View Full Version : [IC] Reincarnated in Another World
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-01, 06:41 PM
As the sun streaks slowly across the steel-grey sky, a young woman wearing dusty rags walks along the edges of a small stone room guttering the torches ensconced on the walls. Suddenly, with a flash of blue light, a ritual circle appears around the room's central column as if drawn in midair, and starts spinning and whirring with a frightful hum. The girl jumps in surprise and runs out of the room, slamming the oaken door behind her just before the stone column collapses in on itself with a resounding crash. The room is filled with dust and with a faintly glowing mist, which quickly clears to reveal six figures standing where before there were none...
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/86/7d/cd/867dcd0f11a2bb5d3d34fc662f3525ad.jpg
Rokku
2018-11-01, 07:12 PM
A petite brunette in a cheerleader uniform gasps and starts coughing roughly, her panicked gaze darting about the room.
"I'm... what are... who... I'm not... dead?"
ylvathrall
2018-11-01, 07:20 PM
A pale young woman in a black hoodie is standing in the dust. She involuntarily takes a deep breath in, and begins coughing on the dust in the air. She manages to look around the room, seeing the other people gathered around. Memories begin to return as she stands there: the crash, the ambulance, the EMTs desperately trying to save her and failing. That last part sticks out in her mind. She can distinctly recall one of the EMTs saying something like "We're losing her," right before the blackness descended.
"Hell has a charming waiting room, it appears," she says between coughs. Her hands instinctively pat herself down, feeling for the injuries that ended her life and finding nothing. There's no pain, no sign at all of the damage that had been done.
"...What?"
This word was spoken by the group's tallest member. Jennifer Wainwright's bespectacled eyes blinked rapidly. One moment, she'd been shelving some books in the library; And the next, she was here. Her brain took a few seconds to process these changes. Once that was done, it presented Jennifer with a concrete plan of action:
"AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH! W-Who are you?! Where am I?!"
Jennifer scrambled frantically away from the crowd of strangers. Her waist-length brown hair whipped itself into disarray. She only stopped back-peddling when said back was literally to the wall.
"GAAaAAAaaaGGH!" The raw scream of pain splinters the room as a tan-skinned young man wearing a many-pocketed overcoat over blue jeans and a dark t-shirt, all of it sopping wet and faintly burned at the edges, snaps his eyes open and doubles over in a hunched stance. A few seconds pass, then he blinks and straightens, confusion written across his boyish face. "Oh, hey, I'm not dead," He comments mildly, checking himself over for injuries and finding none. He sloughs off the drenched overcoat and lets it slump to the floor in a tangled heap, taking stock of the room around him.
"Kinda medieval-y. If this is heaven, isn't the afterlife supposed to be all bubbles and clouds and golden horns? That's what Mom always said, anyway." Facial features now taking on a mildly amused smirk, he skirts the room slowly, tracing the walls and trying to get a sense of the place while the other people compose themselves.
Evan opens his eyes which had been wrenched tightly closed, awaiting the moment of impact. The silence of the room was deafening, his ears still ringing from the screams of terror and the blaring horns of traffic just moments earlier. He lets his held breath go, then touches his chest and looks around.
There's him, clad in his cheap, fraying suit and tie, and a collection of younger-looking men and women, all in various states of bewilderment. Guess that wasn't the end after all, he thinks to himself, as his eyes wander from figure to figure. He reaches a hand out to touch the dissipating mist hovering around the group, grasping at it and coming away with an empty fist. A commotion to his right brings him back to earth - a rather tall woman wearing glasses has backed away from the rest of the group and started screaming.
Evan waves his hands in front of him wildly, ineptly trying to calm her. "Woah, woah! Calm down! We're all freaking out here, but let's not lose our heads!" He takes a step or two towards her, slowly.
Evan's words helped Jessica regain some composure. As he pointed out, everyone else was just as confused as her. They didn't seem to have any hostile intent. Her panicked breathing gradually slowed. She still regarded the approaching man with some trepidation; But she was at least able to exchange words with him.
"S-Sorry. I'm not good with strangers, even at the best times. And these most certainly aren't the best times."
Her voice had a strong English accent.
Rokku
2018-11-01, 10:57 PM
The cheerleader catches her breath and starts taking in her surroundings and the people in them. Stone... torches....
"Are we in some kinda dungeon? Wait," she turns to the pale girl, "Hell? No way, I'm a good person."
ylvathrall
2018-11-01, 11:07 PM
Amber snorts. "If I'm in heaven someone's made a terrible mistake. So I take it you all died too. It doesn't seem particularly hellish, though...I wonder if all those religions were just wildly off target?"
"Heaven, hell... who knows..." Evan's voice trails off, and he shrugs. Then, he reaches up and accidentally touches the straps of the backpack slung over his shoulders. A look of surprise crosses his face and he stoops over to drop the pack onto the ground in front of him. A staff clatters on the stone floor, rolling free from the strap that held it in place alongside the pack. "Wait. I didn't have this before," he says, grabbing the staff and placing it next to him, then opening the pack to examine the contents within. He produces a strange, inscrutable device of some kind, with blades and corkscrews and pins, almost like a swiss-army knife, but impossibly complicated and dense. Next, he pulls out a leather-bound grimoire, emblazoned with arcane symbols on the cover. Evan opens the book and the words on the page glow with a faint blue light, reflecting across his face.
"What... is this place?"
His hands return to the pack once more, and he blinks in surprise. "Uh, everyone?" he asks, unrolling a sheet of paper and holding it up for the others to see. Written in bold letters across the top of the page are the words "Evan Pryce, Human Magus".
"Died?! I didn't die! I was working peacefully in a library before this!"
Until a heavy encyclopaedia had crushed her skull. Since Jessica's death was unseen and instantaneous, she didn't remember it. Fortunately, Evan once again defused her rising panic. Jessica belatedly realised that, like him, she also had a new backpack. A gift from whatever psycho had kidnapped her? After slipping it from her shoulders, she opened the flap. Only two items were inside.
"Mine just has some kind of cloak; And a...character sheet?"
She likewise turned the paper outwards: 'Jessica Wainwright, Human Incanter'.
Rokku
2018-11-02, 12:04 AM
The cheerleader pauses and pats her shoulders, realizing that she has a backpack too. Pulling it off she opens it and pulling out the contents. First, a small wooden shield. Then, a finely crafted blade. Next, a pair of translucent cloth sleeves. Finally, a sheet like the others.
"Becky Blake, Human Swashbuckler," she says aloud.
"Swashbuckler? So I'm supposed to be like, the Dread Pirate Roberts?"
ylvathrall
2018-11-02, 01:43 AM
Amber shrugs out of her backpack and opens it. In the main pocket, she finds a convoluted mass of metal that closely resembles the one the man in the suit has. She sets it aside and grabs a pair of translucent sleeves, these ones resembling those the cheerleader has pulled out of her pack. Then she pulls out a heap of worn leather that she shakes out into something resembling garments, though the leather is heavy enough that it's hard not to think of it as armor. Finally, tucked into a side pocket, she finds her own sheet of paper.
"Spiritualist," she says, not bothering to read her name. It's printed across the top large enough for the others to read anyway: Amber Vilkas. "What's that even supposed to mean? And then there's "Phantom Blade" in parentheses. Am I supposed to have, like, a ghost knife or something?"
Even as she says the words, she feels a sense of presence not quite like anything she can remember feeling before. It's almost like there's something else in her mind with her, a mental voice that isn't quite the same as her own voice. She can't make out what it says, but as she focuses the feeling of presence grows stronger. She reaches for it, trying to understand it, and then jumps as she feels a cold weight in her empty hand. She looks down and sees a massive black knife in her hand. The blade is cold and heavy, and looks like no metal she can remember seeing.
That's it. I've completely lost it, she thinks. Out loud, though, she just says, "Well I guess that answers that."
Jessica watched the others examine their own sheets. The other backpack contents varied from person to person. These sheets were the only item common to everyone. The librarian glanced back down at the paper in her hand. Its layout was very familiar to her. As an introverted bookworm, she had plenty of experience with RPGs.
"These look just like tabletop character sheets. Is this some kind of forced LARP? Are we expected to play the roles assigned to us?"
This line of speculation lasted about ten seconds. Then it was shattered, along with several laws of physics. Before Jessica's widening eyes, a knife coalesced from nothing. This was no conjurer's sleight of hand. It just appeared in Amber's hand.
"How did you do that?!"
Evan also gasps in surprise when Amber summons her jet-black knife out of nothingness. His look of shock quickly morphs into excitement and he scrambles to read his own sheet. His eyes dart back and forth as he takes in each entry on the paper. “Destructive Blast. Spellstrike. Binding Stave...” he reads quietly. “Verbal, Somatic, and Prepared Casting...”
Grabbing the grimoire, he flips it open to the first page. There’s an exquisite illustration of an intricate ice crystal at the center of the page. Somehow, Evan can read the unfamilliar runes in the book, though he never rembers studying the language. “Pruinae exitium, crepitus!” He speaks the incantation from the page, the syllables rolling easily off his tongue, as if this was the thousandth time he’d done so, and the letters in the book glow blue once more. Then, he traces a short pattern in the air with his finger, following the diagram from his spellbook.
Nothing happens.
“Wasn’t that supposed to work?” Evan’s face twists into a look of confusion and frustration.
"Erm, no. It's not supposed to work. Magic isn't real."
The disappointment in Jennifer's voice gave away her true feelings. Much as she might deny it, she'd been thinking the same thing as Evan: What if the knife really had appeared by magic? Such a dream was hard to resist. But of course, it really was just a dream. Jennifer ruefully reread her own character sheet. The tantalising item was nothing more than paper and ink...
...wasn't it? Each new line made Jennifer less certain. The words seemed somehow nostalgic. She felt as if she'd written them herself. Her eyes reached the end of the sheet. They lingered on the very last word: Warp. Those four letters meant something. They were like a reminder of something she already knew. Instructions, maybe? Yes, that's it. Instructions on how to...move...in a certain way. Jennifer looked towards the room's opposite corner. She remembered now. You just focus on where you want to be; Then you...move.
Anyone who blinked at the wrong moment would miss what happened next. Jennifer instantaneously went from one side of the room to the other.
"Gah! T-That...That just happened, right? Please tell me that that just happened!"
Rokku
2018-11-02, 02:51 PM
Becky watched in shock as magic happened all around her, then looked down at her own sheet again. Acrobatics, Dance, Athletics, Fencing...
"Okay, y'all got magic and I get a sword? I mean it's a nice sword but... the eff?"
ylvathrall
2018-11-02, 03:32 PM
"I don't know," Amber says, her tone almost as surprised as that of Jennifer. "It just...happened. I don't understand...." She trails off, rotating her hand to look at the knife from different angles. Hesitantly, she sets the character sheet down and tests the sharpness of the blade with her thumb. She blinks when her hand comes away bleeding after hardly touching the blade at all.
"No knife is that sharp," she says, in the tone of someone who knows what she's talking about. "Not even scalpels are that sharp." She looks up just in time to see Jennifer instantly move across the room. "I don't understand," she repeats. "This can't really be happening." Except it appears that it is, and she shakes her head even as she says that. Maybe this was all a dream she was having while she was in a near-death coma or something, but either way, from her perspective it was real.
Hesitantly, she sets the knife down and begins repacking the bag. She doesn't know what most of it is supposed to do, but there's no sense leaving it out. She might need to leave in a hurry, and she might need whatever the contents of the bag are supposed to be if she does.
Frustrated that his efforts to invoke his magic have yet to bear fruit, Evan also begins packing up his bag. When he touches his staff, the metal filigree that covers the surface lights up and the staff emits a soft glow. The air around the staff chills and snowflakes appear around the young salaryman while a quiet hum reverberates from the implement in his hand. Then, the spell completes, the staff charging with icy arcane energy. A lance of cold forms around the staff and propels itself, shooting into the air with startling speed. Evan drops the staff in surprise as the ice lance shatters against the nearby wall.
“Oh. I guess that’s how it works...” he states, flatly. His eyebrows are raised so high, they practically disappear under his bangs.
He looks around, making sure no one was injured by the sudden blast of magical energy. “S-Sorry about that. Still getting the hang of everything. Y’all ok?”
Rokku
2018-11-02, 04:53 PM
Tentatively, Becky picks up the sword. No, the rapier. Espada ropero, famously popularized during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe -- why does she know all that?
She stands, holds the rapier at arm's length, and almost instinctively launches into a flurry of jabs, thrusts, and sweeping slices, her footwork flawless as she dances across the room letting the blade lead.
When she stops, she looks down at the finely crafted blade, brown eyes glistening with potential.
"I've never touched a sword in my life. Why do I know this one like an old friend?"
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-02, 07:25 PM
As the party converses among themselves, a faint muttering can be heard from behind the solid oak door that serves as the only entrance to the room. The sound of a door creaking open on seldom-used hinges cuts through the air (even though, by all appearances, the door has not actually opened).
After a brief moment, a cloud of luminescent gas appears out of thin air and coalesces into a ball hovering at eye level about a yard in front of the door. It starts to pulsate, growing dimmer and brighter in time with sounds it begins to emit - first the sound of a throat clearing, then a few halting sentences in a young man's voice, and finally a short burst of clicks and chatters that do not sound like anything a human would use to communicate.
"Salut! Comment vous allez vousse? Je suisse un sorcière du royaume dormirons. սկսում են դիմելով մեջ?"
Imagining the door to look something like this (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dc/a0/82/dca08259aa2f0250ecb4b338d49301e5.jpg) - not too shabby, they did use iron for it, but no overt decorations or insignia.https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/3c/9c/8f3c9ce333307faf23aba5ffb1268d18.jpgThe muttering in the beginning was "They don't pay me enough for this garbage" in a vaguely Canadian accent.
Magic! Real, actual magic! Jennifer had been given the power to reshape reality! This was amawhatwasthat?! Jennifer scampered as far from the creeping hinges as possible. So much for feeling empowered. She watched warily as a new magical display began. This one at least was less surprising. Now that she'd accepted the truth, it was easier to deal with. A mysterious voice spoke in several foreign languages. But before that, there were a few words that Jennifer recognised.
"Wait wait. Go back to the first language you used! Was that...a Canadian accent?"
Rokku
2018-11-02, 08:30 PM
"Magician of the what? Uh... parlez-vous anglais?"
"What the what now?" Jamie comments in a mildly amused tone, regarding the ball of light with a mix of confusion and interest. He's more interested in the backpack that appeared in his back, particularly the crossbow and the... the character sheet, apparently? He hadn't seen one of those since his high school years at the nerd table. Can I do magic now? Pointing one hand at the intricate blue cube he'd pulled out of the backpack, he smiles pleasantly as the cube starts to gently levitate into the air at a leisurely pace. With a thought, the magic cuts out and the cube falls back into his outstretched palm. He stands back up, trying to pay more attention to the gas-person despite his eminent excitement about other things.
Evan's face twists into a quizzical look when the gaseous presence first enters the room. Unable to understand either language that the strange ball uses, he inches his way closer, his confusion still written plain across his face. He stays quiet, content to let the others handle the questions. Seems like Becky's got some grasp of ... French, was that? Maybe, he thinks to himself, waiting to see how things play out.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-05, 11:37 AM
"Euh, comment? Cana... canadien? Anglais?" The ball of gas grows dim as the voice stammers and trails off, even falling a bit toward the ground. In the silence that follows, the sound of footsteps can be heard echoing from the hallway behind the door. After a few moments, the sphere whirls up to its original height and begins to pulse and speak again.
"My native tongue is the West Kingdoms dialect of Common, which I am currently speaking. You also seem to speak it, which might be a problem for me. Gaspard will want to treat you as spies... How did you get here? Are England and Canada kingdoms on Terra? The translation magic is still quite poor at giving context."
The mysterious voice become more mundane by the moment. Its nervous tone really clashed with the arcane orb that broadcast it. Whoever paced behind that door was no legendary sage. They were just some random twit. Jennifer took comfort in that. The knowledge allowed her to better focus on the voice's words. Good thing, too: Because those words were really confusing.
West Kingdoms? Terra? Translation magic? A terrifying, exciting hypothesis formed in Jennifer's mind. Perhaps she'd travelled farther than she'd ever thought possible.
"Um, yes, England is a 'kingdom'. It's my home. Haven't you heard of it? I know we're not exactly a global empire any more; But I'd have expected you to at least recognise the name.
As for how we got here, I have no idea. We all just appeared in this room."
Rokku
2018-11-05, 02:11 PM
"Common? We're speaking English. And I don't know about everyone else, but I got run over by some drunk ******* in a Miata and woke up here."
"What Becky and Jessica said. We died... over there. We're alive over here. None of us know how we arrived - wait, does that mean that you didn't bring us here on purpose?" Evan's face grows more quizzical by the second. He questions the motives of this strange, glowing sphere, but wants to interrogate it further. After all, he could just as well be dead and buried, might as well take advantage of this second lease on life.
"Common? That's, like, the regular language everyone speaks in speculative fiction settings, right? Like Middletongue or Galactic Standard or whatever?" Jamie asks from the other side of the room as he puts his backpack on. Then as the others chime in, he starts to look down at himself- at the charred edges of his clothing. "But I didn't... wait. Maybe I did die. But then, that doesn't make any sense. How did we end up here?" His thoughts flash back to the manga novels on the bookshelves of his apartment, and his forehead furrows into a thoughtful look.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-06, 01:47 PM
"Speculative fiction..." The voice behind the orb lets out a pained groan before speaking its next words. "You really are Braves. We should be speaking face-to-face in that case; just give me a moment to come in."
A flash of light fills the room; when it passes, the glowing sphere is gone and the door is opened outward into the hallway. A gangly young man with pale skin and untamed hair enters the room, quickly crossing himself as he passes over the threshold. He wears a knee-length purple cloak with silver trim that whips around as he turns to survey the room, his eyes lingering briefly on Evan's staff and a little more than briefly on Becky's sword. Anyone who meets those eyes sees that they're glassy and drooping, as if he's not entirely mentally present, but nevertheless the man begins to introduce himself.
"I am Adjutator Travenchet, serving in the court of the Ormiron Kingdom. Since you also seem to be common-born, I suppose you can call me Travis if that's easier for you. And I must unfortunately confess that I've never heard of England before. The previous Brave, for all his talents, was an uneducated man and moreover rarely spoke of his home. Our texts from that time mention names like Bourgogne, France, Lombardy, Rome, and the Souabe, but we really know very little about the geography of Terra. In particular, I have no idea as to how Common - which you have correctly surmised to be a deliberately designed trade language - would have spread there.
As for the summoning..." Travenchet raises a hand to the back of his neck, kneading it and ruffling his hair a bit before slowly choosing his next words. "We used a... novel... ritual technique, which led to your appearance being both spatially and temporally displaced. To wit: we knew that you would arrive but not when or how. Or 'how many', for that matter, not that I'm complaining. We'll have to lodge you in the detached guesthouse.
And speaking of which, we really should get going to your lodgings before the castle guard shows up to have words with you ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵗᵉᵃˡ ᵐʸ ᵗʰᵘⁿᵈᵉʳ ᵃᵍᵃᶦⁿ..…" He casts his eyes down to a corner of the room while muttering something before turning his head up to make eye contact and gesture toward the door.
Perception DC 10 to hear that last muttering, though IIRC you can all take 10 and make that so it's a moot point. Text is "and steal my thunder again".
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/06/df/c7/06dfc76f30fb17ad1e652d1379e42f92.jpg
The voice's owner turned out look even less impressive than Jessica had imagined. Seeing him evoked a pang of sympathy. She too knew the pain of being an awkward, gangly dork. Hopefully the group's arrival wouldn't cause him too much trouble.
Travis proved commendably eager to answer the group's questions. His speech was peppered with unfamiliar words: Or at least, they should have been unfamiliar. Somehow, Jessica understood them. It was just like with the teleportation spell. Her brain contained memories of things she'd never learnt. Thanks to that, she avoided bombarding Travis with extra questions. The word 'Brave' told her exactly why she was here.
"So it's true. We really are in another world; As heroes; With magic powers."
Jessica's nervous expression gradually lightened. Her mouth split into a goofy, jubilant grin. She felt as if she'd just won the grand jackpot.
"Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Travis, I'm so very pleased to meet you. By all means, lead the way."
ylvathrall
2018-11-06, 03:29 PM
Amber listens along to what the strange man is saying, though much of it doesn't really make sense to her. She can process the instruction, though, and finds herself wondering what she's supposed to do with the knife. It didn't come with a sheath, and walking through this place with a drawn weapon is not exactly the best way she can think of to make friends. It came out of nowhere; can she make it...go back?
She focuses on the blade, trying to remember what it felt like when it appeared. It was something like having another person in her head.... She concentrates, focusing on this feeling of presence that she can't even put into words, until suddenly the knife vanishes. A sheen of black rolls across her eyes and is gone as the weapon disappears. She grins, happy to have gotten something right at least. At much the same time, though, she hears a voice in her head, like a thought but it isn't her thinking it and it isn't in her voice. Hello it says. It's nice to meet you.
If she was holding something, she would have dropped it. As it is, it feels like she's been exposed to so many shocks in the past few minutes that she's almost numb. Hello. Who are you? she thinks back at it.
I'm your best friend, it replies. She realizes, like something she's always known even though it hadn't occurred to her until that moment, that the voice belongs to the knife, and she wants to giggle hysterically. Best friends with an inanimate object. It's like her old stuffed animal, except it's a magic knife and nothing will ever be the same again. As she finishes packing the bag and slings it across her shoulders, she glances at the character sheet and sees that the name is even written in, the same as her stuffed animal: Nibbles.
"Hello, Travis," she says out loud. "Lead the way, by all means."
Adjutator, Terra, Braves... Why is everything in this world so strange? Evan thinks to himself while he finishes securing his pack. His few belongings are returned to their place within the leather backpack, and the staff is strapped back into position to the side. The magus sighs as he runs a finger over the exquisite stitching on the seams of the pack. He's half-listening to Travis' explanation, and just vaguely nods when Jessica and Amber mention following their new guide. "Yup. Ready," he responds once his gear is in order, clearly lost in thought. Then, he stops, scratches his chin, and asks, "Actually, wait. Why did you summon us? What purpose do the 'Braves' serve here?"
Rokku
2018-11-06, 04:42 PM
"So you threw a hail mary to the universe and got us. And now we're some kinda superheroes. Superheroes with, Becky checks her sheet, "things like 'Sleeves of Many Garments'. Okay..."
She slips the sleeves on and waits while nothing happens.
"Oh c'mon I can't superhero in my cheer uniform all the time, I could at least use --" And suddenly she's in a hoodie and yoga pants.
"...huh. Okay then. Lead on, Travis."
The storm, the lightning bolt, it was real, it happened. Jamie's dark eyes go wide at the realization. He didn't know what any of those words meant that the aristocratic guy had name-dropped, like the British girl seemed to. But he'd read this genre front to back- he could speculate. Average Joe gets dropped into an alternate world and suddenly becomes the savior of mankind is one of the oldest tropes in the book, come on. Except this time it was real, it was happening to him, and he had magic powers! Just wait until- wait until- his thought stalled. He was about to say "Until my parents hear about this," but then he realized something important. He wasn't on Earth (or Terra, whatever) anymore. None of them were.
"Sir Travis," He asks, voice faintly tinged with anxiety, "We all died in the old world, right, and this ritual you mentioned pulled us through to here? Does that mean we can't go back?"
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-07, 08:58 PM
"Died? The previous Braves have all been transported here bodily. My best guess is that you were miraculously saved by the grace of Our Lord." Travis takes a moment to answer a lingering question, tilting his head quizzically, before leading the group out into the hallway. He keeps speaking as you move, stopping only to beckon you around corners or down stairwells. "Do pardon the bare walls - the servant corridors are more direct - you'll see enough splendor to nauseate you come tomorrow.
As for going back... people have conducted unsummoning rituals, certainly, but there's no way to check their success and that's all lost to history in any case. It's been centuries since the last Brave summoning - which is most of the reason you're here." Travis stops after that last sentence, standing in front of wooden double doors and taking a quick glance from side-to-side to check who might be listening in from the halls. Shaking his head in dissatisfaction, he pushes through the doors to reveal a neatly trimmed courtyard wrapped in the amber hues of dusk. A cobbled path leads from the doors all the way to a two-story cottage that's nearly flush against the outer walls of the castle. After walking some distance down the path away from the main castle, Travis continues his thought.
"His Majesty will want to give a more grandiose introduction to you, but I'm sure you'll figure out eventually that we summoned you mostly because we could. Traditionally, a Brave is summoned to assume the role of capital-haich Hero, but the practice ended after the followers of Roland went rogue and summoned Demon Lord Pestilence in 847. There was never a formal ban, though, and for the first time in ages the Inquisition isn't actively hostile to the idea... that's where you came in. As long as you flourish and succeed in this world, King Rudolf's prestige will grow with yours. Think of it as a very expensive alternative to hosting feasts.
On that note, if there are any mundane items we can provide for you immediately, do tell us. Most of the castle servants are literate and should be able to manage if you give them a list of requests."
ylvathrall
2018-11-07, 10:04 PM
Amber listens quietly as Travis explains what's happening, her mind still whirling. None of this makes any sense, but she has to roll with it. After all, whatever it is, this is the world she lives in now. "Beats dying," she says as he explains what her new role is. He mentions mundane items and she begins thinking about things she could use, only to be interrupted by another thought that isn't her own. This one says, A sharpening stone wouldn't go amiss.
Do you really need one? she thinks back, feeling very silly. You're already sharper than any knife I've ever seen.
Thank you, the knife replies, the thought carrying definite notes of satisfaction. And no, but it feels nice.
Amber blinks, then shrugs. If the blade says it wants to be sharpened, then she can't really argue. She mentally adds "tools for taking care of knives" to the list, along with "a journal" and "a map."
Rokku
2018-11-08, 12:13 AM
"So..." says Becky, "we're a publicity stunt? That's not awesome."
"For the record, I didn't die. So that theory has some holes in it."
Jessica wasn't particularly bothered by being stuck here. She'd always dreamed of escaping the world. Why would she ever want to go back? Granted, it'd be nice get a message to her parents; To let them know that their daughter was safe. But that could wait. Right now, she wanted to revel in the experience.
From the sounds of it, there'd be plenty of time to spare. The group hadn't been summoned to handle anything in particular. They were just on a general 'do good' mandate. That worked fine for Jessica. She wasn't very good under pressure.
"Becky, we're in no condition to handle a crisis yet. There's so much to learn first. We need to practice and understand our...magic..."
The goofy grin returned in full force. Suddenly, Jessica teleported ahead of Travis; Then off to the side; Then back with with the group again. This sphere alone was wondrous. And it was one among many. She gestured to the character sheet that was still in her hand.
"That power is just one line on this paper! We've barely scratched the surface of what we've been given! Let's take some time to discover what we've become."
Rokku
2018-11-08, 04:55 PM
"Well sure you're excited, you can teleport. Half of what's written down here I could do already. I mean Acrobatics, Dance, Charisma... that's cheerleading in a nutshell. But mostly I'm just not thrilled with being drafted into some king's PR move. And I mean, a king? It's 2018!"
"Kings are ridiculous? Tell that to the King of Saudi Arabia. Plenty of countries in our world still have royalty; Including my own."
Rokku
2018-11-08, 05:12 PM
"I mean, Saudi Arabia's pretty well known for being a lousy place. And sure, England has royalty too but they're just for show."
"The point is, not everyone thinks the same way. This is a new world. Maybe here, monarchs really are divinely inspired. Maybe they rule with fairness and wisdom!"
Jessica had a soft spot for royalty. They featured prominently in a lot of the fantasy literature she read. She'd often pictured herself as a graceful, charismatic princess. Ironically, Becky was far better suited to that role. She had grace and charisma in spades. Just as she envied Jessica's magic, so too did Jessica envy her. That was human nature. The grass is always greener on the other side.
"Let's just hope that divine inspiration tells them to give us Braves a wide berth. It doesn't matter to me who we serve as long as we've got our own autonomy. I've been shackled by bureaucracy for most of my life, in corporate servitude. As long as we are free to do 'capital-haich Hero' work as we see fit, I can accept that arrangement," the magus says, making air-quotes and chuckling a little. "Like Jessica, I'm excited to learn more about what I can do with my newfound magic. I want to see more of this place, to learn, explore, and thrive. I never got the chance to do that with my "other" life." Evan smiles warmly while he follows behind the group, footfalls light on the cobblestone path, taking in the sights and sound of the castle grounds around them. He breathes in deep, filling his lungs with the fresh evening air. The scent of leaves and grass and hay and - is that a hint of bonfire smoke? - makes him smile, bringing back memories of his grandfather's farm where he spent many a summer as a child.
I could get used to this, I think.
This place is a welcome change from the bustling cacophony and urban grime of New York City. The cottage before them is quaint and welcoming, and as the sun slips below the horizon, Evan realizes that he's quite tired. "It's been a long day, though. Probably best to get some sleep, and save all that learning for tomorrow."
He turns and bows his head slightly toward their guide. "Travis, thank you for the help. If it isn't much trouble, I'd like some robes - silk, I think, would befit my new role as 'Magus', though cotton or linen would suffice, I suppose... Blue, if you've got 'em in that color, maybe with gold trim?" Part of him feels guilty asking for so much, but if this kingdom is as wealthy as Travis makes it out to be, Evan figures he'll take advantage as much as he can. No reason to spurn comfort when it's offered, after all.
"And I could use a journal, writing implements, and some kind of grooming kit - a razor at the very least, but scissors, soap, and a brush would all be appreciated." The magus lifts a hand up to feel the growing stubble on his unshaven face. He'd been sloppy and rushed that fateful morning, like every other morning since he'd fallen into a rut with his day-to-day, unfulfilling, mundane life in the "real world." "I'd like to look my best before we meet with His Majesty tomorrow."
His Majesty. Feels weird to say. Hopefully he's got a light touch - it would be a travesty to escape a micromanaging boss just to land under a micromanaging King, Evan muses to himself, a half-smile crossing his face for a moment.
"I..." Jamie's lips press into a thin line at the idea, his voice cutting off abruptly as the group continues their discussion about the kingdom. Something had gone wrong at his moment of death- the heroes, the Braves, they weren't supposed to be dead when they got pulled through. But this group, him included, was? And there was a way of going back? He had to hold onto that, he had to. But there was almost too much information fighting for space in his brain already. Magic, a kingdom, an Inquisition, people in a medieval fantasy realm that spoke French and German... was he missing anything? Probably. Wait, they were talking about asking for stuff for adventuring.
"I could use some robes as well, some kind of replacement for this, " He agrees, gesturing down to his ragged and still-damp ensemble. Something in the back of his head told him the damage wasn't permanent, but the opportunity to dress up like a wizard was too good to pass up. "And... my backpack came with a crossbow inside? Some ammunition for that would be helpful, I guess." He only had the slightest fathom of what it felt like to wield and shoot any kind of ranged weapon, let alone some kind of retro-medieval contraption like the thing pressing against his back, but it payed to be prepared.
The talk of new clothes presented Jessica with a dilemma.
"I do like the idea of dressing in local garb: Like a robe and pointy hat with stars on them; Or maybe an elegant noble dress. On the other hand, maybe I'm already wearing the most appropriate outfit."
She glanced down at her plain blouse and ankle-length skirt. By Earth standards, they were thoroughly unremarkable. The same went for Becky's hoodie and yoga pants. But what about the standards of this place? Jessica was willing to bet that hoodies were a rare sight around here.
"We're supposed to be mysterious visitors from another world, right? In which case, should we even be trying to blend in? The King might prefer our strange, foreign fashions."
Evan looks down at his dingy ensemble for a moment, then he looks up and holds his hands out to Jessica with a pleading look in his eyes. “But, these clothes just remind me of home. Here, we’re free!”
He picks at the fraying edges of his suit, pulling away a strand of old, faded thread between his fingers. “I don’t want to look down and think about my old life. That’s done, dead and gone, a bad memory,” he says, with a dejected sigh. He drops the thread from his grasp and it’s whisked away by the wind, floating up above the courtyard walls and out of sight.
Evan's downcast expression provoked a surge of guilt. Jessica had accidentally touched a nerve. Her magic-induced enthusiasm rapidly receded. She went back to being the nervous, diffident woman who'd first greeted the group.
"S-Sorry, Evan. I didn't consider the bad memories that ordinary clothes might conjure. Maybe because...well...my clothes are practically a costume. I'm a librarian; But barely any librarians actually dress like this. See these spectacles? They've got ordinary glass frames! I can see just as well without them. It's all just for show. Even back in our world, I was already wearing fantasy outfits.
So please, wear whatever feels best to you. I never meant to imply otherwise."
Seeing her mood darken, Evan gives Jessica a playful nudge. “I didn’t mean to sour the mood like that. Don’t worry, you didn’t offend me or anything. I’ll stop being so negative. Watch this,” he says, flourishing his staff with a twirl. Then he traces a circle overhead and whispers “Nix,” and a light flurry of snowflakes appear, drifting softly down onto the group’s heads.
I’m assuming this kind of effect is within the bounds of what can be accomplished with Prestidigitation...
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-12, 04:35 AM
A group of three elves (or half-elves? hard to make out more than the ears at this distance) does laps around the castle courtyard on horseback, the clattering of hooves growing louder and then faint again as they pass closer to the party and then onward. As the group jabbers amongst themselves, Travis turns his head to the side and places two fingers over his ear while whispering. "Yes? Yes, the guest house. Of course. Right. Please don't. Right, then. See you."
"I'm sorry for misspeaking - when I said 'tell us', I meant the servants. I have no idea where to find the extra shaving soap and whatnot. I can tell the tailor that she's needed and relay your preferences, at least. As for uniforms, wear whatever you please; the king will discuss image and branding after you've settled into your own rhythm here and after we've verified that you're... reliable..." He trails off again as you reach the building, brow furrowed in tension, before clearing his throat and pushing the front door open.
The faint smell of apples and old parchment wafts out from the doorway, which opens onto a warm, woody room illuminated by glowing crystals ensconced in glass. A pair of papercraft handiworks spins slowly in the air, hanging on strings from the ceiling. The foyer's walls seem lined mostly with bookshelves, though in the center of the room there's a low sitting table perched atop a carpet, covered haphazardly with mugs.
A bright, clear voice sounds out from inside the room as a young girl wearing a maid outfit comes bounding to the door. "Sella! You're back! Did they have any of the blueb - my lord Travenchet." Her face freezes in a grimace while she leans into a reflexive curtsy. Travis, for his part, answers with a dismissive wave before turning to leave the cottage. "As you can see, this is Amelie, one of the attendants for this building. I've been called back to the castle, so I'm afraid you'll be in her care for now."
https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/46030519_753790898288710_2852242314749804544_n.png ?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent.fbed1-2.fna&oh=4603f95a1fc307834c685328b6300a5f&oe=5C83BBF4http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vvkappkTzyc/UVj--N_STaI/AAAAAAAABR4/DtDjqu9S3fk/s1600/0000302421.jpg
Jessica flagging spirit received a rapid series of boosts. Magic snow! Elves on horseback! Friendship! Soon, she was revelling in the occasion once again. It was hard to stay gloomy for long around all these wonders.
Travis continued to answer the group's many questions. Eventually, he lead everyone to a charming residence. This would apparently be their new home; At least for now. Jessica nodded approvingly. This place was leagues better than her dingy sixth floor flat. The best, however, was yet to come. Travis was greeted by a girl in the most adorable outfit. A maid! This place had maids! She seemed rather surprised to see everyone. Apparently nobody had told her to expect visitors from another dimension. Jessica did her best to make a good first impression.
"Erm, hello. We're the new group of Braves. My name is Jessica. I'm very pleased to meet you, Amelie."
ylvathrall
2018-11-12, 08:28 PM
The walk over to the guest house is fascinating to Amber. The sight of elves, in particular, does a great deal to drive home the reality of the world she's landed in. As they reach the guest house she nods to the maid, feeling a great deal of sympathy for the poor woman being confronted suddenly with someone who was clearly of higher station than she expected
"We'll try not to make too much work," she says. She looks for somewhere to sit and settles in, dropping her backpack between her feet. She fidgets q little, clearly feeling awkward, and then says, "Does this place have separate rooms for us?"
Rokku
2018-11-12, 09:55 PM
Becky takes everything in. Elves. Glowing crystal stuff. Nice library, at least.
"Cool, nice to meet you Amelie. I'm Becky. Worked here long?"
Evan ceases the snow with a quick gesture when Lord Travenchet opens the cottage door. Like the others, he's pleasantly surprised by the accommodating interior, eyes widening and face cracking into a smile as he moves inside and takes in the surroundings. Following Amber's lead, he drops his pack by the table and takes a seat, snatching one of the mugs and giving the contents a quick sniff. He looks back up at Amelie and gives her a smile and a reassuring nod, offering only his name with a quiet "I'm Evan," while waiting for her to answer the others' questions.
He's got his own queries bubbling in his mind, but the poor girl looks overwhelmed enough with the sudden appearance of their entourage, so he waits patiently for an appropriate time to ask them.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-11-25, 10:38 PM
"H-hello. It's good to meet you," Amelie stammers out while reaching to clear the table of used mugs and retrieve fresh ones from a side table. She slaps her cheeks to collect herself before taking a pitcher in hand and pouring out light, cloudy ale for everyone. (The same kind in the mugs that got cleared away, for Evan and anyone else who noticed; it has an apple-y and slightly smoky scent.) "I started a little more than a year ago, I guess. We live downstairs! Sella and me."
Amelie puffs out her modest chest and beats it twice with a closed fist, beaming as she meets the party's faces. "We keep the rooms in great shape! They're real small, though... did you want to go see them now?" She traces a circle on the rough linen carpet with her shoe as she waits for a response, clearly back at ease with Travenchet gone.
Jessica admired Amelie's enthusiasm. She'd always had trouble investing herself in mundane tasks. Her mind was always voyaging to fantastic lands. She'd probably have been a terrible maid. So it was inspiring to see Amelie take such pride in her work.
"Yes please. A small room would be fine. I'm used to them."
Rokku
2018-11-26, 11:43 AM
"Sounds like dorm life," says Becky, "same old, same old..."
She suddenly frowns.
"Dammit. I was gonna move in with my boyfriend."
ylvathrall
2018-11-29, 07:31 PM
"Yeah, a small room is plenty," Amber says. Really, she'd be satisfied with pretty much any living arrangement that involved her own room. Shared living space was one thing, but it really needed to come with a modicum of privacy for her happiness. She takes one of the mugs that Amelie just filled and sips delicately at it.
Jamie gives a gentle sigh before nodding at the offer to see the rooms. "Cramped living space and sharing a home with six other people? Sounds like I moved back home after all," He jokes. All the while his eyes are roving, taking in the scenery of the house as if to savor it for later. He politely declines the offer of a drink, not really sure what's in those mugs.
Evan agrees with the others. "Yeah, I'd like to see the rooms, maybe set my stuff down, settle in. Are they upstairs?" he asks of their guide, getting up from the table and making his way to the wooden spiral staircase that leads to the second level. He places a hand on the wood and takes one step up the stair, before looking back at the others before he continues.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-10, 04:22 PM
Amelie sips some of the ale herself - a warm, weak brew that tastes strongly of bread - and puts it down as the party responds. The twinkle in her eye dims as Becky frowns, with her smile drooping into a pursed grimace. "Oh. I never really thought about it, but it must be tough coming here to be a Hero. Away from home..." She hangs her head for a moment, looking down at her feet while softly rubbing a brass ring on her left pinky finger.
In the silence, the spiral staircase creaks softly under Evan's footsteps. It leads to a hallway planked over by the same oak and lit by the same glowing white flasks as the first floor. It features three doorways on each side (all open) and ends in a large glass window before which there is a shallow cubby to sit on. "Well, at least you're not alone!" Amelie chirps as she looks up again, having regained her spirit. "Like the tan guy says, there's seven of us just in this house! Once you're packed up we can write a schedule for the prestidigitation stone, get some decorations for the rooms, and really make this place -"
Suddenly, a loud hum, almost like that of an elevator or ventilation fan, resounds through the entire building. The walls and bookshelves are covered in black fog, which quickly coalesces into full-length vertical "mirrors" that reflect your figures indistinctly, as if looking through murky water. Evan (and anyone who closely followed him up the stairs) sees a large, well-built figure covered completely by dark green robes step out of one of the far doorways before pointing a gloved hand at him and beginning to speak.
"So our heroes have finally arrived. Without their escort, no less." The voice is difficult to place but sounds somewhat like a husky woman's voice; it echoes from the walls rather than coming from a single source. "It felt like I was waiting weeks for you to come to me. We're all dying to know, after all, what kind of people you are. Whether you bring the spirit of peace to our peaceful lands, or whether you bring something... greater." The hooded figure lowers its arm and pauses, as if waiting for a response.
Your characters' reflections on the walls narrow their eyes and look straight toward you, regardless of what positions you take.
Jennifer noted the ring on Amelie's finger. She heard the regret in Becky's voice. Neither of these things really resonated with her. She'd never experienced that kind of connection with another person. Significant others were for, well, others; Not her. Jennifer chose to see that as an advantage. Her lack of attachment to the old world would finally be useful. She could face the future without hesitation. Brave, steadfast anscarymirrorvoice!
"Whawhowhywhere?!"
There was suddenly a Jennifer-shaped hole in the air. A faint whimper could be heard from behind the room's most concealing piece of furniture.
ylvathrall
2018-12-10, 09:20 PM
Amber nodded along as they went up the stairs. She could see that they had a point, but it was one that was largely lost on her. She'd had no friends, no family worth knowing, certainly no lovers. What was the point in getting upset about being torn from everything she knew and thrust into a strange world when everything she left behind wasn't worth keeping anyway?
And then, suddenly, everything changed. The world around her was filled with black fog and reflections, all of which were staring at her. The robed figure floating towards them was the most frightening thing since she fell into traffic back in her home world. Her fingers spasm shut, clenching around the hilt of Nibbles as she summons it. The action is already almost instinctive, less a thought and more a gut level reaction.
The feel of the weapon in her hand calms her for a moment, and she thinks things through. This figure, whatever it is, is capable of magic far more powerful than what she and the other Braves had. Not only that, but it's capable of penetrating whatever defenses are around this castle, which is presumably well defended.
The conclusion is easy. If this thing wanted them dead they would be dead. Which meant this wasn't an attack, or at least not a normal one. Which only left one real option to do.
Amber steps forward, swallowing hard as the reflections follow her with their empty eyes, and speaks."What do you want from us?" she asks, feeling rather proud at how little her voice shook.
Rokku
2018-12-10, 10:31 PM
Becky looks back at her own reflection and does a little spin. Well, at least she still looks good. She frowns at the voice.
"And who the **** might you be?
Evan stumbles backward at the figure’s sudden appearance, a look of surprise crossing his face as he reaches out for the nearest wall to catch his balance; he quickly realizes that the voice is coming from the very wall he leans against.. “I, uh, I... um,” he stammers, inarticulate in the moment. Luckily, Becky and Amber come to their wits faster, issuing a one-two punch of questions for the intruder. Evan swallows hard, the gulp audible.
Jamie is at the back of the group as everyone ascends up the stairs, and has barely made the landing when the fog and mirrors begin to appear. He barely manages to avoid tumbling backwards down the staircase in surprise, catching himself on the corner of the wall with one hand before his whole body falls backwards. He yelps in a decidedly un-manly fashion despite himself, then catches his reflection glaring at him as he steadies himself. "What is this? And who is our escort supposed to be- Sir Travis?"
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-11, 04:38 PM
Mugs and books clatter to the ground as Amelie backs up into a table and Jennifer dives behind a crate of apples. The party's "reflections" begin to desynchronize from the real figures they depict - Jennifer's most obviously, as it remains standing while casting a smirk toward her hiding place. On the second floor, the figure chuckles to itself - a soft noise which comes from the hallway rather than echoing from the walls as its words do - and pivots its head slightly to follow the motion of Amber's knife. "Entertaining..."
"Call me a concerned member of the public. The royal court tries to coddle you too much - first with the adjutator, but more will follow. They don't understand the Braves' transformative power. Your transformative destiny." The figure steps back toward the window as the mirrored walls ripple again. The party's reflections step out from the walls - four in the hallway, one in the main room - taking on a black coating as they pass through the mirrored surface.
Though their faces are obscured, their character is clear: the mirrored Evan draws his quarterstaff and steps forward in a ramrod-straight stance. Becky's counterpart takes her rapier and turns to face Becky in the flesh, beckoning her over with a tilt of the head as she lightly taps the wall with her sword. The other Jamie unslings a crossbow and braces it against his shoulder almost like a bullpup rifle, while the other Amber stares in apparent confusion at a hand which is conspicuously not holding a knife. Jennifer's reflection, for her part, simply turns to look at Amelie's reflection on the wall which remains a normal, hyperventilating girl with no trace of foul play or strange magic.
"Heroes are not simply summoned; they are born in blood. I aim only to test your mettle, but if it comes to blood..." She leans forward and splays a gloved hand, pointed in Evan's general direction. "At least you seem to have plenty of that to spare. Now ready yourselves."
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/505190823109984282/522226181672534017/lazy_bones.png is the very crude outline of the second floor I'm assuming. Red dots are doors into side rooms. Green squares are where y'all can designate your characters to be standing. This absolutely is not meant to represent that the hallway is 10 feet by 35 feet; it's just an abstract grid.
Also, your characters can be further down the stairwell if you care to place them there; this may place their reflection on floor 1 rather than floor 2 at your discretion.
Rokku
2018-12-12, 04:15 PM
Becky looks directly at the hooded figure and melodramatically rolls her eyes.
"Really? A mysterious figure wants us to fight our evil twins? I thought this was real but now you've got me thinking I'm on a prank show."
Evan scrambles for his pack and releases his quarterstaff from the side holster, wielding the weapon with slightly-shaking, clammy hands. Guess it's time to get serious, he thinks as he furrows his brow and focuses on his shadowy double. His eyes track toward Becky as the duelist scoffs, but Evan can't match her lighthearted skepticism.
"I don't think this is a prank, Becky," he says, quietly.
He turns his staff over in his hands, the whirling wood making a quiet whoosh as he moves into position near the front of the group. In his hands, the staff crackles with blue energy. I can do this.
Evan will take a position at the front of the upstairs group.
For the first time in his life, Evan was on the ball. A practiced familiarity with his magic fills his mind and he suddenly realizes his first move. Under his fingers, the staff emits a cool glow and interlaced, arcane symbols appear surrounding his fist. That same blue energy lances down the iron filigree that encircles the wood.
"Hastem glacies." Ice explodes from the magus' fingertips, crystallizing in a wicked, gleaming point that coats the length of the quarterstaff. Evan now wields this ice lance with deadly accuracy, pointed directly at the doppelganger. With a single swift, confident step forward, Evan thrusts the razor-sharp ice toward his mirrored double's heart. He uses the momentum from his stride to drive the weapon into his foe.
Standard: Cast Frost Destructive Blast as a touch spell, holding the charge.
Move: Move adjacent to Not-Evan.
Free: Deliver the Destructive Blast using Advanced Spellstrike.
Attack: [roll0] (Crit Confirm: [roll1])
Damage: [roll2] Piercing + [roll3] Cold (Crit: [roll4] [x3 Piercing] + [roll5] [x2 Cold])
Added Effect: DC 14 Fortitude Save or Not-Evan is Staggered for one round.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-17, 05:13 PM
Evan's shadowed counterpart reacts to the charging thrust, stepping forward to the side of Evan's weapon arm and pushing aside the staff with its own. Its reaction time was just a touch too slow for that maneuver, however, as the icy point stabs into the duplicate's shoulder and sends it staggering toward the wall. The figure quickly finds its balance again and chokes up on the staff, holding it less like a sword and more like a club, as it turns its faceless black gaze toward the other members of the party...
In light of my circumstances and the exigencies of play-by-post, this encounter and all future encounters will be using block initiative. Please post at your convenience; enemy actions will be adjudicated after all party members have acted.
ylvathrall
2018-12-17, 06:31 PM
Amber stares blankly for a moment before some atavistic instinct deep inside her into motion. Once it does, she darts forward towards the shadow that Evan already wounded. Nibbles was already in hand, and she could feel the blade's thrilled excitement at the prospect of being used. It calls up a matching hunger in her, but it didn't feel like normal anger. It is cold and cruel and beautiful, like a nightshade blossom in a vase, or a sword's point gleaming in the sunlight.
As she focuses on it she feels something flow through her, and shudders at the sensation. The kukri's blade shimmers with cold blue light as she stepped forward, bringing the blade down in a pair of quick strikes.
Okay, I think I'm out of reach while I cast, so no AoOs unless I'm missing something. The attacks will go towards !Evan unless and until he drops, at which point she will shift target to !Becky.
Attack 1: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Chill touch: [roll2] + 1 Strength, DC 14 Fortitude to negate Strength damage; OR undead WIll or be panicked.
Attack 2: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]
If the first attack missed but this one hits, the chill touch applies here instead - it specifies once per round, so it can't be both of them applying the spell.
Jennifer struggled to breathe. Too soon! It was way too soon for a boss fight! She needed time to train and adjust. Unfortunately, the newcomer seemed to prefer the 'sink or swim' training method. Jennifer's eyes met those of her reflection. This thing clearly wasn't Jennifer. Its sadistic smirk belonged to someone else. Jennifer wanted to scurry away from that smirk. She wanted to flee and hide. Perhaps she would have done exactly that: If the reflection hadn't turned to look at Amelie.
Amelie mirrored Jennifer better than the latter's actual reflection. She was terrified and hyperventilating. She clearly felt just as helpless as the librarian. Except that Amelie actually was helpless. She was just an ordinary maid, with no combat abilities. She was no match for a Brave. Scared as Jennifer felt, she had genuine power. So when the reflection shifted its gaze, Jennifer knew what she had to do.
"Don't touch her!"
Space-time ruptured. Instead of teleporting herself, Jennifer teleported her attack. A blast of concussive force erupted from behind the reflection.
Move: Gather Power
Standard: Destructive Blast with Energy Rift on the reflection.
Damage {DC 16 Reflex for half}: [roll0]
"Crap! Crap!" Jamie gulps, eyes wide as the reflections materialize and the second floor immediately devolves into violent pandemonium. He watches with a sense of mounting panic as weapons flashed and magic burst into being. Too much all at once, he couldn't think, couldn't move... Breaaaaaathe.
He breathes, a big gulp of air that pumped oxygen into his brain and crystallized his fractured train of thought. He couldn't fight like Evan and Amber could at close range, heck, he didn't even have a weapon to fight with. But he had... magic, magic was what he had. As far as he could tell, it wasn't something straight-forward like the blasts of ice Evan could conjure up, but if he could just trip up his mirror-self long enough to give them the advantage... Jamie takes another deep breath and, with a moment of desperate concentration, brings his hands together in a thunderous clap that echoes far louder and far longer than it should.
The sound booms, recurring louder and louder, and on the final clap the wooden floor beneath them all shakes as a carved stone wall rises unbidden towards the ceiling in the center of the duplicates, cutting off the hooded-figure, Mirror-Jamie, and Mirror-Amber from the rest of the melee. Jamie feels a minor twinge deep in his chest as some kind of energy leaks out of him to power the magic, but ignores it for now. At the same time, he lets out a savage grin, panic and triumph mixing in his chest for one bouncing, unknowable feeling.
The wall is made of mundane stone, 10 feet high and 10 feet long. It's got hardness 8 and 15 hit points. I'll be spending a move action to concentrate on maintaining it until we don't need it anymore.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-26, 10:47 AM
Becky's darkened counterpart turns her head to watch the forming wall with what might be alarm - it's hard to tell with an opaque black coating obscuring all facial features - and steps back flush against the stone while still brandishing her rapier point forward. Her left hand, however, reaches into the reflective surface that covers the building wall on her side of the corridor, the skin and clothing sleeve taking on their normal colors once they pass back into the mirror. The wall on her side of the room begins to ripple as it did before the reflections first stepped out of it, looking less like a solid reflective surface and more like the black fog that coalesced to form it...
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/12/78/b31278e757be9598eb28b27940ba4f43.png
Green spaces are valid locations for Becky to begin her turn.
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-27, 05:04 PM
Jennifer evokes a blast of concussive force behind her reflection. Caught by surprise, it takes the full force of the blast and stumbles forward several steps before catching its balance and turning to face the source of the affront. It is fuming - not just figuratively, as small trails of black smoke rise from its back where it took the impact - and it kicks off the ground to charge at Jennifer. A wild swing of its arm is delivered without finesse but with quite a bit of speed, making contact with one of the librarian's arms - and making the same sound of rapidly displaced air as the earlier spell did, with another concussive blast echoing through the first-floor room.
Take 6 damage, will DC 16 halves.
Rokku
2018-12-28, 02:52 AM
Becky puts her hand on the hilt of her rapier and slowly slides it out of its sheath. Her head tilts slightly to the side as she studies her double. It didn't seem to be really... *doing* anything. Nothing threatening anyway.
"I won't pick a fight if you don't," she says nodding slightly at the duplicate, "I'm not keen on taking orders from the spooky stranger without good reason."
Foryn Gilnith
2018-12-28, 10:48 AM
Becky's reflection looks straight at her eyes, spits onto the ground, and drops her sword before stepping completely back into the mirror she came from. Once in the mirror, she reaches down to the bottom of the conjured wall's reflection and lifts up the wall as if lifting a mere curtain, the stone folding in on itself to assume a rigid (if very strange-looking) shape. She then moves through the opening to the other side, out of the party's field of view.
Evan's reflection makes a strange noise - something between laughter and a burst of static - before stepping forward to launch a flurry of attacks with its quarterstaff. It speaks as it does so, the words coming out in the same indistinct crackle and each punctuated by a swing. "Won't" - he sends a quick strike toward Evan that falls short - "work" - he brings up the back of the staff, blocking the first of Amber's slashes - "twice!" - he moves forward directly into the path of Amber's second slash, but not before bringing the staff down in a sweeping blow that clips Evan's shoulder and explodes in a spray of icy mist.
Inside the mirrored reflection of the hallway, Amber's counterpart emerges from the gap in the wall that Becky's reflection stepped through, crouching to get through the hole before lunging out of the mirror and into the real world. She still doesn't have a knife, but she seems to have somehow acquired a macahuitl - 3 feet of wooden rod edged with jagged black stone pointing out from the sides like razor blades. With a diving slash, she aims at Amber's nearest leg, scoring a hit before bringing the weapon back up to a standing guard.
Jamie's reflection also steps through the hole in the reflected wall, but doesn't go as far as emerging into reality, instead leaning on the stone to support himself while glaring at the party. He seems somewhat drained, and motes of orange light swirl around his hands as if to indicate the aftereffects of a spell. Upon meeting Jamie's eyes, he raises one hand - specifically, one finger - in a gesture universally recognizable to all modern Westerners.
Amber and Evan take 6 damage (Will DC 16 halves).
Underneath the din of battle, coming from the other side of the stone wall, you hear the creaking sound of an old window or door opening.
Jessica screamed as pain rippled through her. This test felt frighteningly real. Would the mysterious woman really kill the Braves who failed? Jessica would do her best to avoid needing that question answered. She lashed out at the advancing doppelgänger.
Move: Gather Power
Standard: Energy rift on the reflection.
Damage {DC 16 Reflex for half}: [roll0]
ylvathrall
2019-01-01, 06:50 PM
Amber grunts as the jagged stone bites into her. It's painful, but it doesn't actually hurt as much as she would have expected. She has enough attention left to wonder what this thing is using and where it came from as she brings her own blade around in another swing at Evan's reflection.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] +1 Strength from chill touch, DC 14 Fortitude to negate the strength damage.
"Hax!" Jamie calls out in a frustrated tone as the duplicates sidestep his wall. His copy didn't seem to be doing much, but Amber's double did have that nasty spiked pole thing... If I can just take her by surprise... Jamie concentrates again and stomps with one foot, the sound echoing again. As he does so, a trail of symbols glowing with a faint orange light snake from the tip of his sneaker and across the floor before settling beneath mirror-Amber. Ice spreads across the floor beneath her feet, footing suddenly becoming uncertain.
Move action to maintain the stone wall.
Standard action to create a sheet of ice underneath Mirror-Amber- DC 15 Reflex save to avoid, or she slips and falls prone.
I'm down to five spell points.
Evan shudders as shards of icy mist from his shadow double's attack slice his flesh, coupled with a swift strike from the doppelganger's quarterstaff to the ribs, causes him to yelp in pain. "Urk!" Still, the adrenaline takes over and he recovers quickly enough to attack again, this time attempting to impale his double with his ice-encrusted staff. At his touch, the ice sharpens to a gleaming point, which Evan flourishes quickly before thrusting towards the shadow.
"That's enough from you!"
So, technically, Evan is just attacking this turn, and not casting, but I put a little bit of ice manipulation in for flavor. Sorry if it's confusing, but I think it's a cool image. Mechanically, he's just using his Impale action from the Lancer sphere, without using Advanced Spellstrike (he's not so good at casting defensively right now).
Standard: Impale Special Attack Action
Attack: [roll0] (Crit Confirm: [roll1])
Damage: [roll2] Piercing + Impaled* (Crit: [roll3])
*Impaled: Cannot move, is Battered (cannot make AoO when others use combat maneuvers, -2 on CMD), must succeed on concentration check of DC 10 + 2 + Spell Level to cast spells/use sphere effects
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