Strange Aeons 2: The Thrushmoor Terror [IC]

[digiman619]

At a later point in the day, Flair excused himself to talk to his mental roommate. He came back a few minutes later with a slightly defeated tone to his voice. "Okay. There's no pretty way to say this, but when we all wake up in the morning, I won't have any hair. If we had enough privacy, I might be able to pass it off as I wanted to change my look, but since that isn't an option, I need to be straightforward with you.

Apparently, my brain is now so incredibly powerful that it is at serious risk of overheating if I keep my hair. I know that sounds strange, but I have been assured that this is the case. I'm not particularly thrilled with this change, but it is what is apparently required. From how I understand it, this won't take any active measure on my part; the hair will simply fall out. Jens, you are the most medically knowledgeable among us, so if you want to assess me to prove that I am not currently suffering form any disease that can cause hair loss, feel free. Likewise, if any of you wish to observe me to prove that I'm not going to be individually ripping them out, you are free to do that as well."

He sighed. "The point is that I will look different in the morning. If that bothers any of you, tell me now."

[silphael]

With barely a gaze and a knowing smile, Maeni says, slightly playfully :

"Well, that makes more skin to kiss, I heard some people might like that !"

[digiman619]

Flair smiled. "I'm glad some people are good with such a change." He then sighed. "But now that I think of it, the folks in town are definitely going to make a deal of it. They'll superstitiously say I'm cursed or something and this island will go on for urban legends for generations. 'Oh, don't stay on that island. I heard one guy stayed overnight there and he went bald!'" He shook his head. "Let's just say that it would have been easier on everyone if we would have been able to get back into town tonight, but it is what it is."

[Blackhawk101]

The aged St. Dorn smiles ruefully and rubs his receding hair-line. “Happens to the best of us, son.”
The beautifully bald Brother Jaume slumbers peacefully.

[silphael]

"On the other hand, we can make it differently : 'The exorcism of that curse costed him his hair. Well, better his than mine, after all' wouldn't that work ?"

[bcool999]

Jens

Still fussing about Jaume and Maeni, Jens only half listens to Flair's hair loss drama. "My medical opinion? If it all falls out at once you're fine. Possibly exposed to a corrosive substance on the scalp but fine besides that. If it comes out in tufts and clumps over a period of weeks or days then I shall be concerned." Jens says as the party settles in for the night adding, "If anything I am more concerned with your ability to say that your brain is too overpowered for hair with a straight face."

Jens tries to add a smirk to the statement to take any sting it might have had out.

[digiman619]

Flair turned to Dorn. "Yes, but it's generally a gradual process, not a binary all/none affair." Listening to Maeni, he sounded pensive. "I suppose that'll do." he said, stroking his chin. His beard was getting quite scraggy; there weren't any barbers available in the Asylum, and he'd not had the chance to visit one since returning. In fact, he'd been planning to shave it all off as part of that bath he'd been planning. But now that it was going to be all the hair on his head, he was going to have give some thought on how to use it.

[lostsole31]

The party wakes up the next morning, and strange as it is, they are pretty sure they smell something cooking ... some type of meat, to be sure.

[digiman619]

Flair blinks himself awake. As he sits up and rubs his face, his hands slide upward to his now bare head. For a half second he begins to freak out, but he quickly remembers that he was given heads up for it. A sigh of acceptance later, he gets to his feet. Smelling the cooking food, he steps to the slat covering their sleeping room. Getting the slat to move on his own would be tricky, so instead he tries his best to peek through the slats to find the source of the smell.

[lostsole31]

The screen was lashed together by someone with keen wilderness skills, and there is nothing to see through, except maybe the faintest crack that shows there is firelight in the large cave .... some distance away ... to make that a wan light that offers nothing in the darkness of the room you are currently in.

[digiman619]

Flair frowns, but decides that until the rest of his compatriots wake up, there's not much he can do.

[bcool999]

Jens

Waking up in the cave wasn’t the best sleep Jens could ask for, but it wasn’t as bad as sleep in the Asylum was. He sees a bald man moving about and blanks a bit before realizing it was Flair and he indeed go bald. Shaking his head at the strangeness of it all, Jens finally notices the smell of cooking meat and the faintest light coming from out the screen.

Filled with caution, Jens double checks his collective connections and that mental messaging is allowed.

Spoiler: Ooc

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Double checking that collective has the party added and if they aren’t in it for any reason then an invite is sent.

Spoiler: Jens >>> Collective

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”Good morning everyone. We seem to not be alone?”

[lostsole31]

An older man's voice is heard intoning a spell, and Dorn's warhammer flares up with light as bright as a torch. With that, Jens is then able to see everyone and reconnect the collective (and given everyone a cheery greeting).

Brother Jaume and Maeni?

[silphael]

Before the torch, Maeni was quite comfortable. She took time to grab her spellbook, until suddenly someone decided to light up the freaking sun in the middle of the room.

Spoiler: Collective

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"What the ?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Maeni is currently dazzled because of light sensitivity, and she'll need some time before being able to cast penumbra to manage that better.

[digiman619]

Flair tepes back, still leaning against the screen.

Spoiler: tepe

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"Yeah, I can't see anything through this thing. And in case whoever's on the far side is unfriendly, I don't want to try and push this over until we're all ready. How's Jaume doing?"

[Blackhawk101]

Brother Jaume blinks and rubs his sleep swollen eyes. Dried mucus still clings to his beard in crusty rivulets. Using his staff for support he lurches to his feet and gives a thumbs up to the group.

[digiman619]

Turning back and seeing the admittedly-still-not-in-great-shape Jaume get to his feet, he tepes back to the group.

Spoiler: Tepe

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"Okay, that's everyone. Anyone with ranged capabilities stand back and be ready to fire if we have trouble. Jaume, you're still ill, so you hang back as well. Everyone else get up here and help me move this slat."

[lostsole31]

The group moves the slat to the side. On the far side of the cave to the east, mainly where the alchemy lab is but also where there was a floor fire and a cauldron, a hideous creature looks back at you with a hideous smile. The man-fish-giant is about 11' tall, but comfortably seated cross-legged, sampling whatever was in the cauldron that he was cooking (the cauldron was empty before you went to bed). It stares at you with cold, black eyes from a piscine face on a green-skinned, webbed-digit, obesely fat humanoid shape.

"You're up now, wonderful," it creaks in a masculine but tremulous voice with multiple vocal folds. "Tell ol' Marsh Tritrion your tale of how she died."

[digiman619]

Flair stepped forward and motioned his teammates to hold. "Well, we were sent to investigate a rumor about this island. Someone saw lights here and thought it portended doom, so we went to here to check it out, not expecting much. We got grabbed by some assassin vine, but we kept investigating and she got the drop on us. We tried to talk her down, but she sent her fungal wolves at us and refused to stand down, so we fought her off." He also passed a telepathic message to the party.

Spoiler: tepe

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"Just a heads-up; if he offers you some of his stew, you don't want what it"

[lostsole31]

"Pity," he throat-hisses a .... laugh? "But she wasn't strong enough to keep her home and lost it. To victor go spoils, heh. I have no need for this fancy stuff. Breakfast?"

[digiman619]

Flair shook his head. "I doubt my frail human stomach could handle marsh giant cuisine." He looked over the the large slat covering the mouth of the cave. "Is there anything else you want from us?"

[lostsole31]

"Yes, to sit with me and partake of breakfast," he says. "I make breakfast for all. You would not anger me by ignoring my hospitality, would you?"

[bcool999]

Jens

Spoiler: Jens >>> Collective

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You know, a secure line of communication is wasted by dancing around an issue Flair. Would eating the soup be worth it to avoid a fight? Or is avoiding a fight not on today's itinerary?

Remembering how injured Maeni was yesterday, Jens moves himself nearby to help cover her should violence erupt.

Spoiler: OOC

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I know we are not in combat (yet) but I would like Jens to be in a position to hop in front of Maeni if needed.

[digiman619]

Flair makes a quick tepe to the collective before sighing. "No, I wouldn't want that. What have you made for us?"

Spoiler: tepe

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"Marsh giants are cannibals; there's a better than even chance that the meat in the stew is the remains of the woman we buried yesterday." There was a pause. "But I don't think we have a choice. He's got us dead to rights; half the party is injured and we haven't had time to get ready this morning. If he decides he wants us dead, I don't think we'll be able to stop him. So unless anyone else has any relevant ideas, I think we're going to be forced to play along."

[Blackhawk101]

Spoiler: BJ>>>Collective

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“Don’t hold back on my account. I can fight but eating that stew might kill me!”

BJ moves up to stand next to Dorn smiling his most sincere smile.
“Thank you for you most hospitable offer, however we are overdue for meeting with our companions in town. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Spoiler

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attempt diplomacy.

[silphael]

Maeni seems to seriously consider taking part in that breakfast.

Spoiler: Collective

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"Aren't they antropophages instead of cannibals then ? Anyway, that breakfast smells quite good."

[digiman619]

Flair approaches the giant, sitting down and awaiting the meal, tepeing as he does so.

Spoiler: Tepe

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"If we was going to let us just go, he wouldn't have replaced the slat at the entrance. No, he has something planned and if we don't play along, he can almost certainly kill us outright, especially with us still having wounded and our resources still tapped. Hell, even if we were all at 100%, it'd be a tough fight. I think we are forced to play the bad hand we're dealt."

[lostsole31]

Dorn says, "Forgive me, but before I eat in the morning, I must wash my face and hands. Religious observance, sorry, but then breakfast does sound good. Mind if I just step to the tidal pool to wash my face and hands?"

Marsh Tritrion smiles and says, "Sure. I will open the door for you, and stand at the the door until you come back."

The giant stands and goes to the screen as Dorn gets to that point as well.

Anyone else do anything?

[Blackhawk101]

Brother Jaume smiles at their host.
“Yeah, I could use a wash up myself!”
He heads for the river.

[digiman619]

Flair said nothing, but got up and moved far enough to see out the cave mouth. He hated the situation he was in; the giant had them dead to rights but he only hoped that that the giant's offer of hospitality was of the old kind, where host had responsibilities to their guest, like one of (at least to some degree of) safety. Not wanting to risk further upsetting his host, he gets up to see Dorn walk out, though that was mostly a cover; he was really checking to see if the cairns were disturbed. Once he has his answer, he returns to his seat and inspects the pot, hoping to figure out exactly what he was being offered.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move behind Maeni to get a good look outside, seeing if the cairns have been disturbed. Once I have a confirmation one way or the other, return to the pot and Perception to try to determine what's in it.