Pokethulhu - Someone's Chewing on My Parents

[Elrosth]

Pokethulhu - Someone's Chewing on My Parents

Parent-teacher conferences aren't usually high on your list of great things to do on a friday night, and yet here you are, boredly wandering the gaping corridors of the Muskratonic Educational Hall (or MEH). Idly shuffling along the indoor cobblestone floors, aimlessly staring at the stone-and-mortar walls and the strange architecture of the school, you sigh. What most adults find unexplainably unsettling about the halls you simply know as just the place you walk from one dull class to the next. Technically, you should be in the Hall, not the halls, but you managed to slip away before things got too boring. The grownups were doing all the talking anyway. You notice a few other kids had the same idea. Just as you all start gravitating towards each other, there comes a scream from the Hall (thats the capital Hall, with the parents, remember?). This is followed by many more screams, and a lot of slamming and breaking. A terrifying, gibbering screech rises above the rest of the voices, certainly unable to be emitted from any human throat.

Hesitantly, you look to the other children next to you, unsure of what to do. Just as the group voicelessly seems to come to the consensus to run in, the school librarian Lumli is thrown through one of the double-doors to the hall, and tumbles halfway down the wide stairs. Through the open door you catch a glimpse of utter chaos. People screaming and running in every direction, some trying to climb straight up the smooth pillars of the hall and failing. Bodies ripped asunder in manners unlike anything you've seen on the crime shows you watch on TV. Strange splotches of a quivering goo covering various objects and areas. And some sort of hulking creature who your eyes (or perhaps your mind) seem unable to look at with anything other than your peripheral vision. The doors swing closed again, and you all run to help Librarian Lumli. Halfway there though, the doors slam open again, and a giant, barb-covered tentacle whips out, picks up the librarian, and pulls her back in. Frozen in place, you hear the screaming cease with a strange pulse that gives you a pain in your head, like you'd just eaten ice cream too quickly. After a moment your vision un-blurs, and you hear a faint shuffling towards the back of the room.

(OOC: Roll a sanity check and enjoy the game.)

[Colt]

OOC: How many Shining Dodecahedrons should I roll? I'll just roll three and number them, and you can take however many you need. Though with my 2 San, I doubt I'll make it...
1. [roll0]
2. [roll1]
3. [roll2]

As Steve suddenly regains clarity, he yells, "Gerald? Are you ok?" He frantically runs his hands over his face before finally calming down. "Oh good, I thought I had lost you!" He then calmly looks around the hall to figure out what just happened.

[Minchandre]

West

West hated school. He hated the classes, so dull and monotonous. He hated the teachers, who hardly knew arithmetic, let alone the intricacies of higher mathematics and the other-dimensional. Most of all, however, he hated the other children. All older and bigger than he was, the other children mercilessly teased and beat up the quiet, bookish West; they mocked him for his lack of a name, they mocked him for his odd speech, they mocked him for always knowing the answers, and most of all, they mocked him for being different. Damn his father for insisting that he attend school, "Like a normal child." Who cared for normality? The libraries and laboratories of the university had always been enough for him in the past.

Our young hero sulked through the hallways as was his normal wont, trying not to grimace at the thought of his father attempting to interact with his teachers. West had stuck around to watch Dr West begin a conference with Mr Akeley the chemistry teacher. After the doctor had begun to explain his work, and the teacher to adopt the normal, glazed expression, the younger West academic had wisely taken his leave.

Interrupting this most excellent sulk, however, was a scream, followed by a whole slew of other exciting activities. Screaming and gripping his head, West tries to blot out the foreign geometries and strange substances. After a few moments, he manages to get everything under control - after all, this is as bad as Mom was, right? - and begins running back towards his father's last known location.


Sanity is lucky!

1. [roll0]
2. [roll1]
3. [roll2]


EDIT: To reflect success!

[AetherFox]

Ted wandered the halls for a while before meeting up with the others, reluctant to return from the 'bathroom'. When paranoia breaks out among the halls, Ted follows wiht the others, not to disturbed, but trying to make sense of it all. When he realizes the librarian has been killed, he blackes out, staing at the doors is shock, then regains his composure and truns twards the others expectantly.

What colt said. :smallsmile:

1. [roll0]
2. [roll1]
3. [roll2]

EDIT: Depends how hard of a check this is...

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Sorry, use three dice. And all of you have passed it so far. Its weaker since you were farther away and in another room. Also, as far as I can tell GimliFett posts at work, so I'm guessing he won't be on till sunday. If thats the case, thats ok, I'm gonna proceed with him being in the bathroom when this happened. Ted, you saw him in there.)

As the chaos subsides, the three of you find yourselves standing in front of the main doors to the Hall, ominously cracked open just so. Despite your bold charges, you each feel a sense of dread overpower your adrenaline for just a moment. The terror subsides just as quickly as it came, but also brings a new sense of clarity as you wonder what your purpose is now. Are you really planning on charging in after what seems to have overpowered literally hundreds of people by yourself? (OOC: sily question) Furthermore, you may or may not even know the people standing next to you, also seemingly willing to risk their lives to delve into this mystery.

You regain your composure quickly enough, and everyone seems very anxious to both enter the room and, at the same time, leave the whole building. You all want to find out what happened, if only someone else would be the first to go in.

You each look to the other two. So, you all ask silently, who will it be?

[Minchandre]

West

Looking to either side at the relative strangers, West then looks ahead at the Hall (of Horrors!).

For a moment, he considers what he's doing there....until he considers how much being an orphan would suck.

Boldly, he steps forward.

[Elrosth]

With fresh resolve, you slowly push the door open. Before you is, quite simply, a mess. Tables and chairs have been fractured into splinters, and there even appears to be a chair hanging from the rafters. In various places around the room, a noxious goo coats the area. What most surprises you, though, is the lack of bodies. From what you heard, there should be dead people all around. There is blood visible, again not as much as you'd expect. But where it is, it coats just as thickly and dramatically as the noxious goo. Bodies, though, are entirely in absence. In the back of the large Hall, the door to the janitor's closet is shattered open. As is the frame to the door. As is a portion of the surrounding wall. Around the remaining wall is another coat of the noxious goo.

[Colt]

Steve slowly walks forward, And peeks into the room, stares for a second and then says "It went through the closet, and so should we.", Then, he walks resolutely across the room towards the closet.

[AetherFox]

Ted looks around nerviously, and begins to speak; "Uhh...Guys... I don't think we should..."
As the others walk in, he realises it would be worse to be alone. Reluctantly, he steps in the room.

[Minchandre]

West

West looks cautiously around the room. "Well, the lack of any bodies is certainly disturbing. While I am certainly loathe to do so, it seems that investigating the closet is likely the most productive path." Sighing, he follows Steve.

[Elrosth]

You all approach the recently renovated doorway. In addition to the noxious goo smell permeating the Hall, this room is awash with various cleaning chemicals, as well as a sundry supply of some of the more dangerous materials for chemistry class. Trash bins, mops, boxes and brooms are strewn about the room. In one corner, where you assume a furnace once stood (judging by the broken wall hinges that seem to match the metal strips on the broken furnace in the other corner of the room) is another gaping hole. This hole, however, has an archway built behind it. Though there is plenty of rubble broken down like the last hole, it was apparently a false wall hiding the passageway beyond. The steep, worn, ancient winding staircase descends into blackness, and faint noises can be heard echoing from a great distance below. Whether or not some of the noises are screams you can't tell, but your imagination makes all haste to assign exactly what they are, and what they mean.

[AetherFox]

Ted keeps his distance from the staircase, hoping somehting will hapen so he wouldn't have to go down. "Heh, I always said school was a stairway to Hell. I wasn't being serious though!"

[Colt]

Steve mumbles to himself for a second before saying, "Well, Gerald thinks this is the only shot we have at saving the people. Are we all ready to go down?"

[Minchandre]

West

West looks askance at his companions once more, keeping his silence for now. By way of communication, however, he simply takes a deep breath, steels himself, and walks down the stair.

[Elrosth]

As you descend into the inky blackness, you notice a patch of not quite so inky blackness ahead. Drawing closer, you notice the light source seems to be eminating from a crack in one of the stairs. You briefly consider that it might've been smart to bring a light source, as general wisdom would dictate on any trip into inky blackness. Only briefly do you consider this, though, as in the next moment the crack widens rapidly, and light spills out from under the floor, illuminating the horrible insectoid creature shoving aside the rubble. From behind you, another light suddenly manifests as a second similar creature simply phases through the wall. West, you recognize these creatures personally, and of course you all remember them from episode 233: The Burrowers Beneath Your Butt. That's right, you're surrounded by Dyzants.

The Dyzant behind you buzzes in a most unsavory way, making every nerve in your body tingle, and giving you the sensation that you're somehow upside down and spinning without moving at all. All around Ted, the very walls of reality begin collapsing. Meanwhile in front, the first Dyzant levels its twin stingers directly at West. As the begin to glow with a wispy, ethereal flame, West knows from experience that he has about two seconds to do something, or get a blazing sting to the face.

Will our heroes summon their thulhu in time to block the bugs? How will they rescue all the grownups from the terrible creature from the deep? And why do they make hot dogs in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight? Stay tuned to find out!

Go ahead and post your actions, initiative doesn't matter. You each get one turn and then I go. Ted and West, you'll have to deal with the ones targeting you, Steve can pick either one.

[Minchandre]

West

Seeing the Dyzant in front of him getting angry, West does what anyone with Dyzant-related experience would do: he contorts his body into a passable approximation of the 6th Elder Sign, while reaching sneakily into his pocket. From there, he draws one of this shining dodecahedra, chanting all the while, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Dyzant wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

There is a whiff of brimstone and a keening just out of audible perception, and then West's own Dyzant appears before the throng. "Dyzant!" the young summoner shouts, "Diplomacize!"

[AetherFox]

Ted

Ted stumbles and hits he back on the stairs. Deperate, he grabbs a dodecahedron at random and chucks it at the monster, then remebers it actually contains a powerful being. When the goofy looking Kadath comes out, Ted yells, "Do something!"

[Colt]

As soon as Steve sees the Dyzant, he freezes, then suddenly grabs a dodecahedron out of his back pocket and throws it towards the Dyzant further down the stairs. He smiles evilly as his Nylarthopy appears. "This will be over quickly. Lick The Unknown!" He says, he voice suddenly a little deeper than normal.

Due to weakness, I get an extra dice assuming these are normal Dyzants, so rolling 3 dodecahedrons to get something less than 5 (Nylarthopy's Strength)
d12
d12
d12

[Elrosth]

I don't think you can roll the dice in these threads, cause they're editable. I could be wrong, but I think we need to use something like Invisible Castle (http://invisiblecastle.com/), the dice-rolling thread on this forum, or just have me roll the dice. You guys have any preference? Also, would you guys be ok with me rolling my attacks personally, or do you want me to post the rolls? This is a classic "behind the screen or not" question as a DM, just curious on your guys' preference.

With a fierce keening buzz, West's Dyzant emerges from the dodecahedron, only to take a Blazing Sting to the face. He takes three damage, and is now down to three health. Quickly shaking it off, it angrily scowls at the opposing Dyzant (or at least as angrily as an insectoid face can scowl), and begins to diplomacize, launching it's own barrage of Blazing Stings and striking it square in it's pincered maw. Also takes three damage, and is now down to three health. Meanwhile, the other Dyzant is closing in on Tim's Kadath. In a panic, as evidenced by the large sweatdrop manifesting itself on the otherworldly penguin's head, the Kadath begins running in place looking for a way out, and after managing to run into all 16 sides of the non-euclidean box he manages to wriggle his way out. The Dyzant rolls a 3, trapping your Kadath. Over the course of his turn, he rolls a 6 compared to his speed of 6 and escapes. Steve's Nylarthopy unfurls it's horrible tongue and begins it's Lick the Unknown attack. Covered in slobber, the Dyzant emits a terrifying buzz, akin to half-drowned squirrel caught in a bug zapper, and tumbles down the stairs. A roll of 7 against the Dyzant's 3 hp means it's down.

Under the coat of ooze, the slobber-covered Dyzant hums, bringing a dull pain to your eardrums as it vibrates it's surrounding particles to an impossible frequency Burrow through Aether roll of 5, bringing your previous attack to 2 and leaving it with 1 hp. and shedding the slobber as quickly as evaporating water on a skillet. Seeing the threat, the other Dyzant attempts to scare off the Nylarthopy. From deep below the group, in that inky blackness I mentioned awhile ago, blasphemous shapes manifest all around, swooping in towards the Nylarthopy. Shadow Puppets roll of 8 exceeds Nylarthopy's 7 hp. The Nylarthopy swoons, twitching like a thing gone mad. It will clearly be unable to finish this match. If any compassion in your heart still exists for this thing, your only choice would be to allow it respite back within it's dodecahedron.

[Colt]

(OOC: I'm fine with you just doing the rolling... I don't know why my rolls didn't work, they usually work in IC threads, that's how I've always done rolls. Also, My Nylarthopy didn't get it's attack.)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Yuppers, I was gonna edit it once we figured out the rolling thing, I dunno why it didn't work either. If someone figures it out lemme know and we'll switch to that, until then I'll just roll for everyone. Above post edited to include your attack.)

[AetherFox]

(OOC: I'm good with that too. Also, I forgot to mention it, but my Kadath uses Brain Freeze on the guy that attacked him, if it's my turn. Also, does pretty much everyone in the world own Pokethulu, like in pokemon?)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: It's your guys' turn again, I've resolved combat as far as I can myself. Your Kadath spent it's last turn successfully escaping from the trap attack, that's why it didn't get to go. And not everyone in the world owns pokethulhu. Only kids can, first off, because adults effectively have a sanity score of 0. And of all the children, only some actually own thulhu.)

[Colt]

"Well that sucked," says west as he returns his Nylarthopy to its Dodecahedron. "Don't let me down Mobeot!," he says as he releases his Mobeot towards the Dryzant, "Eternal Loop!".

(OOC: Trap, 3 dice)

[AetherFox]

"Alright Kadath, now that you're out of his way, Brain Freeze!"

(Brain Freeze, 3 dice)

[Minchandre]

(OOC: Should I post a real attack? I was going for the zany feel of the cartoon, where handlers often issue irregular commands; I was hoping that Dyzant could achieve a peaceful solution with the other Dyzants)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Yeah, he was gonna try that, but then he got shot in the face. So he switched to the George Bush definition of diplomacize. You can post attacks that aren't named correctly, but I might interpret them differently.)

[Minchandre]

Dael

"Dzyant! Return! Cthonyx, I summon thee! Icky Excretions!"

Sticky, Trap, 3 dice

[Elrosth]

Just a note on the rules about switching thulhu in a fight. You can switch at the beginning of your turn, so long as the thulhu isn't trapped, or injured to the point where it's hit points are below 1 and it is being forced to dodge (this means that if the thulhu passes out, you have to wait for it to make it's dodge attempt before you can pull it back). The new thulhu appears instantly, and can act immediately, but must use the Dodge attack on the turn it appears (aka it must use a speed attack, since it's unprepared). I'd reccomend looking up how speed attacks work, but for this time I'm fine with the regular attacks. Also, just so I'm clear on initiative, I'm going: 1) wild thulhu 2) trained thulhu 3) people. Anyone with opposition that falls into the same category rolls initiative. This means that if you're just fighting wild thulhu, I'm gonna go by post order, but when you fight a trainer I'll do initiative. Which, btw, is d12+thulhu's speed. Also also, as a followup to the diplomacize thing, I am sorry about the misunderstanding if you're miffed by my redirect. Spoiler notes are a good safeguard for next time.

Mobeot, a shimmering blue thread of pure cold, emerges from it's dodecahedron and swirls around the Dyzant.
Roll of 5 succeeds.
A shimmer of blue can be seen in the Dyzant's honeycombed eyes as it repeats the last few seconds again and again. Half of the glow is coming from the swirling Mobeot, and the other half is drawn from the icy blast of Kadath's brain freeze on the other Dyzant. The Dyzant's exoskeleton turns a pale blue (making you wonder why an exoskeleton would react this way to cold), and it's head becomes completely encased in ice.
Roll of 7 against 6 hp means it's down.
Meanwhile the first Dyzant is also being encased by icky, sticky excretions.
Roll of 1 beats it's speed of 6. This means it's double trapped, but I think I'm going to use the double trapped houserule for this game. The double trap has to come from the same trap, but this second trap stops it from making it's escape attempt this turn, so each of you have the entire next turn to get either of your thulhu to make the second trap.
The Dyzant seizures, twitches, oozes and obsessively repeats it's last few movements, altogether not looking like it's in too good of shape. The second Dyzant Spends it's turn with a dodge, a roll of 5 restores it's hp up to 4. bashes it's head against the wall until it breaks off most of the ice.

And that'd be this turn. Post your next attacks. Good job on locking these guys down. :smallsmile:

[Minchandre]

West

West is not surprised by his Cthonyx's success; after all, everyone knows that Dzyant are weak versus sticky attacks. "Excellent work, Cthonyx! Once more, with gusto!"


Sticky, Trap, 3 dice

[Colt]

Steve smiles evilly, then says "Bind him Mobeot!"

(OOC: Trap, 3 dice)

[AetherFox]

Ted is more corageous as he sees that the battle is going his way.
"Alright Kadath! C'mon! Now the other one!"

Brain Feeze, again! :smallbiggrin:

[Elrosth]

The Dyzant thrashes as best it can, but it clearly isn't going anywhere. Cthonyx and Mobeot have it completely locked down and out of the fight.
The other Dyzant, having just unencased it's head from ice, recieves another chilling blow, knocking it back a bit. Undaunted it springs back to it's feet.
Both of you succeeded at the trap, it's out of the fight. Brain Freeze succeeds with a 3, leaving it with 1 hp. But, it succeeds with a dodge of 4, bringing it's total to 5 hp.
It glares at the Kadath, and then seems to realize that it's now a 3-on-1 battle...

[Minchandre]

West

"Excellent work, Cthonyx," young West says gleefully, "Now tentacle slap!"

It was at this point that West congratulated himself for ensure that he had just the right cthulhu to defeat his other cthulhu...good thing that Cthonyx were known to be more reliable than the bizarre Dzyant.


Injure, Sticky, 2 dice

[Colt]

Steve ducks to let his Mobeot pass over his head towards the other Dryzant. "Run him off Mobeot" he says as it passes over.

(OOC: Frighten 2 dice.)

[Minchandre]

West

Yawning with boredom, West breaks his interest with the battle to pull out a book on higher dimensional calculus and sits down, reading while his Cthonyx dispenses with the final Dzyant.

[Elrosth]

Cthonyx rears back, bringing it's terrible tentacles to bear. Lunging forward, it knocks the Dyzant silly. The last strike causes it to tumble back up the stairs a bit.
Roll of 4 brings the Dyzant down to 1 hp again.
Mobeot swoops and swirls, and a blue myst begins to cloud the Dyzant's eyes. Unfortunately, the embarassing memory brought about happens to be the last few seconds of the fight. Appearing ashamed, or at least as ashamed as an insect can appear, it shakes itself off.
Roll of 1 ties with the current hp, and fails to frighten
Kadath crouches, ready to bravely leap forward and finish off the beast, but then notices West pull something out of his bag. Curious, Kadath forgets what it's doing and waddles over to see.
With a sneer, or at least... well you get the idea. The Dyzant manages to pull off a lot of expressiveness with mandables and an exoskeleton. As I was saying, the Dyzant sneers and, with the last of it's strength, levels it's stingers directly at Cthonyx's gaping maw.
Roll of 8 brings Cthonyx down to 2 hp
Cthonyx recoils and roars, a terrible noise which causes your eardrums to burn white hot for a moment, apparently yet another noise man was not meant to hear. It shakes it's head vigorously.

[AetherFox]

Ted waves furiously at the Kadath, trying toget it's attention.
"Hey! Kadath! Hey! We kinda have a problem over here!!

[Elrosth]

Startled, Kadath quickly waddles around to face his trainer. Another sweatdrop appears as it see's Cthonyx's "face" wounds. Furrowing it's little brow, it rears back and unleashes a brain freeze unlike anything Ben or Jerry could ever hope to create. Roll of 7 knocks that thing to -6. It's dodge could only hope to bring it to 6 (which it did actually, I rolled for it), which leaves it still at 0 hp. The Dyzant's multi-faceted eyes bulge, and the tiniest little cracking noise can be heard as the horrible bug freezes and then falls face-first down the stairs.

Bam! Officially done with our first combat. Damn was that thing tenacious.

[AetherFox]

Ted runs up to his Kadath, seeing the enemy fall down the stairs.
"Yeah! Way to go!"
He tries to pick up the penguin, but it flails madly in his arms, hits him in the head with it's beak, and runs excitedly around the group for some time.

[Minchandre]

West

Distracted by the noise of his screaming Cthonyx, West peers up from his book and sees the damage. Walking over, he strokes the beast, trying to sooth its wounds, "Excellent work, Cthonyx. I sincerely apologize for your wounds; are you quite alright? Regardless, I suggest you return to your dodecahedron, there perhaps to recover from this ordeal." At this last, West summons the creature back into its metaphysical cage.



How do Thulhu heal between battles?"

[Colt]

Steve motions his Moboet back over, and as it floats around his head, he takes out his Dodecahedron, and lets it back in. He takes a few more steps down before turn back to the others and saying "Well, shall we continue?"

[AetherFox]

Ted retuns the wily thulu back to it's cage, and says,
"...I suppose so..."

I think it just happens when they return to their dodecahedrons.

[paladin_carvin]

Up from the stairs near the rest comes a dashing young man with a furrowed brow. His shirt is a mess, but in that rugged hero way. He looks and assesses the situation.

'Ah, good. What I need... what we need. Men, we must do something. These... monsters... they are killing innocent people. We must work together to defeat this evil. Are you with me, men?

He seems strangely... unaffected by the horrors around everyone. Calm, confident and determined. How mad must a man be to sane in such a crazy time? Still, he's calling a group of preteens and there about 'men'...

[Elrosth]

Any frighten effect is lost at the end of the battle, so thulhu dispatched that way can safely come out without any ill effects once the fight is through. Healing damage, however, is different. To quote the book: Anyone who was injured in the last fight may roll a single dodecahedron and heal that many hit points from their injuries. After that, points regenerate at a point per hour of rest, or a point per day of activity. Other things (magic spells, a good hot meal, being tended by a nurse) can alter this, as the Owner (that's me! :smallsmile:) sees fit.

As for now, as far as I remember, Cthonyx was at 2/10, Dyzant was at 3/6, Nylarthopy was merely feared and is now fine. If there was anyone I missed, lemme know, but for now Cthonyx restores 7 hp bringing it up to 9, and Dyzant restores 12 hp, returning it to full health. If you guys rest for an hour, he'll be back to full health. Dunno if it's worth it for one thulhu missing one hp, but up to you guys.

Down it is. You leave behind the unsettling glow of the dispatched Dyzants, and continue once again towards the icy blackness, reminded once again that maybe a light source would be cool.

EDIT: and then the above post happens. :smallbiggrin:

I'd be fine with one of you having a flash light in your backpack, but if you have some other light source you'd like to use thats cool too. Would you guys wanna just quick list what you have in your backpacks? Include mundane stuff like comic books, textbooks, candy bars, etc. Any pocket stuff or otherwise not-backpack stuff in your posession as well. I'm assuming each of you have a shirt and pants, shoes, a backpack, and your dodecahedrons. Also what you *don't* have is more empty dodecahedrons, any sort of thulu-dex, or an uzi. Mundane kid stuff, or possibly minor magic or grown up items (switchblade, I choose you!) would be fine, pending my approval.

[paladin_carvin]

What I would like in my bag that I assume you approve of:

Comic books
Mirror
Dapper Dan hair cream (yes, it must be Dapper Dan :smallwink: )
Small collection of valentine's and love letters
Toy Pirate Ship and a toy Space Ship
A few cigarettes (given to him by an upper upperclassman; in a hidden pocket)
'Naughty pictures' cut out from magazines (Also hidden and in an envelope; not actually that naughty, but he's 13 so it's preemo stuff)

Questionable
Cell phone of some sort//
If not the above, a set of 2 way walkie talkies.
A very small bee-bee gun.

[Elrosth]

What I approve of:

Comic books - check
Mirror - yep
Dapper Dan hair cream (yes, it must be Dapper Dan ) - lawl, a dapper dan man. certainly.
Small collection of valentine's and love letters - yup
Toy Pirate Ship and a toy Space Ship - yup
A few cigarettes (given to him by an upper upperclassman; in a hidden pocket) - ayup
'Naughty pictures' cut out from magazines (Also hidden and in an envelope; not actually that naughty, but he's 13 so it's preemo stuff) - sears catalog cutouts, gotcha.

Cell phone of some sort, or a set of 2 way walkie talkies. - I'll go with the walkie-talkies.
A very small bee-bee gun. - Fine too. How small? Like a BB pistol?

To everyone else, 1 or 2 of the questionable items would be good to shoot for. You don't need any, and I'd be open to more than 2 if it seemed appropriate. His is a good benchmark though.

[Minchandre]

West

Young West looks oddly at the newcomer, and chooses not to grace his obvious idiocy with an answer, returning a glare instead. Still, if the others choose to move, he will go with them.

Backpack Contents

-Various books - text and creepy lore
-Paper
-Pens and Pencils
-Graphing Calculator (or slide rule - I'm not quite sure of the year)
-Water bottle
-Travel coffee mug
-Energy bars
-Bicycle repair kit (Rubber epoxy, small sandpaper, patches, multi-size Allen wrench, filed down crescent wrench , hand pump)
-Hand cream
-Antibiotic ointment
-Sunglasses

[i]EDIT: I do also have an iPod Nano with headphones.

Incidentally, that is the actual contents of my backpack right now

[AetherFox]

Ted

Ted looks at the newcomer and lets out an audible sigh of relief.
"Thank god! Someone who knows what they're doing down here!"
He reaches into his pocket and takes out a rectangle of gum and begins to chew it quietly.

Backpack Contents:
Yesterday's math homework (with random numbers scribbled on it to look like he did it.)
2 Packs of Orbit Orange Flavored Gum, which he chews out of habit. (As of now!)
GameBoy DS with (Ironically) Pokemon Pearl in.
$2.25 for tomorow's lunch.
TI 84 Calculator, overloaded with Uncle Worm and Mario.
Science Textbook
Some Canned Soup (Again, for lunch)
Agenda, little used.
Spanish Book
iPod Chromatic.

...Or is that too much valuable stuff?

[paladin_carvin]

"Don't stare at me like that, my good man. People... real people are dying out there. Don't dawdle around like that all day! With me, men, into the abyss!"

[Elrosth]

No, that is a good amount of stuff. I'm not too much concerned with worth. And as far as the year, anything nowadays is pretty much acceptable, but try to think more generic I guess. Technology is just as advanced, but it is relied on less, supplemented by eldrich rites and thulhu. Also similar to Pokemon, where they have computers but most people just don't use them, or use them really specifically. Like the video phone consoles everywhere.

-Various books - text and creepy lore - good
-Paper - good
-Pens and Pencils - good
-Graphing Calculator (or slide rule - I'm not quite sure of the year) - good, picture it about the size of one of the original gameboys.
-Water bottle - good
-Travel coffee mug - good
-Energy bars - good
-Bicycle repair kit (Rubber epoxy, small sandpaper, patches, multi-size Allen wrench, filed down crescent wrench [it's very thin], hand pump) - good
-Hand cream - good
-Antibiotic ointment - good
-Sunglasses - good
iPod Nano with headphones. - good, and feel free to come up with a new brand name for it if you want.

Yesterday's math homework (with random numbers scribbled on it to look like he did it.) - yep
2 Packs of Orbit Orange Flavored Gum, which he chews out of habit. (As of now!) - yep, and as above, feel free to make a new brand name if you think of something good
GameBoy DS with (Ironically) Pokemon Pearl in. - sure. and I likes them names as they is.
$2.25 for tomorow's lunch. - ayup.
TI 84 Calculator, overloaded with Uncle Worm and Mario. - sure
Science Textbook - yep
Some Canned Soup (Again, for lunch) - yep
Agenda, little used. - yep
Spanish Book - yep
iPod Chromatic. - yep. I'm wondering if maybe we keep the brand name, but have the actual product more pod-like. :smallbiggrin:

[paladin_carvin]

You know, you should call it a cephalaPod. Same function.

add these to the list:

Pens, paper, pencils
Dice (standard and gaming), playing cards
DS with Picross
Pictures of cats with funny words on them; for amusement.
Pictures of self

Also:
The walkies: I would like, if possible, to have enough so that everyone could have them. If you fear that will break the system, I'll settle happy with two. They flip open and in fact are official merch from the show 'Quasar Quests': as is his toy space ship. I'm not going too over the top, am I?:smallbiggrin:

[Elrosth]

You know, you should call it a cephalaPod. Same function.

add these to the list:

Pens, paper, pencils
Dice (standard and gaming), playing cards
DS with Picross
Pictures of cats with funny words on them; for amusement.
Pictures of self

Also:
The walkies: I would like, if possible, to have enough so that everyone could have them. If you fear that will break the system, I'll settle happy with two. They flip open and in fact are official merch from the show 'Quasar Quests': as is his toy space ship. I'm not going too over the top, am I?:smallbiggrin:


Approve above list, but I'd like to keep the walkie-talkies at 2. I like them as a strategic device that requires a little bit of planning, instead of it just being assumed on each character. And no, you're still under the top.

[Minchandre]

West

West continues to stare blankly at the boy, before taking out his pseudoPod (like the cephaloPod, but smaller) and beginning to listen to disharmonics of DJ Dagon. Then, suitably entertained for the time being, he begins to shuffle in the direction indicated.

[Colt]

Somewhat disturbed by the fact that this guy had come from DOWNstairs where all the dead people were, but not enough to actually care, Steve saunters down the stairs behind everyone else.

Things in pack:
Math Textbook
Moustache Wax
Pens and Pencils
Guide to Thulu and their Training.

Steve isn't a very prepared fellow, nor does he have much money to get stuff.

[Elrosth]

You all begin your trek down the stairs, following the strange newcomer. You are curious as to what he's seen, coming up from that icy black. In the distance, a faint pinpoint of sickly green light glows from far down the staircase. Rather than continue wondering about the newcomer's story, you begin a somewhat disgruntled rant in your head, wondering who the hell builds a staircase this long, and why. After about ten minutes more walking (props to the new guy for running up this, you think), you find yourself approaching the hewn stone archway leading into a cavern. Now bathed in the sickly green glow, you peer into the dim cavern. Squinting for a moment, the dark mass on the ground before you comes into focus, and you realize it's a massive pile of bodies. Some look like they could be merely sleeping, and others look less fortunate. One body that looks like it was tossed away from the pile lies right next to the archway you're at presently. The skin and muscles of the left leg have been completely stripped away, leaving nothing but bone. At the edge of this stripping, where the skin still exists on the upper thigh, the flesh has become bloated, spongy and pearly white. The rest of the body appears untouched, save for some bruises and a nasty gash on the head where you presume they landed.

[Minchandre]

West

Eying the pile of dead askance, but nevertheless curious, West moves to examine the dead, paying special (but cautious) attention to the corpse on the edge of the pile.

[Elrosth]

Approaching the body closest to the door, you affirm what you saw last. Skin and muscle stripped clean from the bone, and on the edge where the skin remains, it is engorged like an sickly ivory sponge full of unsavory fluids. Short of the bruises and head wound, the rest of the body seems untouched. Rolling it over slightly, you finally see the face, contorted in it's last moments of terror. You can't be sure, but it might indicate that whatever was done to the victim's leg happened while it was still alive.

[Colt]

"Well, that's jolly." Steve, now getting a little sick to the stomach at the sight of so much gore, begins to look for anything other than dead bodies.

[Elrosth]

And thankfully, you discover something fitting just that criteria. Traveling a few yards down one of the walls, you find a door left slightly ajar. It's a rather crude door, standing out from the ancient hewn stone as a rather modern addition. In fact, you think you recognize it as one of the doors that got added to the east wing in the school last fall, though this one seems shoddily held into place with pylons, glue and tape.

[Minchandre]

West

West keeps his silence during his investigation of the bodies, though he does nearly throw up when he realizes that whoever had their leg gnawed on was probably alive for it. Standing there, he ponders what sort of thulhu might have done this sort of thing.


Pokethulhu Lore check, please; I believe my score is 8

[Elrosth]

You can't place the thulhu solely from the evidence here.
Very Tricky roll of 11 doesn't make it. A subsequent check (aka your second roll of 8) reveals the attack that caused this as sticky. Further investigation might give more clues, or perhaps the other type it uses.

[AetherFox]

Ted takes one look at the gruesom mess, shudders, and turns away, not hiding his disgust and fear.

[Colt]

"Hey, guys, I found a door" whispered Steve, "It looks really ominous. I bet there's something really evil behind it." Steve peeks through the door to see if there's anything inside.

[Elrosth]

There is in fact something inside. The room is smallish, and the walls are rough. There are no corners or edges to speak of, instead forming sort of a rounded off square. The stonework is ancient though, so it is unrelated to the shoddy construction of the door. Perhaps it was a pantry or storage room in whatever the original construction was. More recently, however, it's been repurposed to another end. There are some blankets in one corner on top of what looks like a gym mat. In another corner, there is a school desk. In fact, the desk is of the exact style of the east wing philosophy class. You even venture so far as to guess that this just might be why that class always has one row of desks shorter than the other rows. The desk is littered with wrappers, comic books, half-eaten food, and various novelty devices. Also in the room is a bank of 6 connected lockers, again exactly like upstairs. Around the floor is several outfits worth of dirty laundry, more wrappers, and comic books. What little adorns the walls are a few crude drawings of inconsequential subjects, and two band posters: The End Is Nigh, and the Shogganauts.

[Colt]

"Guys. I found some kind of classroom." whispers Steve, "It looks like it's just a classroom for one, dang, this place is creeping me out." Steve then slips in the door to search through the room for signs of the attacker.

[Elrosth]

On further inspection, you sense an age about this room. Not the ancient age you sense from the hewn stone, cut some eons ago, but just age. All of the items in the room are worn from use. The half-eaten food has either rotted away or dried to a husk. The clothing on the floor appears not only extremely worn in, but stretched as though worn for a long time by someone they were too small for. The comic books have rips and spill marks, and several pages have torn out, either to be loosely put back in place, or just strewn around. An inspection of the wrappers indicates dates from anywhere between a few months ago, and almost 20 years ago, but there is a rather high concentration of dates from about two months. Inspection of the walls and desk show various carvings. Some of the most worn ones look youthful, like the badly drawn dragon, a few swear words and childrens dirty lymrics. Other mid-age carvings detail various facts about the school, including class schedules and a detailed map of the school's floorplan, including air ducts. As the carvings become fresher they shift to what you might expect to find in a prison cell or nuthouse. Of the more coherent bits, it seems to speak of some "maddening horror of my youth", the tenent's need to hide out here, and his plot to escape. Lastly, you look in the lockers. There doesn't seem to be any organization to the bank of 6, it moreso appears that whatever one was least full got the next item. Most of them are crammed with wrappers, and a few more comic books and clothes. You find a couple dirty magazines of varying degrees. The older-dated magazines are merely lingerie catalogues, but some of the newer issues are more popular racy titles. You find fireworks and novelty items of all sorts including shocking gum packs and hand buzzers, whoopie cushions, fake plastic poo, stink bombs, poppers, a two-headed coin, a yo-yo, and a bobblehead figurine of Randy from Pokethulhu. There are a lot of tools as well, most of them look like they have to do with breaking into things, or otherwise just breaking things. In one locker, there is a skateboard, and on the top shelf of another you find ten dodecahedrons.

[Minchandre]

West

Keeping his silence, the adolescent peers through the room with the others, keeping an especial eye out for the paranormal. When he stumbles over the racy magazine, he surreptitiously moves a few into his bag. When he finds the dodecahedra, he tries to determine if there's anything in them.

[AetherFox]

Ted follows the others, not wanting to stay more than a few seconds longer with the pile of dead bodies. He, too. spots the dodecaherda and picks one up, inspecting it closely.

[Colt]

After looking through most of the room and seeing the strange and possibly illicit stuff in the room, Steve looks over and sees the others looking at the Dodecahedrons. He yells at them, "Be careful, I bet this is stuff that might have been confiscated from students, be careful with those, They might not be the most safe thulu." Steve drops his Dodecahedron onto the floor unleashing his Mobeot, just in case.

[Elrosth]

Inspecting the dodecahedrons (I believe that's the proper plural), you determine that of the ten, only two are binding a thulhu. The eldrich runes on the other eight lie dormant, simple carvings on stone. But just like the ones in your pocket, the runes on the other two glow with the faintest light, in that unplaceable colour you are all so familiar with. As for what they bind, you all know there's only one way to find out.

[Minchandre]

West

With a faint smile, West draws one of his own cthulhu. He begins chanting in a low voice which slowly elevates, ending with him practically shouting, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Dzyant wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

With Dzyant summoned against the possibility of hostility, West quickly uses a pencil to sketch out a pentagram on a piece of floor and then places one of the occupied dodecahedra (his superior knowledge of grammar reveals that both the archaic, Greco- form and the newer Anglo- form are acceptable, as per the all-knowing dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dodecahedron)) in the center.

Standing back, and warning Dzyant to be ready, he chants again to summon forth the bound creature.

[Elrosth]

The runes pulse, and the air in front of the dodecahedron is bent open, pulling forth a glowing figure. Most of the glow fades immediately, leaving a small thulhu that West and Ted recognize as an Ulthar. The Ulthar looks around excitedly for a moment, and then apparently not seeing what it was hoping to, disappointedly sits on the ground. It looks up to West confused.

West, you also know these little guys are social creatures, and from the looks of it he's been alone for awhile.

[Minchandre]

West

The normally emotionless West softens somewhat at the sight of the sad, lonely cthulhu. The opportunity to augment his thulhu supply may also have had a say in the matter. "Hello there," he says, "You seem to have been alone for a while...perhaps your cultist has disappeared? Here, let us see how you are." He steps to the edge of the pentagram, and, waving at Dzyant to stay alert, takes a step inside, holding his arm out to the little crime against physics.

[Colt]

"Well, that was anti-climatic," says Steve, looking at the cuteish thulu. "I'll check the other dodecahedron while you play with that one." Steve grabs West's chalk and draws the pentagram, and setting the second dodecahedron inside, says "Open sesame.", then, his voice deepening, he mutters for a second under his breath some incantation.

[Elrosth]

The Ulthar looks nervous, but luckily as they're social creatures, it isn't too scared. It hesitantly walks over to West.

In the other circle, Steve finishes the incantation. Again, the runes glow, and another being tears through the fabric of space in front of the ball. A larger, headless body forms, and the light fades. You all recognize this thulhu as Y'gollywog, the mad thulhu only summoned by reading from the Revelations of Glaky the Wacky. It's suddenly quite crowded in the room, and the Y'gollywog looks quite a bit less pleased than the first one. From somewhere undefinable, due to it's lack of a head, you hear a deep hellish growl. It lifts one of it's hands, covered with teeth, and swings at Steve.

[Colt]

(OOC: Isn't it bound into the circle unless I break it? If not, then use the following action.)

Steve yells, "Trap him Mobeot!"

[Elrosth]

(OOC: normally it would be, and thulhu are quite prone to swing and just run into the barrier in this case. However...)

The great thulhu swings at the barrier, and his toothed hand bounces off. With the strike however, the parts of the floor with chalk on them splinter ever so slightly. You then hear the headless terror start to chant.

West, you recognize it as Glaky's Invocation, only backwards. He's still bound, but you get the impression that there's a distinct possiblity that he's strong enough to get out. I'll take Mobeot's bind before he does anything else if you still wanna enter the circle.

[Minchandre]

West

Why would I want to enter the circle with the Y'gollywog?

West's attention was quickly ripped from the Ulthar as he saw the great beast his "companion" had managed to unleash. He saw it test the circle, and then heard it begin to chant. That sounds familiar...almost like the Invocation of Glaky, but backwards... "Back away!" he shouts, "It's either trying to unsummon itself...or break the circle. I know not which. Dzyant, stand by to bind him!" While speaking, West continues to hold his arm out the Ulthar, and stays within that circle, counting on the extra layer of protection it might afford against the monstrosity.

[Colt]

Steve slowly backs away from the circle, motioning for his Mobeot to hang back.

[Elrosth]

I was referring to his Mobeot entering the circle to bind him. Though I suppose technically he might be able to do it outside of the circle, due to how that particluar bind attack works. And I'll wait for input from the other two before I move ahead.

[Colt]

(At this point I'm just waiting to see what the Ygolly'wog is doing.)

[AetherFox]

Ted, who hadn't been paying attention at the time, jumps back in surprise when the thulu beats agains the shield.
"Ah! Someone stop it!"

For future reference, how to we catch thulu? Do we just chuck dodecahera at it when it's downed?

[Elrosth]

You throw the dodecahedron, and make a check against your pokethulhu lore skill. If it's defeated, it's just a straight check. If it's still fighting, the check is modified by it's total remaining hp. This means that smaller thulhu might be able to be caught right away if you're a strong enough trainer.

[Elrosth]

So... maybe I won't wait for everybody...
The mad thulhu continues his chant, slowly rising in tempo. It shakes it's fists harder and harder to the beat. As it seems to reach a peak, he throws up his mawed fists to the air, and you hear a crack in the air.

"WOG!" he shouts, and swings his fist at the barrier. With another reverberating crack, the floor is completely shredded in the exact shape of the binding circle, and the barrier is shattered to pieces. "Y'golly..." it exclaims menacingly.

Without hesitation, Mobeot and Dyzant both make haste to bind the terrifying creature. Mobeot swirls around, and Dyzant emits a hum that shakes and splits the air around the Y'gollywog. As it's weakness is non-elucidian, and both of your traps are that, you did pretty well. You both got 3. The Y'gollywog struggles against it's 4th-dimensional bindings, and fights to break the time loop, shaking it's nonexistant head to clear it's mind. Roll of 5 and 3 beats both traps And succeeds! It levels it's nonexistant stare at the Dyzant and prepares to swing! You guys are up. I'm gonna work on getting ahold of our last player in the meanwhile...

[Minchandre]

West

West watches as the Y'gollywog manages to clear the summoning circle and then the attempted traps both. When the headless monstrosity turns against Dzyant, he recommends that the recently-recovered thulhu, "Burrow through the Aether, Dzyant! Michelson and Morley did not know that of which they spoke!"


This game lives!

Dzyant Burrows Through Aether, Dodge 2 (Non-Euclidean)

[Colt]

"Mobeot, Keep trying! You can hold him!" yells Steve, hoping he's right...

Glad to have this back, I missed this campaign.

[Elrosth]

Redoubling their efforts, the thulhu continue to put the squeeze on the headless horror. Each get a successful roll of 3 Irritated, the mad thulhu again struggles against his bindings, A 4 and a 5 against his speed of 9 beat each trap. and again bursts through. Meanwhile, the Ulthar cowers at the far end of it's circle, clearly not wanting to stick around for this battle. "Ul!" it squeaks.

Yeah, sorry about that. I was hoping to get everyone on the same page, but we seem to have lost two players so far. I like this game too though. :smallsmile:

[Minchandre]

West

Keeping one hand lightly on the frightened Ulthar West comforts the poor beast even as he directs Dzyant to battle. "Do not worry, small Ulthar. We will prevail. Besides, this circle is not simply a trap: it is also a shelter. While in here, we are doubly protected." He then changes the pitch of his voice, directing it at Dzyant, "Excellent, Dzyant! Bind him again!"


As before, 1 dice and Non-Euclidean

[Colt]

"I however am somewhat less protected! Mobeot, freeze him!" says Steve, backing away from the Y'gollywog

Icy Winds, 1d12 Icy.
Also, can we have two thulu out at a time?

[Elrosth]

The Y'gollywog lets loose a hideous roar as it's local space-time warps around it. And even as it struggles, a blast of frigid wind splits and echos through the riddled corridors of it's sundered plane. Dyzant succeeds with a roll of 2 and traps, and Mobeot succeeds with a roll of 2, dealing 2 damage. Slowly, the Y'gollywog pulls itself from it's twisted reality, grimmacing at it's partially frozen flesh. Successful escape, but since it had to spend it's turn escaping the damage goes through, and it's down to 3 hp. Also, you can't have more than one thulhu out. The binding draws on your life force, and won't split like that. Useful loopholes exist though. For example, the Ulthar isn't bound to any of you, so it could theoretically be convinced to fight in addition to your actual thulhu. Same for the Y'gollywog, but I dunno how successful you'll find that route.

[Colt]

"Good one Mobeot! Do it again, get him down on this one!" Says Steve, still slowly walking away from the insane thulu.

[Elrosth]

Mobeot again blasts the Y'gollywog with frigid arctic gusts.
Roll of 3 succeeds and Y'gollywog takes 3 damage.
Angered, the Y'gollywog quickly ducks, using it's momentum to bring it back up un-face to un-face with Mobeot. It levels what you would assume would be where it's eyes were, if it had a head, directly at Mobeot and swings!
Dodge roll of 9 heals 3 hp, leaving 6 left over and initiates a speed attack. A subsequent roll of 6 deals 6 damage to Mobeot, putting it at -1 hp.
Struck back, Mobeot slithers and swerves in the air, attempting to correct itself from the devistating blow!

Alrighty, Mobeot at -1, Y'gollywog at 3, Dyzant at full hp, Ulthar at full hp and halfway inside West's coat. Ted and Will are at full and standing back to enjoy the show. Mobeot will need to do a dodge attack as it's next action or faint, and provided it rolls higher than 6, it has the option of initiating a speed attack just like Y'gollywog did. It works by simply replacing your power and speed score with whatever the remainder roll was for the rest of that round. And even if you get a 1, it still means you get to dodge and attack in the same turn, so you may as well go for it.

[Colt]

Steve runs towards his Mobeot saying, "Come on, you can survive this! Make it back!"

[Elrosth]

Mobeot snaps and flails, catching itself and using the momentum to spring back at the Y'gollywog!
Roll of 11 on the dodge roll brings Mobeot up to 5 hp, and leaves it's speed and power scores at 5 for the rest of the turn. You now have the option of an injure, frighten, or trap attack before the Y'gollywog goes.

Meanwhile, from behind you, you hear a bvVWIPf! and then a slight fizzing noise, along with the smell of brimstone and very old coffee. West, Ted, and Steve each look behind themselves and then at each other, quickly doing the mental arithmetic and coming up one short.

[Colt]

"Good recovery Mobeot! You're amazing! Now, try to bind him up so I can have him!" Steve says as he looks back at the others. "Guys, can you help me? In any way?"

This is just getting amusing... It's fun though. Should we re-recruit?

[Elrosth]

Maybe... I'll try one more time to get ahold of them via PM though.

[Elrosth]

Yeah, we can probably recruit more. Feel free to invite anyone you've liked playing with before, and I'll post in the recruiting thread.