Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Murkus]

The Green

Artie visibly winces at the word “odd.” It seems Vivi struck a nerve.
”Ah. Well you see...this morning I found myself inheriting the role of a very old magic being. And my looks changed well, quite a bit. I think the scales and tail came from her but a lot of the smaller details felt like they were my ideas. My memory of the whole thing is a bit hazy. Um. Did I...overdo things? Oh dear, I-I um, just wanted, ah-“ her speech devolves into stammering as she stares at the ground and her coils instead of Vivi. It seems Vivi may have struck a self-conscious nerve.
The wings on Artie’s arms and head open half-heartedly. The gold feathers among the blue and green shimmer (is it hot out here or is it just the one wearing a sweater?)

The Green

Viviana holds up her hands, instantly placating, a gentle smile etching her features. "Oh, honey, no, no! I'm just unused to seeing people like yourself is all! It's odd to me. I meant nothing bad by it!" She steps forward and tries to fold a hand over one of Artie's. "I'd love to understand your situation better, and help you if I can."

[Deathkeeper]

The Green

Artie does seem reassured at the very least.
"Well...if nothing else I don't suppose I can rush you on the clothes issue? I think I'm boiling in this thing. I have to remember that I don't sweat anymore." That's what the wings are for.
"And I don't really understand my own position very well either so I'll settle for a rest for now. Climbing down a mountain was about as hard as I expected. At least I don't have ankles to break..." That had indeed been a concern of her mortal self when it came to rocky terrain.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

One two three and WHAM!

The ice around the edge of the door splinters and cracks, the door swinging open suddenly and likely dumping our heroes on their faces.

Beyond the door?

Another smallish room, every surface covered in thick sheets of ice. Huge icy stalactites and stalagmites adorn the floor and ceiling, the room filled with the sound of steady dripping water. The chamber isn't THAT large, with only one frozen door leading out and to the north on the opposite end of the long, wide hall.

Two of the stalagmites are covered in very suspicious looking holes.

Suspicious enough that Jeanette is eyeing them as she gathers herself to her feet.

More traps?

More monsters?

Stay tuned to find out!


[Found a Fortress]

June is right.

The zombie IS really strong!

Though she might be surprised at her one strength when she begins wrestling with it. Maybe it was something she got from that dragon that burned up? Regardless of the reason, the two are tussling back and forth in a stalemate! Thankfully June isn't alone. Pepper comes bounding over to provide some assistance, grabbing the dragur by its other shoulder and using her surplus of legs to better maintain her footing. One step forward! Then another! Then into the coffin the undead monster stumbles!

Quick Spako!

The lid!


[Mountain Peak]

Ice and stone and wind.

The top of the world is, more often than not, an inhospitable place. Awe inspiring and beautiful, yes. But not where one ought to be living. Which is why the flight of winding stone stairs carved into the living rock are such an oddity. They spiral their way around the peak, a path flanked by ice where the way cuts into the snow clinging to the mountain like a frozen crown until at last it reaches a broad, flat, snowy plane studded with boulders clothed in white. Perhaps strangest of all, spiraling, angular patters are carved through the ice and into the bedrock. Arcane sigils of smooth, glossy obsidian standing stark against the matte grey mountain top. The air seems to almost vibrate with scarcely contained power.

Something is buried here.

Old and forgotten.

"Oow."

And guarded.

He isn't sure what drew him here, exactly. Just that it was something important. Something he needed. This isn't the first time he's made his way to the roof of the world. The mountain peaks are always a little different. They always seem to hold treasures. And dangers.

In this particular case, a knight in black with a face-plate like a snarling ogre.

There's no way anyone could actually live up here, but these things didn't always have to make sense.

Getting blind-sided by the knight's mace hadn't been great. The force had thrown him off his feet and into one of the boulders, scattering snow and sending no small portion cascading down onto his head. The pain was there, but it was distant. He didn't need to worry about being hurt here. No, he had to worry about being injured to the point that he woke up. He might not be able to find this peak again. He hadn't ever seen it before. And he really wanted to find out whatever it was that was hidden here.

That meant fighting, probably.

That means being bigger. That means getting stronger. That means igniting the fire in his heart. Wings and claws, teeth and scales, fur and feathers. There were always two shapes in the dreams. Human was one. This... wyvern? was the other. It always emerged when he needed to fly.

Or fight.

"Back off," he warns the knight on the off chance that this might end without a throwdown. "I'm just looking around. I don't have any quarrel with you."

The knight responds by gripping his kanabo tighter and intoning, "NONE SHALL PASS."

Right.

Not a conversationalist.

This is probably going to end with someone losing some limbs.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Well, seems simple if not necessarily safe.
Linus keeps his shield and protective sword at the ready as he advances down the hall. He's fully expecting something to shoot out at them so it's better if the one with the shield goes first, right?
"More darts, you think?" he mumbles.

Found Fortress

Spako whirls, gripping the lid on both sides with his foreclaws and slamming it down onto the coffin as hard as he can muster without breaking the thing entirely.
Breaking things is very easy to do when you're a dragon even when you're not a particularly large dragon.
"Um. Is that that?" he asks as he looks down at the sarcophagus.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

A flickering firelight inexorably forces its way up the mountain. It has little regard for the terrain or weather. It comes into view gradually, a figure huddled against the cold, bearing aloft something that blazes with arcane fire. A battleaxe, heavy and double-headed. As it approaches, it becomes clearer. A lizardman, wrapped in heavy furs, with a shield slung across his back and burning axe in his hand. He hears the booming voice yell, "NONE SHALL PASS" and his head rises. He opens his mouth to the heavens and lets loose a challenge in the draconic tongue, then continues his climb, weapon ready. <I am Kothar, champion of the mother goddess, conqueror of Mount Vokthiss, slayer of Vox Vorago, one of Three. Know who you face, and be afraid!>

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

"I don't think so. Darts are getting old," Jeany replies.

It turns out that she's right.

As our heroes near the suspect objects tendrils come rushing out of the holes to try to grapple our heroes!

No doubt these are vicious eyecicles.

Normally Jeany would bring her weapons to bear here, but the tendrils are pinning her arms to her body! And now they're pulling her back toward the one-eyed monster with a cavernous mouth full of icy teeth! No doubt it doesn't intend to do anything kind to her.

Maybe Linus can help?

Jeany would probably like that.


[Mountain Peak]

Someone else is up here.

Was someone else up here before?

There were...

People. But there aren't this time. Things are off the rails, maybe?

These things rarely make sense.

So! Shouting.

Kothar will be met with an interesting sight. A black knight wearing ornate armor, the helm's visor the face of a snarling ogre. They hold a two-handed club with its head shod in studded iron. And a wyvern? Certainly an odd creature since it isn't readily apparent if it's supposed to be a bird or a mammal or a reptile. The chimeric creature is clearly no beast, however. Over its dark grey body its wearing a forest green and earthy brown tabard cut to accommodate a wearer with wings on their arms, a tail, and prominent dorsal plates. Long, bat-like ears zero in on Kothar pretty quickly.

"Hey you might not want to come up here," the wyvern calls out in draconic. "This guy is pretty anti-social."

As if to drive home this point, the knight raises the club skyward for a moment as a peal of thunder rumbles through the dark clouds gathering above the peak. Then the weapon is smashed into the ice with the sound of a thunderclap as a rushing wave of concussive magic rips through the snow toward the paladin!

"NONE SHALL PASS!" the knight bellows again.

The wyvern, meanwhile, seems a bit upset like this. "Hey hey hey you can't just go around clubbing people for taking a hike you jerk!" he yells as he braces his feet, grips the boulder he had been smacked into, and with a twirl hurls the stone toward the knight like a deeply out of regulation size shotput ball.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus steps forth, pressing his shield against Jeanie's side to make sure the tentacles can't pull her any further while he brings down his sword on them. It's not really a chopping sword but it has an edge so it should be able to slice just fine.
He really ought to find out her name, though. And his new boots probably are better for walking on this ice than his old shoes so that's nice.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

Kothar sees the wave of force coming and steps towards it. One step, two... He jumps, leaping higher than he should be able to, and in the same movement, pulling the shield from his back and readying it on his left arm while he brandishes his axe with his right. He lands gracefully, the sweep of his tail kicking up a cloud of powdery snow, and continues moving towards the knight in a steady charge.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

Maybe once all three pearls are restored to the sword she'll be able to talk?

She can tell Linus feels bad about not knowing her name. He'll feel reassurance from the sword that she doesn't mind.

Regardless!

She's still pretty good at slicing through tentacles.

Right through 'em, leaving Jeany free!

No time to celebrate, though, since the tentacles are already regenerating and reaching for our heroes again! This time around Jeany has enough time to bring her own sword to bear and begins swinging it in wide arcs to fend off the icy grasping limbs!

"We need to take these monsters out. They're growing back tentacles as fast as we can cut them," Jeanette says.


[Mountain Peak]

For as heavy as the knight's weapon and armor appear, they move with uncanny grace in avoiding the boulder tossed their way. The stone bounces once before skidding through the snow and coming to a rest directly above one of the etched lines. There's a not so subtly hissing sound as the snow coating the boulder begins boiling off into steam.

The knight is briefly off balance from dodging the stone, but that doesn't stop them from charging toward Kothar with intent to smash that club into the paladin with thunderous force.

As for That Guy, he heaves a long-suffering sigh before sprinting through the snow toward the melee. He doesn't look to have any weapons so it's anyone's guess what he's planning on doing.

Maybe he's going to bite the knight?

Through... their armor?

Either way!

Time for a brawl! Hopefully Kothar doesn't get smooshed.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus nods to Jeanie's assessment. "Right."
He advances (probably with his companion in tow) with his shield up. Luckily all these monsters have big obvious eye weakspots which is good when you have a sword built for poking because eyes are generally weak to poking.
Which is what is going to happen if these eyecicles don't stop Linus from getting into sword range! poke poke poke.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

The only defense these creatures have appears to be their grasping tentacles. And even then they can't attack with them THAT quickly.

It would seem they mostly rely on ambush to capture their prey.

what does that mean for how this particular conflict resolves?

Poorly for the monsters.

After an unhealthy amount of eye-stabbing the beasts are slain!

"We've got to be getting near the end of this level," Jeanette mutters as she heads for the next door.

Unless this is a REALLY BIG dungeon level.

But hopefully not. That would take forever to navigate. It already feels like it has been months.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus nods as he shakes the monster blood off of his sword and follows Jeanie.
"Yeah. Maybe if we're lucky it's like a reverse pyramid and the levels get smaller." he suggests. It has been an awfully long trek hasn't it? He could really go for a warm sandwich or something.
He's only really had that roasted octopus this whole time!

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

At a run, Kothar charges headlong into the black knight. His axe carves a brilliant arc of flames both arcane and divine through the air, toward the knight's shoulder. His shield rises at an angle to ward off the incoming blow, a hungry presence lurking inside to devour the stormy magic the weapon carries and soften the blow.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

A sandwich WOULD be good right now, wouldn't it?

Our heroes find themselves entering a branching hallway! To the north is another door that appears to be frozen shut. The smell of rot and a strange muttering can be heard from this direction. To the west is another non-frozen door and from this direction there is only eerie silence. To the sound, at the end of a short passage, is a frozen waterfall.

Hopefully there isn't another octopus behind this one.

Our heroes don't need to deal with a EYECE OCTOPEYE in addition to the previous monster now do they?

"Supposedly this dungeon is three levels deep but I guess we'll find out."

They sure will!

Where to next?


[Mountain Peak]

The axe crashes into the knight's armor, but the black plate absorbs the worst of the blow, though a gash glowing candy red is left in the metal. Apparently this foe is a resilient one. Though Kothar seems to be fortunate that he has his own defenses, because when that club slams into his shield it probably would have resulted in a grievous would if not for his magical protection blunting the worst of the attack.

It's at about this time that the wyvern arrives to participate in the melee. With wings folded tight against his arms, he lashes out with his claws, crackling electric blue light forming blazing talons that he tries to hook under the knight's cuirass to try prying it off. The mettle sizzles and pops at the wyvern's touch, causing the knight to react violently.

First?

The butt of the knight's club smashes into the wyvern's gut, sending him staggering back a few steps. Then the snarling face-plate of the helm surges forward as the knight aims a vicious headbutt at Kothar's nose!

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

Kothar twists back from the headbutt and uses the moment to strike out with his tail at the knight's legs in a bid to knock his foe over and gain the upper hand. He's strong, stronger than he has any right to be given his size, and more than happy to grapple in closer than the knight's weapon can reach.

[5a Violista]

[Found Fortress]

When they finally get the draugr in, June is pretty glad. (And makes sure she doesn't pinch her fingers in the coffin.)

Also, a little tired.

"Um, I hope that's it. Good job, guys."

She sighs in relief.
Now that they're not fighting a zombie and that loud chanting and bright lights, she can finally look around the room and see what's going on here. "Whatever woke it up...I hope it doesn't wake it up again."

Alternatively, they could just leave and keep on looking for whatever those two originally came here for.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Peak]

A tail sweep is an old classic. Always a great way to throw a foe off balance.

Or it would be typically, at least.

Smashing the knight in the shoulder wouldn't have made it quite so obvious. After all, that was bringing down the weapon on top of them.

But trying to trip up the warrior?

The knight is far heavier than should be possible.

It's like trying to throw off the balance of a mountain.

The knight thrusts toward Kothar with the haft of the club, given that they're too close to swing the two handed weapon effectively.

The wyvern, meanwhile, seems to be realizing that there's something more going on here. A frontal assault isn't working. "There's got to be something else at work here; this guy isn't budging."

Maybe something is empowering the black knight?

There isn't much up here.

Just the etched lines, some boulders, and-

-and that short, squat obsidian oni statue the size of a pineapple perched atop a stack of stones at the center of the plateau.

"I've got a hunch! Try to keep him from coming after me!" the wyvern calls out as he spreads his wings and takes off toward the idol.

As soon as That Guy starts moving toward the statue the knight will attempt to disengage from Kothar.


[Found a Fortress]

Nope.

Stuffing the draugr into the coffin appears to have done it.

The thing isn't climbing out again.

Victory!

Pepper is, of course, going to check out that very large conspicuous ornate treasure chest. Because why wouldn't she do that?

"Oooh wowie, mithril ingots! This is exactly what I was looking for," she says, smiling broadly as she picks up several silvery metal bars.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

The knight may be heavy as a mountain, but Kothar is strong as a giant. He steps back from the blow, then rushes forward again as the knight disengages, muttering a prayer. <In the name of the goddess, you will face me, villain!> The feathered amulet around his neck blazes with holy radiance like sunlight dappling the forest floor, and divine power targets the monstrous knight, compelling it to face Kothar in a duel to the death. Maybe it can resist. It seems resilient. But Kothar is powerful with magic.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Peak]

Resilient to physical force, certainly.

But resilient to spiritual force?

Somewhat stilted in its actions, the knight turns back toward Kothar, tightens its grip on its club, and rushes toward him!

It makes a crushing, downward stroke with its weapon aiming to simply mash him into a pulp. Thunderous power once again resonates within the weapon, the fury of a storm in a bottle waiting to explode, but we already know the paladin's divine protection is sure. Hopefully he can take another blow like the last one.

As for That Guy?

Well.

He's reached the idol.

"Okay now what," he mutters as he tries picking the squat effigy of black glass off its pedestal of stacked stones.

He glances back at the knight.

No reaction.

Hmm...

Maybe he can...

He raises the statue above his head and HURLS it against the mountain top!

It lands in the snow with a thud.

"Oh. Right. Obsidian is pretty tough, isn't it."

It sure is.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus ponders the path as he examines the waterfall.
"You think we could break this and go through? We have pretty good track record with waterfalls." He kicks at the ice to see if it'll break.

Found Fortress

Spako gives a sigh of relief and curls up.
"Well, I'm glad we got what we came for. Anything good in there? How fast can your armor eat all the metal you want it to anyway?" he wasn't really sure how that works so he's curious to see it in action.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

This is what Kothar wanted. He steps easily to the side and lets the crushing blow go into the ground. He raises his axe, then brings it down, once, twice, at the knight's damaged shoulder. He's faced more powerful and more dangerous foes than this one and come out on top. He has decades of combat experience. He's in his element.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

"Probably?" Jeany guesses.

Linus kicks several feet thick worth of solid ice.

It's thankful that he's wearing good boots otherwise that probably wouldn't have been much fun.

Jeany lines up a swing with her sword as the weapon begins humming moments before she thwacks it!

CRUNCH!

The ice is chopped through, making a grating noise that sets one's teeth on edge.

And behind the water fall?

...several boxes of frozen raviolis.

Jeany just sort of... stares at them.

"What."

Sure.

Why not?


[Mountain Peak]

The knight weathers the blows, though that gash in its armor is growing deeper.

It then decides to take a slightly different route.

Raising its club above its head, it brings it down without even trying to hit Kothar. Instead, a thunderous blast explodes from the point of impact! As close as Kothar is, getting struck by the concussive explosion probably wouldn't be very comfortable.

That Guy, meanwhile, glares at the statue.

Okay.

There really aren't any great rocks to just bash the thing against so time to try something else?

Eerie blue flame licks at his teeth at he takes a deep breath, more light bleeding through his tabard.

Then piercing blue light, magnesium bright, lances out of the wyvern's mouth and splashes against the statue. The nearby snow flashes to steam near instantly as the surrounding rock starts to glow. Red, then orange, then yellow, then white. The statue, however, still endures.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

You'd be surprised what you can weather with a good shield. Even more so when that shield eats magic. Kothar hunkers behind his shield, which greedily sucks at the energy of the blast. Even so, he slides back along the slick ground, back... And off the edge of the stairs, off the mountain.

That's a long way down.

For an agonizing moment, all is silent.
Then a scaly, clawed hand reaches up over the edge of the cliff, its grip tight enough to crack the stone. Then another follows it, and Kothar begins to heave himself back up onto the path.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Peak]

That Guy keeps up the withering stream of plasma, though he's clearly flagging. The area around the effigy is nearly molten and yet the statue is still unblemished.

This isn't working. Maybe something else?

With a snort and a few wisps of ionized air, the wyvern shuts off his assault and plucks the statue out of the lava pit.

Weird.

Not even hot.

What the heck is he supposed to do with this thing?

The knight, meanwhile, is approaching Kothar with weapon raised. No doubt it intends to clobber him again while he's trying to recover and thus send him tumbling to his death.

Closer.

Cloooser!

Hmm. That boulder that was tossed atop the arcane lines has up and melted to prevent the etching from being obscured. Maybe if he tosses it in there?

Hup!

Down it goes.

The second it touches the arcane array the idol goes up as if it were made of tinder. WHOOSH!

The knight suddenly falters, its pitch black, glossy armor suddenly as grey and dull as the surrounding stone.

[Gullara]

[A Hunter must Hunt]

It seems to take a moment for the cat to spot the pixie, and even longer to realize what it's looking at it.

It was the tiniest woman ever which only could mean one thing.

Suddenly, it's not a bird nor a plane cat, it's Super-Anika a particularly gigantic purple woman who is looking at the pixie with concern. But perhaps not the kind she'd want at the moment considering the spear pointing.

"Yeah, I'm a druid. I can be any animal I want." She gestures at the pixie. "But look at you, did those damn gnomes get ya'? Like, with their zap-magic?" The druid makes a finger gun motion with her hands.

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"You're definitely not a bird." Mimi restates when Anika turns into Anika. The pixie flits down from the tree, keeping a wary distance from the purple woman. "What're you talking about? Did you hit your head?" She did fall a ways there.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

The slight stagger is all the opening Kothar needs. He gets a foot on the ice and immediately lunges at the knight, his axe flashing through the air as he shouts, "By Tlacua's will... BEGONE!" Divine power roars around the axe head as it tears at the knight's weakened armor.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus blinks, taking a moment to look under, around, and in the boxes just to make sure this isn’t a prank with the real treasure hidden among the junk.
”Weird. Uh, quiet path next?”
Linus knows that either way will try to kill him so might as well pick the one that isn’t as unpleasant just to exist in.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Peak]

This time around?

The axe punches through the knight's armor, the blade embedding itself in its chest.

The construct just stands there for a moment-

-and then explodes.

Bits of rock are hurled everywhere, leaving only its thunderous club laying in the middle of a small blast zone surrounded by melted snow and blackened rock.

Well!

That certainly did it!

"Hey! Are you alright?" the wyvern yells from over yonder.


[iDungeon]

Turns out one of the boxes contains a key.

The rest contain... well.

Exactly what you would expect.

"The smell coming from the other room isn't encouraging," Jeany agrees as she shoves open the door to reveal a room made of... ice cubes?

Big ones.

Maybe five feet cubed, each. Several are arranged here and there around the room with the occasional iron post sticking out of the floor. Jeany kicks one of them, sending it skidding across the floor until it comes to a crashing halt against another block.

It's a sliding block puzzle.

"Nope."

Jeanette levels her venom cannon at the far door and just blows the stupid thing to bits.

"Next room."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Hunter must Hunt]

The druid frowns. "Why do people keep asking me that? No, I didn't hit my head. Well, I mean, I do sometimes but that's completely unrelated!"

Once again she gestures at Mimi. "What's relevant is how tiny you are! I figured some evil gnome must have shrunk you down or something."

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

Kothar brushes snow off his fur cloak. "Fine." He's not perfectly unharmed, but it's not serious. He's had worse. A few scrapes and bruises, a bit of strain in his wrists from saving himself from that fall, and a little shaken up by all the loud noises. But it's not a problem. He finishes the hike up to the top of the mountain and surveys the peak, with its arcane sigils. "Who are you? What is this place?"