation. They'd never heard of vedalken before, though what Darevod described reminded them a little of moonfolk. When he asks about their tails, they smile.

"No, not for balance," they say. "We don't all have this many. We're born with one." The kitsune ponders how to phrase something. "Through... wise and honorable acts, we can grow more. Our most revered leaders have had nine tails. By the blessings of the kami, I'm fortunate enough to have four." They close their eyes and bow their head for a brief prayer.

Dawn-Fang's tails wave freely from a slit in the back of the robes that seem to be part of their armor. They're a bit hard to count, but anyone looking is pretty sure that the kitsune actually has five tails, not four.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra's gaze flicks back to Dawn-Fang, "So you're like that all the time, you don't turn back to human at the sunrise?"

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang opens their eyes and looks over (and up) at Liandra. "Nope. All fox, all the time." They inspect Liandra with new curiousity. "Do you turn into a fox at sundown?"

The mundanity of answering questions was somehow comforting. They were used to indulging curious humans traveling through Aidato. These questions were a little more... unusual, but the feeling was similar.

[spinningdice]

Liandra laughs at Dawn-Fang's response, the first time she'd laughed in a while, "No, but there are those in my lands who are cursed to shift between man and savage wolf... and some among them revel in the ability to do so. You don't seem very savage, but I still wondered if you were under some form of curse... No disrespect intended."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang listens somberly to the explanation of werewolves. "Ah, I see. Poor souls."

They chuckle themself, their smile turning up the corners of their mouth instead of showing their teeth. "A curse? I've not heard that one before. A pity, though; you'd have looked good with ears."

The kitsune finishes putting on their armor and stretches, flexing to make sure it fits right. Then they scrounge around for something to clean their sword with. It looked like they'd been hacking at vines with it.

[Jangoose]

@Darevod and Radek (Int [Arcana]): Looking at the documents now together, you can immediately confirm Dawn-fangs findings. The map is definitely enchanted. Flipping it over and holding it to the light, you can just trace out arcane the arcane circuitry woven into the thick parchment. Spells of light and space manipulation, but also, something more. Darevod would call it the in between, but even then beyond. Even as the intricacies of the enchantment's specific implementation grows beyond your ability to understand it academically, you still feel a kind of resonance, with it, almost the same sense you have in communicating with each other, a sort of connection or kinship that transcends your individual languages.
Radek has the further insight that the triggering system looks to be fully mental, with no spoken command words.

@Dawn-Fang (Wis [Insight]): As the more technical arcanists huddle around the map and discuss their findings, you take a moment to finish putting on your gear, clean your blade and chat with Liandra. For the first time since your arrival, you begin to actually notice the strangeness that Arin pointed out. Despite never having heard them before, you perfectly understand the others' languages, and have no doubt that you could speak them should the need arise. You may have learned your healer's craft through years of study and prayer, but this feels different. Since you arrived, its as if a blanket that once covered your mind has been stripped away, you can truly see and feel the colors of magic and energy around you, and beyond that? something...

It is as if you can feel the borders of the world, like you can see past them into the void beyond, so close you could just reach out and step through. For a second, you feel a flash of that sensation from just before you blacked out and ended up here, that sense of bottomless power and elation, and across the room, you can see the energy of the map respond, resonating with you.

"-- its definitely some kind of mental trigger" you hear Radek murmuring to Darevod, pointing to a section of the enchantment's intricate design, as he lays it out on the table.

With a scurry you rejoin them. Holding on to that feeling, you reach out to the map with both a paw and your mind, and even before you look you know it worked.

The map begins to glow. In the air above it, glowing lines trace out a vast cosmos of ever so slowly drifting spheres, their fine labels following along. Some follow slow orbits, some seem fixed. Some stand alone, others overlap. Though most of the spheres glow various shades of blue and purple, one stands out in brilliant gold, the label beneath it reads Shandalar - 8/19/4559 22:13:45. Even as you watch it, the time ticks up, second by second.

In the stunned silence that follows, you register that the bell in the distance has stopped ringing.

[spinningdice]

As Dawn fang scurries to look at the book Liandra follows, she holds no pretense of being as smart as these luminaries around her, but if there's a way out held within it's pages...

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
AC: 17, Psi Points: 39/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"What? No!" Radek exclaims. "Ravnica is everywhere, and certainly not in the woods." Radek shakes his head, and pushes a nervous giggle down. Was everyone just mad or had he been brought to some place deep underground, or perhaps underwater. Merfolk had lived there for a long time without anyone knowing, perhaos there were still some undiscovered places on Ravnica yet.

Radek decides to focus on here and now, on the map. It was certainly very interesting even if didn't mostly make sense. "What does make sense..." He mutters.

Radek shuts when the map appears in the air. Once again a weird map with weird names appears in the air. "Is that a date? I suppose it could be before the Guild Pact, they wouldn't have put any labels then..."

Radek in turn tries to focus on Ravnica, to see its planets and stars.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

"Obviously not everywhere or Darevod would hear of it..." The academic bickering with Radek halts immediately as Dawn-Fang unleashes the map's constellations into the air. "Good.... good good good," he mutters awe-struck.

At Radek's comment he inquires, "What guilds made this pact?" His eyes don't stray from the map, watching to see if Shandalar intersects any, or perhaps all, of the other spheres. "Do the notes say what colors mean? Think Shandalar is where we are?"

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang slowly lowers their paw, still trembling faintly. "It's... the trigger is..." They struggle to put the feeling into words. It was like trying to cling to the fading memories of a dream, the sensation slipping away like water.

"It's like..." The kitsune slips back into their native tongue for a short series of yips and barks that come across as something like "the feeling of growing another tail." "And also," they continue, back in the language they'd been speaking the rest of the time, "the feeling that you could reach out, and touch the edge of the world." It doesn't really make sense, but it probably sounds oddly familiar to the others.

Having explained as best they could, Dawn-Fang ponders the map. One ear swivels toward Darevod. "Where we are, maybe, or this thing's next target. Do you think it... brought us here, somehow? Wherever 'here' is?"

The silence of the bell weighs on them, the kitsune getting a bit antsy. Those robed figures back there probably weren't the only ones. Whoever (or whatever) rang the bell might be looking for their unfortunate comrades. Or maybe they suffered the same fate. Dawn-Fang wasn't sure which would be worse. They glance back at the door to the room and check for other exits.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra frowns, she had kind of been aware that they were not all speaking the same language, but the fox speaking in concepts that just didn't directly translate brought it home. She simultaneously understood, but had no concept of what she was trying to explain.

The lingering silence brought her back from her confusion. "That book may be the key to getting us all back where we're supposed to be, but unless you can figure it all out in the next few minutes, stow it and lets move before whoever that bell signaled finds us."

[Jangoose]

@Radek: There is not much identifying detail on the Ravnican sphere other than a label, a date and time (and in a format you recognize, no less). You note with a hint of trepidation that, if the date were to be believed, you have been unconscious for nearly 3 weeks.

@Darevod: You don't see anything quite so apparent as a legend, but something about the name Shandalar rings a bell in your mind, and you are sure without knowing how, that that is in fact where you are. As for the intersections, you notice that Shandalar's path seems to be more erratic than most of the other spheres. Though it does not currently intersect with any other locations, its traced path would suggest that several of these regions, Shandalar among them, are poised to coincide in the nearish future (though you would need time (and parchment) to calculate exact time scales.

@Dawn-fang: Turning away from the map, you browse the room for alternate exits, and notice, for perhaps the first time, that you have seen no windows of any kind since your arrival.

---

As the mood grows contemplative, Liandra, ever the pragmatist, speaks out to keep the group on track.

Just then, as if to echo Liandra's sentiment, the ground begins to rumble beneath your feet.


@Majin: Your spell succeeds with no issue

A note on date/time formats: Different worlds use different formats, but you have a general sense for each by the same means you do each others' languages.
The date format on the list of names is in Shandalaran time.

[Amaril]

Arin

Most of what the others say while poring over the parchments goes completely over Arin's head--moreso because he's rather distracted by the floating, glowing patterns tracing themselves through the air. When no one is looking his way, he absently reaches out and tries to touch one of the patterns, feeling nothing as his hand passes through the light. What's with all this stuff? His sense of foreboding grows--if there's one place that would hold so many devices like this, it's an Ascended base...

When the quake starts, he almost feels relieved. At least this is familiar. With well-trained instincts, he ducks down and scuttles under the desk, trying to make himself small so as to leave space for the others.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra reaches for her blade, though doesn't draw it yet, and with a glance upwards to ensure the place hasn't started to collapse she moves to the doorway, looking for anything approaching. She glances back to see Arin ducking for cover skittish... least he won't be in the way

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Steadying himself and acquiring a decidedly mouse-like darting look, Darevod adds, "Less safe by the minute... earth shake buried me in my hole once. Had to dig dig dig for a day to get out. Good thing I found Reggie right before. Strong hands to help even if they were falling apart a bit..." He takes a final scan of the map. "No time like now time. Let's get safe then study," he agrees with Liandra ready to proceed though he turns his head slowly toward Radek. "... but you did say something about archaeology, yes? I do love history... maybe time waits for just a teensy tinesy moment and a quick peek??"

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang
I dunno where we left the body exactly; I implied in one of my posts we left it in the hallway, so that's what I'm working with here.

Also Dawn-Fang recasts Guidance.
Dawn-Fang feels the ground shake and drops to a lower, crouching stance. They were already glancing around the room, but now they look with a new urgency. Arin catches their eye as he ducks under the desk. That reminded them. Their patient in the hallway.

The kitsune reaches for the map for a second before changing their mind. Their eyes flick to Radek and Darevod. "You two, hold onto that stuff," they say, then dart out of the room, slipping past Liandra.

As Dawn-Fang pads over to the body, they keep their eyes peeled for anything in the hallway that looks in danger of falling from the shaking. They whisper a prayer and check up on their patient, verifying that they're still alive.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
AC: 17, Psi Points: 39/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Three weeks? That can't be right..." Radek says, as he sees the date. His thought process is however interrupted when the ground begins to shake. He grabs the map from the table, and begins to move out.

Radek gritted his teeth. "If you really need to. If you spot something that gives a clue about this place, that would be most helpful", Radek responds to Darevod. He wanted to get out fast, but he could really use some answers soon. Everything he'd seen until now had just raised more questions. Not like there had been much time to think about the situation.

Radek once more activates his third eye, trying look for an exit from this odd building.

Activate Piercing Sight to see through walls within 30 feet. Search for exit.

Perception: [roll0]

[Amaril]

Arin

Arin blinks in disbelief as the others start talking about getting out and heading for the door. They act like magic is no big deal, but don't know what to do during a quake?

"Wait!" he calls out from under the desk. "It's not safe! You have to get under cover!" How can they not know this? Everyone knows about quakes, even little kids.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

The circles fade as Darevod rolls up the strange map and slides it into a side pocket of his bag. As he begins to rush off to find the secrets housed in the next room, Arin's cry gives him pause. Until now the youngster had been just a voice on the periphery of his awareness, but enough was enough. Darevod turns and blinks at the cowering lad. He walks over, the same odd bob to his movement, and goes directly under the table not having to duck an inch.

With the wisdom of age he explains, "Lad, we are in a strange land brought here against our will, against even our knowledge by someone or something who's name we don't even know. We woke up gasping from a vat of liquid that's shell was immune to magic. Immune. I'm not sure if you grasp how entirely interesting that is," he says holding up the shard of glass laced with golden strings.

"By nothing other than my tenacity and intellect are you even standing 'free' here in this room able to cower at such a natural occurrence as an earthshake on a wholly unnatural kind of day. At least for me. I take it this kind of chicanery isn't common where you're from either," he continues with some annoyance.

"We were meant to die this day, I'm sure of it, and by some infinitesimal fluke we survived. I don't intend to stay still long enough to give them a second chance. Now I've a bird that needs finding and questions that need answering. You shake under this table if you like. We're leaving."

He stares at the lad for a moment before reaching up a wrinkled hand, pinching his cheek with an encouraging smile and slapping him just hard enough to sting. He turns and heads back toward the door they came through, intent on forging a path out of this mess and back to his companion, Horace.

[Jangoose]

Dawn-fang's protective instincts kick in, and they dash to the door to check on their patient. Quick paws verify that she is indeed still breathing.

Back in the supply room, the rumbling builds. Liandra tenses, hand on sword, ready to spring into action. Though she can't quite hear the words that Darevod says to Arin under the desk, she can only hope from the look on the boy's face that they were the words he needed to hear. They would all need to find their courage if they were to find their way home.

Radek reaches out with his mind to search for an exit, but beyond some of the immediate rooms near you, he cannot see much.

@Radek : Rock and dirt surround the structure, though how deep it is you cannot say. In the rumbling, it is difficult to pick up detail, or maintain concentration, and so you only manage to shout a strangled half warning as you notice too late the cracks spreading across the nearby archway.

In the hallway, rocks begin to tumble down, crashing around Dawn-fang and their charge.


Dawnfang +1 White, Darevod +1 Green

@Xiagu: Also, please give me a Dex or Strength save with a +1 from Radek's warning.
@SpinningDice and @Miinstrel: you are close enough to provide physical and/or magical assistance.
@Amaril and @Majin: you are close enough to provide ranged/magical assistance only.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

Liandra moves forwards, unsure how strong Dawn-Fang is under that fur she attempts to scoop up the unconscious figure and make it into the nearest doorway. "Stay in the doorways, the structure there will be a little stronger. Once the shaking dies down we need to move, we don't know how long this building will hold" assuming it even was a building, we've seen no windows so far...


While within 10ft you get +4 on saves from my Aura of Protection

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
AC: 17, Psi Points: 37/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Hmmh, I just wanna get out of here as fast as I can... No time to be hiding under a table", Radek says while scanning the surroundings.

"Wait, fox, watch out!" Radek shouts as he notices the cracks in the ceiling. "Damn it!"

Radek triest to push falling rubble away with his mind, if he can.

If rocks start falling, push them away from Dawn-Fang with Mastery of Force.

[Amaril]

Arin

The pinch and slap do well to shake Arin out of the stupor Darevod's speech leaves him in. "But...what...okay," he mumbles, scrambling out of his hiding place to follow the pack. The sound of the ceiling falling around Dawn-Fang makes him flinch. "That's not...that's not how it works," he says faintly at Liandra's advice, though he doesn't really expect anyone to hear, or care.

[miinstrel]

Knowing he would be fine if the rocks did begin to tumble, Darevod rushes forward and grabs the body's arm dragging it with all of his tiny might out of the doorway with Dawn-Fang.

STR check/save: [roll0]

[Jangoose]

With a sound like thunder, the rocks begin to fall. A flicker of panic crosses the kitsune's mind. With no time to dodge, they instead turn their frame into the coming rockfall, bracing their paws and moving to stand over the unconscious body of their patient.

It is not enough.

Though Dawn-fang holds their ground at first they are quickly pushed back. It is all they can do to prevent the avalanche of earth from killing them both.

At Radek's warning, the others spring into action, Liandra and Darevod dash in together. Darevod nimbly darts in to pull the body out from beneath Dawn-fang and the piling rubble, moving with a strength of purpose that belies his tiny form. Liandra heaves the body onto her shoulder to carry it to safety.

Dawn-fang's body is nearly about to give way when relief finally comes. As Radek's mental discipline clicks into place, the force of the rocks lessen. "Damn it!" he grunts through clenched teeth as he shoulders the burden with his mind.

For a few brief moments, Dawn-fang is free to claw their way free of the rubble as Radek holds it back, and then the force gives, and the weight of the earth crashes down, sending dust and debris into the air. Everything goes dark.

When the dust clears, the passageway is thoroughly blocked. You can faintly see the light from the partially covered archway to the ritual room you came from, but the passage leftwards and up is thoroughly blocked by tons and tons of earth and stone.

In the stillness that follows, a weak cough rings out.

@Juri: You wake up in a haze of dust and darkness. Around you, 5 of the least likely faces you could imagine look on with concern.


@Dawn-fang: Strength 5 + 4(Liandra)
Your left paw is is injured in the strain. You will take a -2 to checks involving that paw until you have the time to properly tend to it.

Dawn-fang and Juri each take 3d10 bludgeoning damage Roll failed since you can't add them in edits. Roll posted in OOC

Radek uses 6 power points on the Move aspect of Master of Force. It is enough to lessen the strain on Dawn-fang, but not enough to stop the rockfall. Radek takes 6 damage from the psychic backlash of straining against a weight they cannot lift, and their Psi-Limit is temporarily reduced by one (to 5) as they recuperate.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang does their best to shield Juri from the rocks, and braces against a large fallen slab that threatens to crush them both. For a moment they lose their footing in the shaking, and in the split second it takes to catch themself, they go from holding off the slab to struggling to keep it from crushing them. They manage to hold it off for long enough for Liandra and Darevod to pull Juri to safety, but only with Radek's help can they dive for freedom themself.

The kitsune slowly climbs to their feet as the dust settles, looking rather the worse for wear. Panting for breath, they lean on the nearest person for support, which happens to be Radek. They look up at the tall telepath... and break into a short coughing fit. "Was that you?" Dawn-Fang asks, after they recover. "With the rocks?"

Their ears swivel when Juri coughs, and they glance down at the newly awake monk with relief that she'd made it.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

By the Pact, that was stupid..." Radek mutters, rubbing his head, and helping Dawn-Fang up. That was way too much to try and lift. His teacher would have scolded him for acting so brashly, and not even defending himself. "Screw that ass..."

Radek pushes the headache away, and responds. "Yeah, just a little force manipulation, though I think I kinda overestimated myself there. You alright?"

Radek glances down at the newly awakened person as well. "Hey, can you walk? Looks like we're in quite a hurry here."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang raises an eyebrow for a moment as Radek mutters to himself.

"More or less," the kitsune says, feeling over their hurt left paw. "Much better than I'd be without your help." They give a meaningful glance to the pile of rubble where they'd been standing, then turn back to Radek and bring their paws together for a short bow. "Thank you."

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

Juri let out another cough as she rose to her feet, aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing much. She glanced from one member of the assembled group to the other - none of these people wore anything remotely resembling one of the Great Clans. Were they perhaps barbarians of some kind, or was this some kind of Kolaghan sorcery?

Getting into a fight, in her state, however, probably wouldn't be the best use of her strength.

"Tell me, strange Ainok," she says, gesturing in Dawn-Fang's direction. "Where are we?"

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

It takes a few moments for Dawn-Fang to realize that Juri is talking to them. They blink and point at themself, as though to say "Me?". "Nobody knows, strange human," they say, with a bit of amusement. "But there's probably not any 'ainok' here. I'm Dawn-Fang, kitsune healer from Towabara. You may find that where you're from makes as little sense to us as that did to you." They chuckle, which turns into a cough. "In any case, I'm glad you're alright."

[spinningdice]

Liandra
"Glad you could join us, I'm afraid we've had only about half an hour or so more than you to work out what's going on, but we all hail from different lands, or maybe worlds. We all understand each other and we seem to have been captured for some ritual that went wrong." she looks around at the others nearby "Did I miss anything?"

Assuming no one else says anything "Your gear should be through there."


There was another captive that died, did we see anything that would have been their gear, or was that the book?

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

"Regardless of where we are, I need to return to my clan," said Juri, trying to process the fact that she quite possibly wasn't in Kolaghan lands anymore. The Kolaghan were brutish in their sorcery, so her doubts about this being a trick waned by the minute.

"My name is Juri, of Clan Ojutai. For now, I suppose, we should work together to stop whoever has brought us here." Juri bowed slightly to the others, wincing slightly as she felt her injuries flare up. Once Liandra pointed out that her gear was in the adjacent room, Juri's eyes lit up.

Ojutai's Fang wasn't lost to her after all!

She immediately rushed into the adjacent room - where anyone still in there would see her grab a sword in a simple black scabbard, a set of white and blue clothes, and another small object. It didn't take long for Juri to change into her tunic and the rest of the clothes and rejoin the others in the hallway.

With one hand resting on the pommel of the sword - now at her left hip - she looked to the others. They knew more about the situation at hand, so it only made sense to trust their judgment.

At least, for now.

[Jangoose]

As you settle in and introduce yourselves anew, you take stock of your current situation.

You currently have access to the gear and storage room as well as the hallway beyond and down. You have access to your original* gear as well as a selection of generic tools and equipment. This site was clearly being excavated or restored, though you don't know why. Various non-magical archeological tools, robes, weapons, and food supplies can be found in the room. Nothing in particular stands out to you, but with enough digging you can probably find/scrounge up anything you expect you will need for the immediate future (rope, knives, picks, chalk, bags, food, etc.).

With an hours work, you could theoretically gain access to the ritual room again. Its entry arch is nearly completely covered by rubble. The leftmost route appears impassable.

As you chat, the ground trembles faintly a few times, as if reminding you that it hasn't finished with you quite yet.

@Liandra: Your scan through the area that contained the personal items reveals not much else: another set of clothes and a curious set of hook-like daggers. Though your budding second sight suggests they are non-magical, they look sturdy and well made.

For reference, the book/map were found in the ritual room, separate from the personal effects.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

"Dead bodies make more dead bodies..." Darevod lectures at Juri as they crawl from the wreckage of the tunnel. "But life begets life begets let's get's out of here. Excavate later, exit now. No stopping, only starting to leaving." The Vedalken scurries the other way down the hallway toward freedom, getting a much needed head start with his stumpy legs.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang nods and sighs as Juri mentions some place (or organization?) they've never heard of. It wasn't unexpected, but it still left a bad taste in their mouth. Or maybe that was all the dust.

They head back into the gear room and scrounge up some basic medical supplies and something to carry them in. The kitsune ties a makeshift wrap around their injured wrist; it wasn't great, but it'd have to do for now.

Rejoining the others in the hallway, they find Darevod already scurrying ahead and pad along after him.

I'm not actually trying to do anything with the wrapping, it's just a fun detail. I assume it'll take a short rest to actually properly treat it.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Radek", Radek responds to Juri. "This whole situation doesn't make any sense, really. I suppose you also claim to be from some made-up place, yeah? And haven't even heard of Ravnica?" Radek stuffs some food supplies into his duster's pockets and heads out after Darevod.

[spinningdice]

Liandra tucks the daggers away, she also picks up some rope and as much food/water as she can easily fit in her pack before heading out after Darevod.

[Jangoose]

With new resolve, Darevod heads down the hallway, and down the stairs beyond, the rest of you following soon after.

Though the ground rumbles from time to time, nothing seems to come of it, and it soon fades away into the ambiance.

---

You descend a few short stories, though in the tense quiet it seems longer. The stairwell lets out onto a broad landing, and you find yourself in a dimly lit crevasse. Above you, the roof of the cavern is hidden in shadow, but below you, the depths of the cave are lit by a ruddy orange glow. The balcony you are on hosts a long dry fountain, and a pair of brooding statues flank the stairwell you came from.

Scattered across the opposing rock face you can see other archways and balconies, houses and rooftops carved into the rock. For the first time you find yourself noticing the absurd scale of the construction, and wondering how truly massive the original architects of this ruin must have been. Though the materials may be simple, the craftsmanship is notably exceptional. You see no signs of recent life down here, but the buildings remain in near-pristine condition. A bridge of stone slats extends to a balcony on the opposite side of the gap, though bridge is perhaps the wrong word to describe what you see. The slabs follow no ordinary rules of architecture (or even physics), fixed in space by unknown artifice. They float with neither support nor structure, and yet exude a sense of stability and permanence. At the bridge, a short runed pillar marks the anchor point.

Out in the open cave you feel the currents of warm air drifting lazily around. You can hear a faint skittering, the sound of disturbed rocks skidding freely.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang looks around the cavern and lets out an awed breath. "I've never seen a cave this size," they murmur. "How deep underground are we?" On Kamigawa, this would have to be deep in the Sokenzan... maybe it's fortunate we're somewhere else. Floating bridges had never really been the ogres' style, anyway.

Curious as to what, if anything, is on their side of the crevasse, Dawn-Fang pads towards one of the sides of the landing, away from the bridge. They hold up their lantern and peer out into the dimness, looking to see if there's anything close by above or below. They're also wary of that skittering sound, and keep their pointy ears perked.

[spinningdice]

Liandra
Liandra takes a few tentative steps onto the bridge, ready to leap back should it's mysterious stability begin to fail.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Pretty damn deep", Radek says. If everyone else were some kind of weird underground mole people, maybe that'd make some sense. "At least I won't be bumping my head into the ceiling."

Radek goes to check out the pillar. Maybe magic would still make sense, even in this situation.

Arcana: [roll0] - Examine the pillar with the runes.

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

Juri stops by the start of the bridge, and listens, trying to pinpoint the direction that the odd skittering sound comes from. This sort of towering architecture was not alien to her - after all, Clan Ojutai liked to build its monasteries on mountainsides with all manner of intricate architecture. But Juri had never been this far underground. Were they in a mountain, or was this an underground cavern of some kind?

Perception roll on the noise: [roll0]

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Darevod lets out a long whistle as they emerge into the enormous cave. "Too big. Big as a city!" he exclaims. Holding his hands to his mouth he calls out loudly, "Horace?" With no response he moves to the edge of the chasm and kicks a small rock in to see how deep it goes.

[Jangoose]

@Dawn-fang: You pad out into the cavern and peer over the landing's edge, scanning the wall up and down. Above you, you can see two other small balconies and their accompanying clusters of buildings. Below you you see that your section of the cave overhangs a foundry near the foot of the cave. An abandoned project in jet black metal rests at its center still shrouded in scaffolding

@Darevod: You kick a small rock out into the chasm. From the sound of the bouncing you estimate the cavern floor lies a good hundred feet below you.

@Juri: The skittering continues, and you perk up at the sound, straining to listen carefully. Through the noise of the falling rocks, you can just pick out the sounds of scuffling that suggest a something alive is involved. From the scraping you would suspect something scaled or otherwise hard and plated. The noise comes from above you.

As the others look around at the cave, Radek and Liandra turn their attention to the bridge area. Liandra slowly inches out onto the bridge, but grows more confident as it becomes clear that the bridge can easily hold her weight, as sturdy in the air as solid ground.

@Radek: The pillar is topped by 4 stacked rings, each with its own set of runes. Though you have never seen the symbols before, you know without any hesitation that they represent numbers. Your second sight insists the pillar is magically powered, but, as with what you can see of the bridge, no trace of any functional enchantments are left on the surface. This is quality artifice, not like the paltry enchantments you learn in school on Ravnica, old magic, baked into the very being of the warm dark stone.
Your hands idly brush the rings as you take a closer look, and a set of runes briefly flash. With a whir, the rings spring into action, spinning into a new alignment.

So smoothly, you barely notice at first, the bridge begins to move, rising swiftly to a new location.

Above you, the skittering sound gets louder.


@Liandra: the bridge is rising, though your caution leaves you well prepared to take action. [+1 White]. Acrobatics and/or Athletics checks you take to stabilize on the bridge or jump back to the balcony are at +5. You are currently about 8 feet from the start of the bridge, and about 5 feet above where you started (though rising quickly)

[spinningdice]

Lhiandra drops to a crouch and turns around ready to leap/dash back from the bridge. She hesitates, reasoning that the movement is slow and deliberate, not a collapse and she has rope to make a descent.


Athletics [roll0] to keep footing.

[Amaril]

Arin

The others bustle about examining features of the architecture, but most of their curiosity is lost on Arin--he simply stands in the middle of the balcony, mouth agape as he peers up and tries to make out the height of the ceiling far above. He'd always thought the main cavern of his home village had been as big as a cave could get; never had he imagined something like this. A small part of his mind that still holds on to reason wonders at the size of the construction all around. Could we...? No... He'd heard stories of the lands of the giants in the far north, but no one ever claimed to have seen them. Yet he can't imagine anyone normal-sized building something like this...

Wait...why's the noise getting louder?

Slowly, he turns around, toward the source of the sound. He'd thought it was just rocks falling from the tremors--so why does it make his stomach twist like that? "Uh...guys?"

Perception to make out the source of the sound: [roll0]

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

Juri doesn't look up. She knew all too well how these things worked.

If there was an enemy near her, waiting to ambush her and the others, it would almost certainly drop down to attack. The height and element of surprise would make them dangerous. Still, she could at least draw some attention to herself while the others were occupied with the moving bridge.

Juri drew her blade about a third of an inch out of its scabbard, letting a small bit of blue light out from the scabbard. Settling into her own combat stance, Juri closed her eyes, waiting for a moment when whatever was above them would attack.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang turns back towards the group and is momentarily taken aback by the sight of the bridge rising into the air. Got the bridge... working, I guess? At least Liandra didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

"Does that bridge go down?" they ask, walking back to the center of the landing with everyone else. "There's something big under construction down there. Nobody else with it that I could see."

The kitsune glances around, and sees Juri and Arin tensed and wary. They set down their lamp, throwing long, wavering shadows up against the fountain and cliff wall, and step between Radek and the door. Dropping into their own combat stance, they draw their sword and gingerly draw their jitte, testing how it feels in their left paw.

Near the foot of the cave, as in a hundred feet down? That project must be on the large side to be visible from up here, then?
Oh, you said "scaffolding". Definitely large, then.


The balcony you are on hosts a long dry fountain, and a pair of brooding statues flank the stairwell you came from.
Does our balcony (or the bridge) have any railings? And where is this dry fountain relative to everything else?

The jitte is just a refluffed shield. Does the paw injury keep them from using it?

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Darevod jumps as the bridge and stones grind to life, backing away from the ledge in a somewhat cowardly manner, one you imagine originates with his size. "Magic, magic, too much... Can't see, can't SEE anything."

Trundling to the fountain, Darevod sits against its stone exterior and pulls his tome out again. He flips through the pages to a particular passage and then concentrates intently on it while drawing a diagram in the air to his right.

Going to start casting Detect Magic as a ritual... finishes in 10 minutes if we are here that long. If not, well I guess he'll just have to try again later.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Third Eye

"Whoa! That's cool!" Radek exclaims. "This spellwork is... Well, I'm not sure I understand all of it. Let's see if I can figure how to make it go down..."

Radek starts testing how the bridge works, touching the rings on the pillar. He does glance over his shoulder. "Just, uhh... Give me a heads-up if something comes through the door."

Arcana/Investigation: [roll0], trying to figure out the controls, and how make the bridge go down.

Switch Psychic focus to Precognition (advantage on initiative rolls).

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang

Dawn-Fang turns their head to smirk at Radek over their shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You humans aren't that bad at hearing," they say, a playful twinkle in their eye.

[Jangoose]

Liandra drops into a crouch as the bridge begins to move, steadying herself without much trouble. The bridge looks to be settling near a new pair of landings, the slats spaced into broad stairs descending from one of the closer balconies above the group to a large archway on the other side. Bands of heavy runic lettering marks the far side anchor as the Archive, and the close side as the Armory.

From the new vantage point, Liandra can see more of the surrounding balconies, and the deep cracks that have begun to form in the cave wall above the group. On the Armory landing another collapse has covered much of the entry in rock and rubble.

The bridge starts to move again as Radek manipulates the rings, aligning one end with the Arcanarium, then another with the Cellar, then back again. With a bit of testing, Radek verifies his suspicions, that the markings on the rings represent an addressing system. Two unique endpoints to determine a bridge configuration.

The skittering noise gets louder. Arin flinches, Juri and Dawn-fang tense, hands drifting to their blades, and Radek and Darevod carry on investigating. The artifice here is so unique and fascinating. They aren't about to be distracted just yet.

@Darevod: You begin the ritual as you would normally, but once you begin to concentrate, you find some of the usual crutches are unnecessary. Since you woke up you've been more attuned with the flow of magic around you, and you find you can sense concentrations of magic around you without really exerting much effort. The fountain itself registers a magical nature, but not a particularly strong one, likely just residual magic from its creation, or perhaps from whatever fluid used to flow through it.

For a second, a tense stillness stretches on. Hands and paws still gripping blades, while in the background, Radek mumbles excitedly to himself as he fidgets with the pillar.

With a resounding crash, you all look up, just as the pile of rubble on the armory landing bursts outwards, sending a shower of rocks careening down to you.

@Liandra: As the haze clears you see a statue standing where the rock pile was. No, not a statue, a construct! A dark stone golem, a hulking ogre of a figure, with two massive tusks, and a great stone maul covered in glowing runes. It turns and in one smooth motion steps off the side of its platform plummeting the distance to where the rest of the group awaits. The landing buckles and cracks beneath it where it lands on one massive plated knee.


A reminder that a base use of the color point system is to be able to detect concentrations of mana intuitively. You can gain complex information about colors of mana you are aligned with, and more general information about the rest. For information beyond that, you are of course still able to cast the full spell as normal.

Dex saves to avoid rocks for the 5 on the platform please. Juri, Dawn-fang and Arin have advantage on the checks due to their heightened awareness.

Liandra's bridge currently has her above and to the side of the main platform, not quite directly over, but close enough she could most likely make the jump.

For combat we will roll initiative and then you are welcome to describe your actions in any post order. I will do my best to synthesize all the different parts together in initiative order, but in the interest of keeping the posts moving I don't want to restrict what order you have to post in.

Feel free to include conditional statements in your posts if you'd like to have your actions reflect things the others might do.

Maphttps://www.dropbox.com/s/3xnr4iyanfmacis/Golem_1.png?dl=0

[Amaril]

Arin

Reflexes kicking in, Arin hits the dirt as soon as the explosion erupts, arms over his head to shield himself from falling debris. As he hears the last chunks fall, he quickly rolls and recovers his feet...and freezes at the sight before him.

A giant?

It only takes a second to notice the stone joints--not a giant, a golem--but that hardly makes it any less terrifying. Every instinct screams run, even as Arin catches sight out of the corners of his eyes of Dawn-Fang and Juri taking up fighting stances. They're insane...they can't hurt this thing with swords... He should run, they should all run, there's no way they can fight something like this...but his legs won't move. Unable to act, he stands rooted in place, time seeming to slow as the construct hefts its hammer...

Dodging for this turn. No other actions.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

As Darevod leans into his book he starts noticing the magic instinctually and between the text and the auras swirling up from the fountain's interior, he is caught completely off guard by both the rocks and new arrival. As the floor shakes with the impact his muscles freeze and he ducks down behind the stone lip, replacing the tome into his pack.

Intent on hiding there, as the others engage the gigantic beast Darevod conjures up his own internal rage and lets loose a gout of flame from his hand that streaks forward toward the construct.

Assuming others engage with it...
Firebolt: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1] fire

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Precognition

Radek quickly stands up and spins around to face the golem. "Damn it! Looks like we won't be escaping so easily. Looks like an Izzet creation..." The tall mystic points a finger towards the monster, and a red lance of energy streaks towards the golem. Radek nods to Darevod. "Always been partial to fire myself as well."

Radek glances at the young man, Arin. He seemed terrified, probably never been in a real fight before. Radek sighs, and sends a telepathic message, or more of a shout, to him. "Kid, focus! If you just stand there, you're gonna get squished!"

Attack with Energy Beam: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Fire damage.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang (https://dicecloud.com/character/oh4fkv75LacaMK8xk/Dawn-Fang)
HP: 46/68

Dawn-Fang whirls around at the sound of the crash, and tries to shield their face as rocks rain down around them. This is becoming a recurring theme...

"Wasn't the door, but you might wanna look up," they say, as if Radek somehow didn't notice the rocks or ground-shaking impact.

Seeing Juri already diving in against the creature, Dawn-Fang rushes forwards to assist. Their ears are flattened back, the fox a bit apprehensive about how much their sword could accomplish against a hulking beast of stone.

Halting midway to the golem, Dawn-Fang raises their voice and weapons in the casting of a spell.

If stunning fist seems to work, run to F9 and cast Bless on self, Juri, and Liandra.
Choose Juri for Voice of Authority (Juri can use her reaction to make a weapon attack against the golem). Unlike MTG, this cast trigger resolves after the spell :smalltongue:

If stunning fist doesn't seem to work, run to D8 and cast Command, telling the golem to flee. DC 16 Wis. (If it didn't care about superhero landing onto this platform, maybe the hundred foot drop doesn't count as "harmful" either?)

[spinningdice]

Liandra considers drawing her bow, or attempting to throw acid at the thing, but she'd always been better with a blade in hand. Not allowing herself to think of what may await her should she fall she takes a few steps back before making a running leap back to the platform.


Athletics [roll0]
If still time to attack:
Attack [roll1] dmg [roll2]
Attack 2 [roll3] dmg [roll4]
If it's not immune then sword also deals [roll5] necrotic damage, with a DC15 con save to avoid more damage next time I hit it.

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

As the rocks fell around her, Juri sidestepped effortlessly, drawing her longsword and holding it with both hands. The others would easily be able to make out the soft blue sheen given off by her blade.

As the golem landed near her, Juri immediately charged for it, ducking to its side to deliver a smashing blow with her sword. Immediately, Juri followed up her attack with an elbow strike and a roundhouse kick.

Whatever this creature was, it probably wasn't going to help them,and Juri wasn't going to wait around to see if it did

HP: 43/67
AC: 21 until next round
Ki: 7/8

Actions:
Move: to D10

Attack 1: Stunning Strike with Ojutai's Fang in two hands - [roll0] for [roll1] slashing damage and [roll2] cold damage. DC for Stunning Strike is DC 15 Constitution.

Attack 2: Unarmed Strike - [roll3] for [roll4] bludgeoning damage. Juri benefits from Agile Parry as a result.

Bonus Acrion: Unarmed Strike - [roll5] for [roll6] bludgeoning damage.

[Jangoose]

Rock rains from above, striking Darevod and Dawn-fang with a rain of jagged shards. Despite the chaos, Arin manages to dive to safety, a defensive reflex built from years in the Ascended mines, while Radek ducks behind the pillar to avoid the worst of the debris.

Juri barely breaks her stride as she effortlessly sidesteps through the barrage of rock.
Before the dust has even settled she is already leaping, shimmering blade in hand. Cutting through the air, she rolls into an upward swipe, her blade clashing off the golems side as it begins to rise to its feet. A flicker of worry crosses her mind as her followup blow glances off as well, but she brushes the thought aside. Centering herself, she sweeps wide with a broad kick, slamming a foot into an exposed knee joint with a solid crunch.

The golem stumbles.

Dawn-fang rushes out to join Juri, paws tracing a blessing in the air, while Darevod and Radek lob spells of fire and energy from behind cover, blasting away at the constructs tough plating.

As the golem falters under the assault, Liandra steels herself and charges, leaping powerfully from the edge of the bridge, blade in hand. With a crash she lands on the golem's back stabbing her blade between its shoulder plates, the blade's dark energy tearing at the joint. Dropping to the floor, she pivots, slashing again. Empowered by Dawn-fangs blessing, the cut strikes true, leaving a deep gouge in the plating.


Golem's Initiative is 11

Rocks deal 5 damage to Darevod and Dawn-fang.

Juri: As your first two attacks missed your stunning strike was moved to your final hit (You spend the point after hit confirmation. Also, Stunning Strike succeeded, and the golem is stunned through this turn this round. Before your next turn, you may also make an additional attack as a reaction thanks to Dawn-fangs Voice of Authority feature.

Dawn-fang: Bless is now active on Liandra, Juri, and Dawn-fang. (Whenever you roll an attack or save add 1d4)

Radek: A quick reminder that Energy Beam is a dex save not an attack roll. I totally forgot until right now, but it is actually mechanically relevant for this enemy, as they have advantage on saves vs magic.

Liandra: [+1 White]
Necrotic damage: [roll0]
Save for wounds: [roll1],[roll2]
On the golem's turn it is incapacitated, but still takes 2d4 damage from the wounding blade hits

Map: https://www.dropbox.com/s/244s1l1oji63k2d/Golem_2.png?dl=0

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

Juri continued with her assault against the golem, swinging twice with her longsword, and bringing up her knee to strike against the golem.

What manner of monster is this?

Bringing one hand from her blade up, Juri struck with the flat of her iron-hard palm, and followed it up with a one-inch punch in the blink of an eye.

HP: 45/67*
AC: 21
Ki: 6/8 (5)

*She took 22 damage earlier, but I just can't math.

Reaction: Attack with Ojutai's Fang
[roll0] or [roll1] to hit.
[roll2] slashing damage and [roll3] cold damage.

Attack 1: Attack with Ojutai's Fang
[roll4] or [roll5] to hit.
[roll6] slashing damage and [roll7] cold damage.

Attack 2: Attack with Unarmed Strike
[roll8] or [roll9] to hit.
[roll10] bludgeoning damage.

Bonus Action: Flurry of Blows
Flurry 1: [roll11] or [roll12] to hit.
[roll13] bludgeoning damage.
Flurry 2: [roll14] or [roll15] to hit.
[roll16] bludgeoning damage.

[spinningdice]

Liandra

"Whatever it is, at least we seem to be hurting it, keep up the offensive" Her blade continues to weave almost hypnotically as she seeks out weak points in it's armour, a thin black mist leaving a trail behind it.


Attack [roll0] dmg [roll1]
Attack [roll2] dmg [roll3]
Necrotic [roll4]

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang (https://dicecloud.com/character/oh4fkv75LacaMK8xk/Dawn-Fang)
HP: 41/68

Dawn-Fang lets out a sigh of relief as their magic takes hold, the comforting feeling bolstering their spirit. They glance at Arin, the most exposed member of their party, and dart in between him and the golem.

Bringing their own sword to bear, Dawn-Fang slashes at the nearest golem leg and shouts a magic-infused word of encouragement to Juri.

Move to B9.
Attack the golem: [roll0] + [roll1]
[roll2] slashing

Bonus action: cast Healing Word on Juri: [roll3]
This triggers Voice of Authority again.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897) Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Save DC: 16, Psi Points: 31/44, Psychic Focus: Mastery of Fire

Was Izzet mixed up with this, experimenting with people somehow? He'd woken up in some kind of tank...

It did seem somewhat resistant to his powers. Radek had a dagger with him, but he would take every opportunity to avoid close combat things that looked they could crush his head like a grape.

Radek sends another blast of fire energy at the creature, this time really attuning himself with its energies.

Switch Psychic Focus to Mastery of Fire, adding +2 to fire damage, and resistance to fire damage.

Target golem with Energy Beam, Dex save DC 16 (For some reason I was so certain that spell was an attack roll)
or take [roll0] fire damage.

[Amaril]

Arin

The bottom drops out of Arin's stomach as Dawn-Fang, Juri, and Liandra all rush at the construct. Any moment, he expects to see their blades clang harmlessly off its stone construction, and then that hammer smashing them aside like toys--but to his shock, they actually manage to make it stumble, their attacks finding joints, lights and mists weaving around their swords. And then Radek points at it and fire erupts from his hand and where it hits, the stone breaks...

Arin is still standing there, paralyzed and gaping at the scene unfolding around him, when Dawn-Fang moves to screen him. And all of a sudden, he's not here in this impossible place watching all these impossible things, but back with the resistance, facing down that drudge, and then Mira is in its path, spear raised...

"Kid, focus! If you just stand there, you're gonna get squished!"

It's enough to break the shock. Heading for the only cover he can see, Arin bolts for the fountain, diving behind the barrier to hunker down next to Darevod. Unable to resist, he raises his head just high enough to peer out at the battle. "This is crazy...this can't be real..."

Moving to D5 and dodging again.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

The Vedalken is grateful to not be the only one hiding behind something and flashes Arin a timid smile as he forms the words of his spell again, hurling another burst of flame forward in time with Radek's, the two sending a pleasant crackle across the stone of the thing's arm, before ducking down behind the stone again.

"Never seen an automaton? Usually more gears, more steam, less stone, but alllllll filled with aether." Darevod blathers.

Firebolt attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Jangoose]

As the automaton stumbles, you press the attack, hammering it with blade and fist.

Juri dives deep, swords flashing as she whirls around, targeting exposed joints with surgical precision. Beside her, Dawn-fang darts in, to stab at the construct, shouting inspiration to the others as they do so. From the back, Radek lobs bolts of fire at the golem, its dark stone shell cracking under the explosive force.

As Juri swings her last kick, the construct snaps its hand up, blocking the attack, and grabbing the offending foot in its stony fist, before turning a burning glare on the rest.
You are struck by a gripping fear. It claws at your mind, and makes you question your sanity. Without even noticing, you find yourselves stumbling backwards.


Everyone make two DC 15 Wis Saves. If you fail one you become frightened, if you fail both you must attempt to flee.

Juri you are being grappled. The check to beat is 10, but note that if you become frightened you will have disadvantage on the check.

Liandra and Darevod, your actions will occur after you have made your saves in case any adjustments need to be made due to the results.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang (https://dicecloud.com/character/oh4fkv75LacaMK8xk/Dawn-Fang)
HP: 41/68

Dawn-Fang grits their teeth and glares right back, their lips pulling back in a snarl as they weather the golem's mental attack. A quick glance confirms that everyone else made it through more or less unscathed. Well, almost everyone. Tsk...

They turn back and lunge in for another slash. They could feel their sword's magic overcoming the natural hardness of the material, but the golem was so big. How much damage were they all really doing to it?

Attacking the golem again.
[roll0] + [roll1]
[roll2] slashing (magical)

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897) Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Save DC: 16, Psi Points: 29/44, Psychic Focus: -

"Guh!" Radek grunts as he feels the psychic attack. It was rather fierce, and he can't completely block it. Radek takes a step back, his heart pumping much faster than before. "It's just fear, get a grip! Damn it!" he chastises himself.

Radek holds his hand towards the creature, and this time makes a grasping motion. Besides his willpower, he also pours extra power from his fear into his next spell.

Spend 3 psi points to use Grasp (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit#bookmark=id.x4j57ljrtb1g) on the golem. It must succeed on DC 16 Strength saving throw or be grappled.

Use Psionic Surge to burn Radek's psychic focus, and to impose Disadvantage on the golem's saving throw (in this case I suppose just cancel out the advantage).

[OutOfThyme]

Juri

Just as the mysterious creature attempted to grab Juri's foot in her hand, she reflexively drew her leg back in order to evade the creature. Somehow, being around the others steeled her against the wave of fear that she had felt wash over her. It wasn't something Juri was unused to - this was the type of magic the Kolaghan loved to employ - but it still would have caught her off guard.

This creature needed to go down, before it actually succeeded.

Gripping her sword with both hands once more, Juri swung with two furious sword strokes, and trying for another set of double kicks to try and impair the creature once again.

HP: 45/67
AC: 21
Ki: 5/8

The first attack that hits is a Stunning Strike. DC 15 Constitution save or be stunned until Juri's next round.

Reaction: Attack with Ojutai's Fang - [roll0] + [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] slashing damage and [roll3] cold damage.

Attack 1: Attack with Ojutai's Fang - [roll4] + [roll5]
Damage: [roll6] slashing damage and [roll7] cold damage.

Attack 2: Attack with Unarmed Strike - [roll8] + [roll9]
Damage: [roll10] bludgeoning damage.

Bonus action: Attack with Unarmed Strike - [roll11] + [roll12]
Damage: [roll13] bludgeoning damage.

[Jangoose]

Darkness creeps in at the edges of your vision as the construct glares you down. For a moment, all you can see is the blood red of those unblinking construct eyes.

Through force of will, Darevod ratchets up his mental defenses, blasting the creature with fire just as Liandra closes in for another slash. Her mind is shielded by a burning resolve so intense it spills over, filling your mind with that same determination.

Though she nearly falters, Juri manages to shake free of her opponent's grip, both mental and physical, buoyed by Liandra's presence. Throwing caution to the wind she vaults back into the fight.

Juri and Dawn-fang dash forward together, managing to land three solid hits between them, but the brute seems unphased by their attempts to hinder it. With each swing of your blades, the Golem's body gets weaker, its leg actuators visibly shaking, but the rage in its eyes grows stronger, threatening to drown out your senses.

In the back, Radek, frightened under the glare of the dark stone beast, attempts to grab at it with his mind. Make it go away! But his every effort goes unrewarded, unable to pin down the raging automaton.

With a metallic shriek of grinding metal the beast swings it's maul, impacting Liandra's armor with a sickening crunch. A follow-up fist grabs again for Juri.


Stunning Fist fails
Liandra takes 11

The fear aura ramps up and continues. Roll another pair of wisdom saves, DC is now 17. Arin has advantage from being in a cowering position with poor line of sight to the golem.

Juri is being grappled again, Check to beat is 20

Anyone within 10 feet may make insight checks at this time

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

The first pulse of fear was shaken off through sheer incomprehension of exactly what was going on. As the eyes pulse red again the creature seems to grow in size... or Darevod shrinks, he's not sure which nor does it matter. With tremors running through his body, the small blue man heads straight for the edge of the cliff screaming, "IT'S NO USE, FLEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

He takes a running leap off the ledge. As the scaffolding reaches up to catch him he suddenly vanishes from sight and for a moment you wonder where he disappeared to until his small frame is found cowering on the bridge above.

Move/dash as need to the cliff edge. Misty Step to the bridge, keep moving until I can't any further.

[spinningdice]

Liandra redoubles her efforts on the golem "Let. Her. Go." she shouts between strikes.


[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[roll3] [roll4] [roll5]

[roll6]

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897) Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Save DC: 16, Psi Points: 29/44, Psychic Focus: -

"Damn it!" Radek growls, trying to push the psychic pressure away. He just manages, and feels his head clear some. He sends a blast of energy at the golem, though he isn't sure if his strikes are even affecting it.

"Not all of us can teleport, old man", Radek wryly says to Darevod.


Energy Beam damage: DC 16 Dex save or take [roll0] fire damage.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang (https://dicecloud.com/character/oh4fkv75LacaMK8xk/Dawn-Fang)
HP: 41/68

Smugly confident from how easily they swatted down the first mental barrage, Dawn-Fang is unprepared for the next. Their ears flatten as fear grips their mind, and with a piteous yelp the kitsune flees with their tails between their legs, heading for the relative safety of the tunnel.

Run into the tunnel. If they're allowed to take the Disengage action, they do so. Otherwise they provoke an OA.

Do they have to keep running even after being out of sight of the golem? If they Dash, they can reach a good 40/45 feet into the tunnel.

[Jangoose]

The golems eyes burn with a fiery intensity even as its body breaks down, its stony exterior cracking under Liandra's assault. Two strikes rippling with a grim power slice open its torso, just as Radek sends a final burst of flame searing into the opening.

With a shudder, the golem falls to a knee. The lights of its eyes grow brighter and brighter, before exploding with a violent pop, a stream of blood red smoke pouring from the construct. Though you hope it is just a last vestige of the fear in your system, you can faintly make out faces in the billowing clouds, screaming in rage and pain.

There is a moment of silence and a flash of light as the binding enchantments are broken, and then with a creak and a crash, the golem tumbles backwards off the edge of the platform, Juri still clutched in its stony grasp.


Juri please make a dex check to catch yourself on the edge. You have disadvantage on it if you cannot escape the grapple first.

Liandra is in range to provide physical assistance, Radek and Arin are in range to provide ranged/magical assistance only.

[spinningdice]

Seeing the golem start to topple Liandra throws herself forward, trying grab Juri.



I'm assuming Strength/Athletics [roll0] is relevant, if it's Dex them I'm only at +2 rather than +7, please adjust accordingly

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang skids to a stop as the fear releases its iron grip on their mind. They stand panting in the tunnel, gathering their bearings.

Hubris. Inexcusable. They clench their fists in anger, disgusted at themself for letting self-satisfaction lower their guard. You know charms to ward against mind-magic. You could have stopped this! With a snarl, the fox whirls and sprints back toward the landing, claws clicking against the stone. Too caught up in seeking your own glory...

They burst back onto the landing, tails lashing and teeth bared. Knowing things can change in an instant, they quickly survey the situation, seeing what's happened while they were gone.

Just running back. I figure whatever's happening with Juri and the golem will be over before Dawn-Fang is relevant.

[Jangoose]

There is a gasp as Juri is yanked for the edge, still caught in the golem's stony hand. She struggles against the fist, but to no avail, and is unable to break free, even as the golem's body buckles and slides over the edge.

In the split second as the others wake themselves from their fearful stupor, Liandra is already moving.

@Liandra: Time seems to slow for you as you hurtle towards the edge, seeing the lines of possible action. You reach out for Juri, even as a niggling doubt worms its way out of your subconscious. Even through the smoke you can see that Juri was unable to escape the Golem's grip. You were fast enough to get to her, and are strong enough to hold on, but doing so may pull you off the edge as well, weighed down by the thousands of pounds of artifice. For a fraction of a second, you meet Juri's eye.


@Liandra: A sliver of your vampiric influence is rearing its head. you may:

+1 White: Commit to stand your ground and hold on, even if it means you might be pulled off as well.
-- or --
+1 Blue or Black: Hesitate in a fleeting reflex of enlightened self-interest and be unable to help.

[spinningdice]

Liandra brain feels like it's working slowly, though her thought process takes barely seconds. The golem's too heavy, it's grip too tight. Even if she manages to grab Juri and not be pulled off the ledge one of their bodies would likely break before the golem's grip. Her hand hesitates long enough that the option is taken away, she quietly mouths an apology and forces herself to watch as Juri falls from view.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

From his position on the bridge, Darevod carefully pokes his head up enough to see the landing and... the golem was gone? Curiosity gripped his rapidly beating heart as the fear faded and he stood a little more. A few moments later the sound of stone crumbling against stone met his ears. "Well done, well done!" he shouts gleefully at the others, oblivious to the comrade that tumbled over the cliff in its grasp. After a few moments of catching his breath he adds, "Come come, let's be gone before another one drops from the ceiling. You there... Radek was it? Swirl those switches again and let's make this bridge a bit more functional, eh?" he suggests full of pep.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang sprints across the platform as Juri falls from view, but they already know they're too late. They stop next to Liandra and wince at the sound of the crash. Squeezing their eyes shut, the kitsune sinks down on their knees, tails limp on the ground behind them. Damn... too slow. This made two people already they hadn't been able to save.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897) Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Save DC: 16, Psi Points: 29/44, Psychic Focus: -

Radek doesn't even have time to react before Juri falls, slipping from Liandra's grip. He nods to Darevod, and touches the symbols he thinks brings the bridge back to the cliff.

Then he walks to Liandra, and hesitantly touches her shoulder. "Nothing you could have done, the golem was too heavy. Better only one fell, rather than two."

Radek's not sure if that was at all comforting, but at least it made sense. "I agree with the old man. No reason to wait for another attack. I think down's the way to go?"

[spinningdice]

Liandra's face looks stormy as she turns back to the rest of the group. "Our first real challenge and we've already lost someone. we need to do better if we want to get out of here."

[Xiagu]

Something about Liandra's words makes Dawn-Fang's anger flare, their self-condemnation finding a new outlet. The fox rises to their full five foot height and whirls to face her, furious.

"We need to do better?" they snap. "You could have grabbed her! I saw you hesitate!" They glare up at her, body still coursing with momentary fury.

[spinningdice]

Anger flashes across Liandra's face "And what good would it have done! The thing weighed more than my uncle's forge and it gripped her like a vice, at best I would have her arm as a souvenier as it wrenched from her body and more likely I would suffer her fate alongside her." Liandra carefully puts her blade away as she a moment to reign in her indignation. "I will put my life on the line for you - and have done, I could after all have stayed up on the bridge, but I will not throw myself away without purpose."
Her voice drops quieter, cleared of indignation "I would rather face this place alone than have someone at my back I can't trust, are we good?" she offers her arm to Dawn-Fang.

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

It's only as the argument breaks out that Darevod realizes something's wrong. "One, two, three, four, five... oh dear," he counts sadly. Rubbing his brow furiously with the palm of one hand as though scratching an itch, he hops down the bridge toward Radek and inspects the sigils on the control pillar with the mystic. "Archive or Arcanarium if you please. Whichever you please. Both please me," he suggests, trying at all costs to avoid getting involved in Dawn-Fang and Liandra's commotion.

[Xiagu]

While Dawn-Fang listens, they feel over their left paw, the one they'd hurt shielding Juri from rocks. They squeeze it, and hiss as pain blossoms. "Fear of death didn't stop me," they say, with a fang-baring sneer.

And it wouldn't have stopped me here, they realize, as Liandra continues. For a moment, Dawn-Fang sees themself hurtling through the air, the golem's weight yanking them off the landing after Juri. Their anger collapses into shame.

The fox stares at the floor, and lets out a long sigh. Their ears flatten and lashing tails still. "I never doubted your allegiance," they say, looking up to meet Liandra's eyes. The fire behind their eyes is gone. "I was only... asking the impossible. I'm sorry. Were I in your place, I would have ended up down there with her."

Dawn-Fang takes Liandra's hand with their good paw. "We're still good."

[spinningdice]

Liandra nods as she grips Dawn-Fang's paw. "I'm no saint or angel, I have lost too many people under my command and have plenty of deaths on my conscious." she thought to the look in Juri's eyes as she watched her fall. "It doesn't get easier to lose someone though." she smiles ruefully, a grim expression with no joy or happiness in it. "Perhaps that at least proves I've not fallen so far. When it gets easy you're probably lost."

She steps back and straightens up, "Enough of this pity and philosophy, while the archives may give us some answers - we don't know how long we have before this place starts shaking itself apart again. The arcanum is more likely to have tools or means to escape. Lets try there first."

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang twitches their whiskers. "As a healer, believe me, I know," they say, briefly showing the weight of years. After a few moments of silence, their expression lifts, ears perking up. Like other fox-folk, Dawn-Fang couldn't stay dour for long. "If you're in danger of falling any further, I'll be there to catch you." They half-grin and squeeze Liandra's hand with their short stubby claws.

As Liandra returns to the others, Dawn-Fang lingers near the cliff and intones a short prayer for Juri. They sigh again, then turn and rejoin the others with a purposeful stride.

[Jangoose]

When all is said and done, a silence descends over the group. Each of you process your grief and worry in your own ways - with a prayer, with an eye to moving forward, or by burying yourself in the task at hand.

With deft fingers, Radek manipulates the rings, checking his notes as he does so, realigning the bridge with the Arcanarium on the far wall of the chasm.

------------------

On the far side, the bridge lets out onto a smooth stone landing, devoid of the ornamentation of the platform you left from. Thick grooves are cut in solid straight lines in the floor, leading back to a darkened entry way cut into the rock face. As you get closer, you can see a slow trickle of blood stains several of the grooves.

Beyond, in the shadow of the entryway, you can just make out the silhouette of a humanoid body collapsed against the wall.

[spinningdice]

Liandra moves to investigate the body, keeping one hand close to her blade.

[Jangoose]

As Liandra approaches, the body lets out a sputtering cough. Calling out in a raspy voice.

Is someain thaer? Git back ye bloody cultists, cannae ye see am dyin' awreddy. Don't need no halp frae th' likes a ye.

As the man manages to tilt his head up ever so slightly, those of you with eyes accustomed to the dark notice that the man is blind, his eyes poked out in a brutal bloody fashion.
At his waist, a bony trembling hand grips a dagger.

[spinningdice]

"Easy there sir, we're friends, not cultists. If you can put away that knife of yours we can tend to your wounds." Liandra's voice is calm and reassuring, though her eyes are darting around - expecting an ambush.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang rushes to inspect the body, but skids to a stop as the man brandishes a dagger. They glance at Liandra, then raise a paw. Maybe this will help ease his fears, they think, and speak a magically charged word of healing.

Cast Healing Word on him. Whoops, there go all my 1st level spell slots!
[roll0]

[Jangoose]

Wary of a potential ambush, Liandra eyes the surroundings as she speaks to the wounded man, but she sees nothing out of the ordinary.

Och aye, that's whit they said innit. Friends, they said, fellow researchers, curious travelers.

He seems to pause as if anticipating your attack, then sighs and lets go of the knife. Whether convinced of your good intentions or his own death is unclear. Dawn-fang uses the opportunity to whisper a quick prayer, and the man shudders as the magic washes over him.

Ah tauld Markham. Ah didne loich th' look a them. They waur too organized, too intent oan somethin'.

Plottin' blasted cultists! They brooght only death an' destruction. Mah friends, mah colleagues, mah life's work. Awl gone in a mess a blood an' darkness.

If'n ye arenae cultists, 'en who ar ye? When they turned oan us, one a their magi destroyed th' keystone an' sealed th' mines. Ye cannae be from the surface.

[Majin]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/412649086202818560/w8vWD4b8_400x400.jpeg
Radek (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1585897) Radek's Powers (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Thdh1OewMezmSq9SPlohwADzQO8ZLsi0Po518vEJaAE/edit?usp=sharing)
HP: 59/59 AC: 17, Save DC: 16, Psi Points: 29/44, Psychic Focus: -

Radek quickly takes the rambling man's knife away after he drops it. Better not to have anyone waving a knife around, especially if that one is blind and somewhat incoherent. Radek wasn't sure if the man had hit his head really hard, or just had the thickest accent he'd ever heard.

"What do you mean? Of course we're from the surface. And I think we all are victims of these cultists here as well."

"Now you did mention your 'work'. What might that have entailed? Because if it involved kidnapping people and performing creepy experiments, I might get a bit cross here."

[Jangoose]

Ye don understand lad. These are Onnake ruins. Nae yer ordinary ogres. Thas why we were here, ma colleagues an I. Tae study their art, their culture, their artifice. Its their bloody magic whats worked intae th' very stones. An wi' th' keystone gone, nobody could possibly enter... or leave.

Ye cannae come frae th' surface, but mayhap you're from somewhere else. Somewhere beyond this world, beyond Shandalar.


He pauses to take in a raggedy breath.

As fer th' cultists? They claimed they were pilgrims. Followin' th' leylines tae places a "spiritual convergence." A load a jobby if ye ask me. I'd a told em so myself, but one look frae their leader and Markham would hae given them anythin' they asked for. A telepath in their midst, aam sure a it.

[Xiagu]

Dawn-Fang nods. "The ogres where I'm from lived in mountain keeps, but could never have built anything so... orderly."

"All the cultists we've seen were dead. Whatever they were trying to do, I don't think it worked how they hoped."

They spend a moment looking down at the injured man and a thought occurs to them. "Are there any other survivors? I'm a healer."

[miinstrel]

https://preview.ibb.co/j0MXGT/planeswalker_manip.jpg
Darevod (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1593964)
Transmuter, 8th Level

Darevod chimes in, "Magic in the stones... sounds like aether to me. Concentrated along the leylines means more spectacular results. We must be on a nexus or something here. Maybe too much energy? They tried to tap in and it blew away their brains. Serves them right for snatching us up," he says with a huff.

"We found a map that shows different worlds too. Strange, strange, strange to us... but you seem to know. How do you travel between these worlds?"

[Jangoose]

@Dawn-fang: Good. That'd be a blessin'. Ah managed tae escape, but frae whit I saw, their plans were th' darkest kinds. Ifn they met thaer end, the world would be tha better for it, though I'm nawt sure I believe et. Somethin' abit their leader felt different. Th' kind a confidence what defies th' fates. A destiny.

As fur survivors, ah dunnae know. Ah member a light an' a flash a blades when they turned oan us. In mah yoonger days I was a champion oan th' duelin' circuit, but e'en at mah peak I doubt I coods hae escaped unscathed. Thaur waur too many. As it was. Well. Ah suspect they woods hae come after me if they expected me tae survive mah wounds.

@Darevod: True 'nuff, 'cept th' nearest leylines lie several miles tae th' north. Whatever th' bastards waur up tae it pulls from beyond these lands.

Some texts tell ay mages who could travel tae other worlds. Planeswalkers they call em. Th' theory goes that th' walls atween worlds ar less like walls an' more an infinite void. Cold. an' Hungry'. An' only these magi - these Planeswalkers - could survive crossin' th' blind eternities unscathed. If ye lot ar frae worlds beyond then ye must count yourselves among them, whether ye know it yet or nae.