| Kiira’Tiru; The Crystalline Tower | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 8 2006, 07:48 PM (3,067 Views) | |
| eocine | Oct 29 2006, 02:16 PM Post #101 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The assassin nodded at Greg’s agreement, not wanting to speak unless he absolutely had to for the time being, at least until he was certain that ay words would go unheard by any creatures that might happen to be in the area. Pulling his hood up over his head Karosin then drifted away towards the shadows that lined the walls, and seemed to disappear into the darkness. He carefully edged his way along the wall until he reached the turn in the tunnel. Pressing his back flat against the cold stone he slid forwards and craned his neck around the corner, snatching a glimpse of what was beyond. A series of bedding pallets rested against the wall, and three of them were occupied by what he could only guess to be Dwarves, given how short were the sleeping figures. He pulled his head back around the corner and rested it against the cool stone, pondering what to do next. In the years past there would have been no question, the dwarves would all have did with as little conscience as a fisherman shows to a gutted fish. But now things were more complicated, and he was under a moral obligation to avoid killing them if it could be avoided. Still at least they were sleeping, and he had utterly no doubt that he could creep past them without awakening them, but could the sorcerer?... He looked back once more, examining things more closely and looking beyond the living area into the cavern beyond them. There was what appeared to be a stone effigy stood in the middle of the cavern, which was possibly some kind of symbol from the past. Or at least that was what the assassin assumed until the thing started moving, turning around to face him. As soon as he noticed it start to move though he whipped his head out of sight once more before reaching up to press his fingertips to his temple. An elemental or a golem of some sort, it was too dark for him to be sure, but either way it would probably make things slightly more tricky. Personally he hated fighting creatures like that with a passion, humanoids and other creatures like that were fine, even demons and the undead but these things were beyond his sphere of understanding in terms of how they worked, and thus most of the tactics he used against other creatures were worthless against that type of being. Frankly he’d rather face all three of the Dwarves than the stone thing… With some reluctance he stepped out of the shadows, though he was careful to remain hidden by the bend, and gestured for Greg to come closer. Once the martyred one had come close enough he explained all that he’d seen around the corner, “Any suggestions?” Were his final words, simply because he suspected that the sorcerer would at least choose a path that was morally in the right, which would be more than he would do himself. |
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| eocine | Oct 29 2006, 02:57 PM Post #102 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Lightly and lithely as sometimes only an animal can be, the werewolf landed lightly on the other side of the lavafield, and instantly began the change back into its hybrid form. Bones breaking and then instantly resetting as its shape changed drastically, the thick fur growing slightly darker as the change happened, until a few moments later the form that they had come across earlier had returned. He started to watch Fade as she made her own attempt to cross the treacherous river of lava, but something was distracting him, and he couldn’t tell what it was… Something it could smell but… Suddenly the lycanthrope was aware of invisible hands forcefully shoving it towards the liquid rock that bubbled with something that seemed to verge on intent. Caine, for such was the werewolf’s name, tried to brace his feet beneath him, but the invisible being never so much as gave him a chance to recover enough to do that, and he was inexorably pushed towards death… Until that is the very same hands that had been forcing him towards the lava stream clamped onto his shoulders and pulled him forcibly away from the edge, and then released him. “Tell your mother I saved your life!” Came a voice into his ear, and with a roar Caine slashed out with a razor edged set of claws, but they passed through empty air and connected with nothing. Snarling furiously, and shamed once more by the fact that whatever this invisible creature was it could have killed him, only to spare him and then make a joke, the werewolf whipped around frantically, his long tongue lolling and being dragged across his chops as he did so. “Show yourself!” He howled in fury. “Ohh you demand it do you?” Came the reply, amused. “Well I suppose you ARE a guest here, I just hope you’ve been housebroken”. With that there was a sudden shimmering in the air, and stood ten feet away from the werewolf, towards the door was a twelve foot tall, black-skinned humanoid, dressed in bright yellow and extremely baggy trousers, with a red sash tied around his waist. Above the waist the creature was naked, the dark muscles gleaming as if oiled in the fiery light. He wore a range of chains around his neck, and two extravagantly sized hooped earrings, as well as an expression of amusement. |
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| Darkwind | Oct 29 2006, 06:59 PM Post #103 |
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Native
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Normally, he didn't speak the language these creatures spoke, but the magic of his ring let him communicate with them. Exactly how the ring was going to translate his reply into their language was a question for the sages. All he cared about was that they understood him. "My friend and I were brought here against our will. We mean no offense nor trespass. Please, do you know a way we could use to return to the Material Plane?" He assumed this was a different plane of existence, though come to think of it the door could just have been a simple portal to another place on Toril. Greg considered the situation. "Well, we have a couple of options. I could talk to them, if they speak Common, and maybe convince them to help us find a way out. Or we could go around them, magically if need be. I'd rather not resort to violence--if that thing's a golem, then my options would be limited to summoning creatures to keep it busy while we leave. What do you think?" |
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| eocine | Oct 29 2006, 09:33 PM Post #104 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The elemental responded to Avelaer’s words with interest… “We too are chained to this place against our desires, the door is up ahead by it is warded against us, and guarded by the giants and their pet.” The swirling shape seemed to consider something for a moment before speaking again, carefully weighing its words as it did so. “If we aid you against the giants will you allow us to follow you through the gate? We mean no harm, we merely wish a return to our own plane…” “We have been trapped here for too long in this place of artificed winds and faked storms, and we need to be back in the natural world”. The creature continued to plead with the blade-singer, for the time spent in the room had been maddening in the extreme, for there were no open skies on which to fly, nor winds to experience. |
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| eocine | Oct 29 2006, 09:46 PM Post #105 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Given that careful and precise violence was one of his stock in trades Karosin wasn’t entirely convinced of the validity of Greg’s belief, but he had resolved to try to do it as peacefully as was possible, and thus he nodded at the request. “I shall hide away, and if things turn… Unpleasant, then I shall attack, but I shall not do so until we are first attacked.” He stated, with some small reservations, but no really huge issues, for he doubted that the dwarves could stand against either of them, and whilst the other beast could be a problem, if need be he could always hide from it and then try and make his escape whilst it was distracted at a later date. At this he then melded back into the shadows, and drifted around the corner, careful to keep out of sight of the stone creature as he did so. Finally he managed to find a hiding place behind a collection of as yet empty crates that were presumably earmarked to be used for storing whatever it was they were mining. Once he was settled in all there was for him to do was wait, and of course make sure he wasn’t spotted. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Oct 29 2006, 10:10 PM Post #106 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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At first, the fey'ri didn't notice the black skinned giant that was talking to the lythancrope - she was far too busy trying to skitter across the rocks and avoid giving herself a rather terminal hot bath. She faltered once, her foot slipping on a landing; luckily her preternatural agility saved her from a nasty dunking and she simply escaped with a singed boot-sole. By the time she reached the other side, even she was willing to admit to being nervous wreck - never, EVER again she promised herself, taking a second to close her eyes and attempt to calm her heart as it jack-hammered in her chest. She glanced back over the lava to see if the elementals were following her and then over the rocky outcrop to see where that damned werewolf had got to. Fade nearly fell backwards when she saw the huge humaniod instead. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" she moaned, her hands instinctively going for her sword hilts. "What next?" |
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| eocine | Oct 30 2006, 12:14 PM Post #107 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The giant stood watching in mute and interested admiration as the red-haired fey’ri picked her way across the lava field then looked up at him and made to draw her blades. “Please!” He said in a deep and heavily accented common, “Imtiyaz Kader means you no harm lady of darkness”. He turned to look at the elementals that were passing through the lava field rapidly. “My pets attack out of instinct, but I mean neither you nor your companion any harm”. “As a mark of my goodwill I will destroy them for you, would that please you, they have done you harm after all, and should be punished?” He offered as he raised a single hand and held it, palm outwards towards the two still oncoming magma-monsters. “They’re incapable of learning, and this way is the best way, after minions are easily replaceable are they not? What does it matter if I or my enemies kill them in the end, they’re dead just the same.” Arm still extended he looked down at her, eyes lingering on the blood and bruising that the heavy blows that the elementals had given. “Still, the decision is yours… I know what my choice would be however were I in your place.” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Oct 30 2006, 05:27 PM Post #108 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Regarding the giant with a wary eye, Fade released the hilts of her swords, resting her hands on their pommels instead. Even with his most courteous welcome, she completely distrusted the creature... some of the most dangerous foes in the realms were also the most charismatic. At his offer to destroy his 'pets', Fade looked back over to the lava elementals. For a moment she considered allowing him to punish them... but then shook her head. "Whilst in the past I would have relished watching you crush them for what they have done to me, you don't have to destroy them... just call them off. At the moment, I just want to get out of here." |
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| Mwa13 | Oct 30 2006, 08:32 PM Post #109 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas stared at the doors as well with great interest, feeling and smelling of what was behind each door. 'Elements... curious...' he thought to himself. He saw the werewolf going for one of the doors from the corner of his eye and was too late to react to anything as they were suddenly sucked into the doorways. He tried to keep himself on the ground, but the air-suction was too strong and he was pulled through one of the doorways. He immediately felt the great chill around himself as he flew through the doorway. As he stood up from the icy ground, he held himself, trying to fight against the freezing cold. "Gah! Must be colder than the river Styx in here." He looked around and saw Llana with him there, but none of the others. He also saw the giant figure out in the field and stared at it, frowning. Not only was the elements of cold against him, there was also a giant. Perfect. He stared at the first boulder landing way off and grinned widely. "You missed", he said quietly to himself, drawing his crossbow. He heard something happening behind and saw the elementals emerging and cursed under his breath. He glanced up at Llana and grinned widely. "Big one first, then the smaller prey." He activated the magic on his boots, lifting up to the air. His teeth were chattering slightly for a moment, but he didn't notice it himself, he was in action for the fight, suddenly wondering if he was able to penetrate the giant's thick, icy hide with his bolts. He let a bolt fly, just to see if the magic of the crossbow would have any affect. |
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| eocine | Oct 30 2006, 09:38 PM Post #110 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“The past?” Asked the black-skinned being, “do you not hunger for death and destruction? Is that not the way of your people? To punish the impudent and crush the weak beneath your boot heel and then take what you desire?” As the giant asked the questions he kept his hand pointed towards the two oncoming fire elementals, and the willingness to end their lives was readily apparent in his red eyes. “Perhaps then I shall keep my guardian’s a little longer…” With that he lowered his arm to his side and started speaking in a language that sounded like fire cracking and smoldering. Both of the elementals stopped in their tracks and then simply dropped down into the fiery embrace of the lava, disappearing from view entirely. “You wish to leave here?” The genie, for that’s what he was, crossed his massive arms across his chest and scrutinized the fey’ri more closely. “Curiously enough then it appears that we want the same thing entirely. For this place has been akin to my prison for many years, at least a millennia by my count, so as you can imagine things tend to become rather tedious here”, he understated hugely. “I cannot move from the material plane, this room’s magic bars me from doing so, nor can I burn my way out, nor break down the door, and believe me I’ve tried. On the other hand I had a regular supply of servants and the like. Yet recently these things have stopped and so I must leave as soon as possible.” The creature stepped aside and gestured towards the door, “I shall allow you to attempt to open the door, provided that you allow me to leave with you.” |
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| eocine | Oct 30 2006, 10:08 PM Post #111 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As Llana had started her spellcasting the giant had dismissively turned his back on her to gather another rock, something that turned out to be a huge mistake as the heavenly fire burned down suddenly, igniting his hair and causing the cloth that the creature wore to be rapidly burned away. Roaring in agony the monster thrashed back and forth for a moment before turning around and running blindly forwards towards the freezing water. Looking like a fireball the giant plunged headlong into the glacial liquid with an audible hiss. Mere moments later his head emerged, and the creature’s eyes were truly murderous. It was at this moment that Jonas had decided to make his own attack, but the first of the bolts failed to penetrate the chainmail, and bounced away. However the second was a tiny bit more accurate, and succeeded in virtually tearing the Frost-Giant’s ear off the side of his head, causing the monster to slap his free hand over the wound. His final bolt missed as well, but this was simply a case of the giant being suddenly moved by one of the currents. In retaliation for the burning that he’d suffered the giant hurled the rock he was still holding towards Llana, but his aim was well off, and the boulder spiraled wide of her, landing in the pool with a huge splash. |
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| Pamela | Oct 31 2006, 08:19 PM Post #112 |
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Molly
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Llana flew forward, ignoring the boulder and reached the shore. One of the cliffs had a door carved into the ice, and she grimaced as she considered the odds of the creature having the key. Killing it in the water could cause a setback in their plans if that were the case. She lit down atop the pile of boulders, and turned towards the giant who was still floundering in the water. “We can kill you, giant, if you want. I’ve no more love for your kind than you for mine. But I have no quarrel with you, and would prefer to leave as swiftly as possible. Are you willing to parley or shall we put you out of your misery?” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Oct 31 2006, 09:26 PM Post #113 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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At the genie's description and questioning of her kin's more usual mindset, Fade just shrugged her shoulders, not really wanting to get drawn into a debate about such things. If he thought it made her somehow weaker - like many others she had met in the past had done - and tried to use it to his advantage in an attack, he'd soon realise, just as the others before him had, that just because this fey'ri had gained some measure of empathy didn't make her any less vicious than her more traditional-thinking kindred. "You want to leave?" she raised a crimson brow. "Okay - fine. If you allow me to open the door and leave here unmolested - and by that, I mean now *and* after we're both free of this place - then I'll go my way and you can go yours." she glanced over at the werewolf to gauge his reaction. "By the way" she added, taking a step towards the giant "have you seen some kind of amulet around here? Something with a symbol for fire, or evocation magic?" |
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| Mwa13 | Nov 2 2006, 08:32 AM Post #114 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas stayed put, floating in the air, his crossbow still aimed at the giant's big head. He hoped the giant would have at least some sense in it's thick head, otherwise he'd let a bolt fly again. He just grinned wickedly at the giant and waited for it's response to Llana's proposition. |
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| Darkwind | Nov 3 2006, 02:41 AM Post #115 |
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Native
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ooc: Greg makes a Knowledge (arcana) check to identify the creature, but only rolls a 4 for a total result of 9. "I will be glad to set you free." A split second's reflection on how he seems to have become quite the liberator recently--first the lycanthrope, and now these--later, he continued. "But can these guards be reasoned with? Perhaps they are trapped here even as we are, or magically compelled somehow?" Once Karosin was in place, Greg walked around the corner nonchalantly, hands where the creatures can see them. He'd had a little diplomatic experience, though he was by no means a professional, and his charm always helped him out. If these were locals, how much better it would be to obtain their cooperation than to have to fight through them. Along the way, he looked at the hulking creature Karosin described, trying to figure out what it was. |
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| eocine | Nov 7 2006, 07:47 PM Post #116 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The Efreeti smiled and bowed low at Fade’s words, then stepped to the side. “As you wish my dear, there is nothing to be gained for me to engage in battle after all, and even if there were I admire fire, and would rather not see yours extinguished so soon.” In truth though, though his words may have seemed like flattery and interest in her physical being it was obvious from his tone that he was hardly really interested, and it was more rote behavior than anything else, as if he was simply going through the expected motions. At her question about the amulet though he seemed to suddenly become more interested, looking down at her and smiling slightly. “And if I had?” Asked the genie, tilting his head to the side and smiling, “Perhaps we can come to an arrangement over it…” |
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| eocine | Nov 7 2006, 08:34 PM Post #117 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Greg could see that there was little enough movement on the beds, but there was still some, enough to denote that there was breathing going on, and the occasional snore echoed through the short cavern with enough force to suggest rather over-healthy lungs at work. As Greg stepped into sight of the stone creature it didn’t even stir or move an inch. Instead standing stone still, huge and imposing. After a short time one of the shapes started to move more, and the creature within sat up stock straigt. The figure spotted Greg quickly and his jaw fell open, working quickly though he clamped it shut and affected a look of nonchalance, before leaning to his side and thumping one of the other shapes, and then the other. Though neither Karosin nor Greg could understand the words the tone and meaning was pretty clear, it being more or less ‘what the hell could be so important as to interrupt my much needed beauty sleep’. Fortunately as they also sat up it became obvious enough what it was, strangers in their midst were clearly not common, and thus were important. “Funny place fer a topsider”, observed the first of the Dwarves to wake, “Interest you in a brew?” Asked one of the others as he pushed himself out of the bed and strolled across towards a metallic kettle. The final of the dwarves also got out of his bed and put a leather apron on and started to idly root through a toolbox and pull various mining implements out of it and start strapping them around his waist. “Ye’ll have to excuse us, got work to do, and iffin’ we don’t do it then rocks over there’ll start slappin’ us around”, he said, tilting his head towards the stone humanoid. --------- “I do not know”, replied the Elemental to Avelaer, “We don’t share a common language, and as such the only contact that we’ve been capable of has been hostile”, admitted the creature. “If you wish to attempt to barter with them then I cannot stop you, but I advise that if you do that you prepare yourself for treachery.” The elemental being swirled around over and over in an endless mobius strip of momentum, “before you speak with them, do you wish us to bring up your companion?” |
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| Darkwind | Nov 7 2006, 11:24 PM Post #118 |
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Native
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"Yes, thank you. I'd better come along, though. He'll start slashing with that big axe of his, otherwise. Why, I don't know if they speak any languages I might understand, but if it comes to that I'll try to use pantomime. Thanks for the warning, though." He willed the magic bearing him aloft to bear him down just fast enough to stay ahead of the elementals. "Scaflock! These air elementals are trapped here along with us and have agreed to help us out. They've offered to bear you through the air. Don't resist them." Even straining both his darkvision and his memory of esoteric magical information, he wasn't able to identify the creature. Well, no matter. Greg nodded in complete agreement with the dwarf. "You're right about that. And thank you. I'll gladly partake." One benefit of being a corpse was that you stopped caring about poisons. And refusing food was rude. "Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure where I am. My arrival here was not...entirely...by choice." |
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| eocine | Nov 8 2006, 07:49 PM Post #119 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As could be expected, the freezingly cold water soon chilled away the worst of the residual pain that the giant was suffering from the curtain of flame that had momentarily turned it into a living fireball. The giant glared up at the celestial being in the red, and the grey skinned demon-kin, but in his position he really wasn’t in any place to make good on any of the myriad threats that were on the tip of his tongue. The fact that they could fly was a game ender for him, for though he could perhaps strike them with a rock there were none at hand, and he doubted that he could survive another barrage of the electrical bolts from the demon, nor could he take much more of the woman’s magic. Taking one final look around for some kind of inspiration it soon became clear that there was no way out of the situation, and that the best course of action was probably going to be supplication. “Parlay”, he muttered quietly and angrily, though it was obvious enough that the icy water was going someway towards dampening his martial ardor. |
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| eocine | Nov 8 2006, 08:15 PM Post #120 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Then we thank you ring-bearer”, came a reply in that same strangely gusting dialect that was hugely redolent of hurricanes and gales as Greg warned them of Skafloc’s predilection towards axe related violence. As the blade-singer flew down they followed behind him, letting enough space stay between them that the burly human could easily see that they weren’t pursuing the elf. Two of the elementals flew down to the barbarian’s side and grasped him in curiously transparent, but still strong arms, before hurtling upwards, bearing the weight of Skafloc easily between them as they shot vertically towards the summit of the strange and unnatural rock formation. As they landed the elementals backed away, and before them both Skafloc and Avelaer could see a cave of sorts that had apparently been crudely hewn out of the stone. A fire bit was visible in the front of cave, presumably shielded from the winds there, but there was nothing else visible other than a huge wooden stake driven into the ground, with a length of sturdy chain attached. |
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| eocine | Nov 8 2006, 08:45 PM Post #121 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Seems to be a lotta that goin’ around here, right lads?” Asked the first of the dwarves, to muttered agreement from the others. The dwarf making the tea pulled out a small stick from a box and struck it against the stone floor, where it immediately burst into flame. In a short time there was a decent fire beneath an ancient kettle. “Tea’s bloody horrid”, admitted the most loquacious of the dwarves in warning before stepping forwards and thrusting forwards a much calloused and bruised hand. “Name’s Nalrid”, he waited for Greg to make his own introduction before continuing. “We’ve been here fer a while, as ye kin probably see”, the Dwarf indicated a period of the wall, with a series of vertical scratches in sets of ten, and there were a huge amount of them there, stretching from ceiling to floor. “One morning we’re workin’ in me workshop, next we’re all down in this pit and bein’ made ta make stuff for some pointy ear or other.” The curious thing here was that there was no real sense of anger in the Dwarf’s words, instead there was just a distinct resignation behind his words. “Me boys are Bhain and Azsten”, he indicated the other two Dwarves, whose faces were perhaps a little less lined beneath the beards, and looked enough alike that they could perhaps have been twins.” Shortly the tea was ready, and was handed to Greg in a much dented but still clean tin mug. Whilst it was certainly not poisonous it was also pretty obvious that Nalrid hadn’t been kidding when he made his claim about the lack of the tea’s quality. Still it was probably to be expected, after all the chances of getting fresh leaves here would have to be considered unlikely in the extreme. |
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| Castamir | Nov 13 2006, 05:34 PM Post #122 |
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Native
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Skafloc watched as the elementals descended, following Avelaer. He wondered at first if they were giving chase, by stood down as he saw the elf's face was not one of distress. He submitted to the elemental's 'lift' though had he not previously been a crewmember aboard a spelljamming vessel, he might well have found the whole flying experience quite disconcerting. As it was, he simply found the idea of trusting some elementals to not drop him from a great height a little disconcerting. Skafloc considered himself a decent judge of character though, and rightly or wrongly, assumed that Avelear would have said something had it been a trick. Once on solid ground again the barbarian took his axe from the belt loop, and looked at the scene in front of him, attempting to make out what kind of creature would be chained up there.. he looked sideways at Avelaer, and cocked an eyebrow. "They tell you what we're facing?" he whispered.. [OOC - Skafloc listens for any movement - though I'm assuming it's bloody windy so it's futile..] |
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| Darkwind | Nov 14 2006, 05:00 AM Post #123 |
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Native
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Avelaer landed nearby, dismissing the magic that bore him aloft. He also lowered his voice, not because he did not trust the elementals, but because their potential opponents were nearby. "Giants--don't know what kind. And something about their 'pet'. I want to speak with them first, to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, but keep your axe ready." With that he looked around and, after making sure his blade was in full view, but just as apparently sheathed, moved forward. Greg took the offered hand and shook it firmly. Despite being somewhat like the undead, his body radiated the warmth of the positive energy that sustained it, so he did not expect any thorny questions about the metaphysics of his existence. "My name is Greg. I came to be here somewhat differently from you, I think. Some mage had very inconsiderably placed a portal in the doorway I had unwittingly passed through. Still, though the means were different, I suspect we're all prisoners of the same arcanist." A crazy thought strolled through his head--a memory of a story he'd heard about the insane archmage Halaster's own propensity to kidnap creatures and people for his dungeon. If this was it, they were in deep trouble for sure. He recovered from that gloomy thought just as he was offered the drink and sipped it. His taste did not diminish since his death, so he had to smile to avoid grimacing. "Thank you. Well, even archmages tend not to teleport everywhere. So there's probably an exit--I hope! Were you able to find anything like that, during your stay here?" |
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| eocine | Nov 15 2006, 10:16 AM Post #124 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Whilst the wind stopped both Skafloc and Avelaer from hearing what was going on inside the cavern, it did also stop the inhabitants from making them out either, and so it was that the blade-singer and barbarian were able to walk far enough into the cavern to be able to see inside. What they saw was a primitive dwelling, with a pile of furs and the like in one corner for bedding, drawings daubed onto the walls and little else of any particular value or interest. As they took a final step forwards they noticed a creeping stink drift up, out of the force of the winds they could smell dead and dying flesh, and beneath the huge mound of fur in the corner they could make out movement. The heap shifted again, and there was a momentary gap through the coverings where they could both make out a leg, and more importantly the huge and gangrenous gore-mark that was deep and necrotic, weeping with lymph and glistening with corruption. What they could also see as they looked further into the room was that there were several other passageways that led out of that particular cave and deeper into the artificial mountain… It was from one of these doors that a hulking shadow emerged, holding another sturdy length of chain in one hand, and on the other end of that length of chain was a gigantic boar, with razor sharp tusks that were distended to the point of grotesqueness. The porcine creature made to charge Skafloc and Avelaer, but the huge figure held the chain tight, and dragged the beast back to heel, before idly flicking a huge boot into its massive side to quiet it. Making a deliberate show of ignoring the interlopers the giant reached up towards his shoulder, and plucked something from it… In the darkness Skafloc’s eyes couldn’t make out much, but Avelaer could see perfectly that the thing was humanoid in shape, and slender in form, much like he and his kin were themselves. The being tossed the unmoving body onto the floor, and the head rolled to the side, revealing ebon skin and white hair, as well as a series of bruises around the face of what was clearly now a female drow. Something that could also be seen was that she was still alive, though just barely… |
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| eocine | Nov 15 2006, 11:11 AM Post #125 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The dwarf nodded in agreement at Greg’s postulation about their being captured by the same person, it was certainly the only thing that really made much sense. “We don’t really know what happened fer us, may have been similar, but we can’t be sure”. The Dwarf started idly going through a nearby tool box as he spoke, pulling a small set of chisels from it, and continuing to go about his business with a calm efficiency even as he spoke. So calm in fact that it seemed that his hands were moving without his even focusing on them, in that curious way that the truly skilled d when they go about their craft. Greg’s question about an exit brought a vaguely hopeless shrug from all three of the Dwarves, and as one they nodded their heads in the direction of the humanoid stone. “Iffn’ we try and approach th’ door rocky over there starts beatin’ us about.” As Greg looked towards the figure he could see in the distance that there was indeed a door visible, but there was also a deep and crystal clear pool between the stone monster and the door. Whilst the sorcerer was looking at the door, the dwarvish craftsmen were starting to busily mine a seam of mithril from the wall, working together flawlessly as they did so, in a manner that suggested, perhaps even more so than the innumerable scratches on the wall, that they had done this literally a thousand times before. |
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| Castamir | Nov 15 2006, 04:16 PM Post #126 |
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Native
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Skafloc surveyed all he could make out with a grim expression. Whilst he was hoping Avelaer's undoubted diplomatic skills would once again serve their needs and help them continue with their important quest, he felt that if they were dealing with giants, and the giants felt that they had the upper hand, the only way through it would be through bloodshed. The thought cheered him up a little, though he could tell from the stench coming from the still living mound in the corner, that things weren't as straightforward as that.. he squinted, attempting to adjust his eyes to the gloom and took a step forward, before looking in askance at the elf, knowing his vision would be superior. |
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| Pamela | Nov 15 2006, 07:29 PM Post #127 |
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Molly
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Llana nodded, and maintained her perch as she replied. “Thank you. Please feel free to emerge where you will be more comfortable,” she remarked. Her guard was of course still up, but there was no point in forming a truce if they kept the giant at any further disadvantage. As he pulled himself back up onto the sheet of ice, she pointed to the door carved into the ice. “Do you have the key to that door? And do you know where it leads?” |
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| eocine | Nov 17 2006, 05:55 PM Post #128 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The giants finger-tips had gouged furrows into the ice in front of it as the behemoth had hauled itself onto the ice, and these soon became the basis for myriad cracks that skipped across the surface as the giants titanic weight came to rest on them. Instantly the ice covering the huge humanoid started to freeze, and icicles formed in his beard and hair, though the being paid them no mind as it looked up at the red-headed half-elf through entirely baleful eyes, hating being outmatched by both her and the freak-being by her side, but unless something supremely unlikely happened, like he suddenly grew wings, there was nothing that he could actually do against the pair, who had intelligently stayed well out of reach. “I have the key, wench” replied the frost giant, “Right here!” he shouted as he grabbed his crotch. “This’ll open you up real good”… It was apparent that Llana and Jonas weren’t dealing with the brightest or most mannered tool in the box… |
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| Pamela | Nov 17 2006, 06:08 PM Post #129 |
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Molly
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Llana turned to Jonas to roll her eyes. “An unusual way to open a door but considering your technique,” she said with a dismissive look at the giant’s crotch, “And size, a keyhole is probably the best partner you’ve found to fit your needs.” “Now, if you would do us the honour of opening that door, we’ll spare each other our further company.” |
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| eocine | Nov 18 2006, 01:49 PM Post #130 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Feisty, I like that…” Leered the giant, but this was really just bravado, combined with some distant hope that the male with her would fly down and attack face to face, but it didn’t look like either of them were about to take the bait. The frost giant seemed to pass the thought that it would be best to be rid of them over in his massive skull for a moment, before seemingly hitting on the unpleasant fact that things weren’t going to get any better, and that it was probably best to be rid of the pair of them because they were in a total stalemate. Or perhaps they had the advantage, what with the ability to fly, still it mattered little, there was no advantage for him and that was really what was important. “Fine”, muttered the behemoth as it lumbered towards the door, and clamped a huge hand onto the door handle, that appeared to be fashioned from ice, and tugged the huge door open, sending splintering ice cascading down onto the floor. Behind the door was a shimmering field of blue energy, that was entirely opaque and filled the entire area. It seemed that there was little choice in where to go next. |
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| eocine | Nov 18 2006, 02:51 PM Post #131 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Elsewhere. Sarya’s heels clicked as she made her way out onto the balcony of the vaulting building that she had taken as her own, and she smiled down at the sight beneath her… Endless demons, of every variety and caste, from the lowest of the Dretch horde, to the mighty Balors that would serve as her majors in the battle that was ahead. She felt that she could almost sense their impatience and bloodlust, and paused for a moment to enjoy the intoxicating feeling of pure chaotic fury that the crowd seemed to radiate. Yet there was of course one problem that was ever in the back of her mind… The fact that this mighty army of the damned was still ensconced within the abyss, and she couldn’t yet bring their might through the planar gates that were being worked on even now. Unfortunately her plans were totally reliant upon this success, for without this army at her back she couldn’t hope to contain and quell the various humanoid armies of the Northern reaches of Faerun. As it was her own Fey’ri warriors numbered little less now that one thousand men and women, all skilled in sorcery or sword craft, and often both. It was a formidable force of course, and they would all fall under her personal command, but she was entirely unprepared to risk sacrificing her own kin in battle when she could command the lower orders of the army of the abyss to do much the same. Of course her original plan of wiping Silverymoon out through the use of the Gatekeepers Crystal seemed to be unlikely, for it appeared that the Mist-Master had involved himself and sent in a small force to retrieve the gem that had been hidden away amongst the ruins of the Nameless Dungeon, that and the fact that the wispy fool already possessed one of the other segments made it unlikely that she would be able to claim the three pieces. Floshin had the other third, and was currently in Elven Port, but if she didn’t have it in her own hands he was as good a choice as any of her other minions to keep the gem-stone safe. She sensed movement behind herself, and turned, raising a hand towards the sound and preparing to cast a spell, when she recognised the interloper, and lowered her arm. “Veshiva”, she said with a faint and decidedly regal nod. “My Lady”, responded the being in kind, dropping into a low bow before straigtening up and then stepping to her side, being careful to keep a respectful distance between himself and her. Whilst he had shared her bed he was well enough aware that, outside of the bed chambers, she demanded the space due to her heritage, and he saw no reason to deny her that and antagonize her, indeed acquiescing to her demands often had pleasing end results. “The preparations continue to go well”, he informed her, having just left her cabal aof mages that continued to work their dweomers in readiness for the movement of the demon army. “Furthermore the force we sent to Telardon has managed to break through into the lower reaches of the tomb, though they had to battle through a slew of bizarrely corrupted trolls to do so.” And bizarre indeed these trolls had been, seemingly mutated by some freakish natural phenomena, for they had taken on the form and characteristics of certain types of plants. The incubal lore-master knew that the ancient Eaerlanni elves of the high-forest could summon beasts that seemed to have been wood-warped in some way, but this went further than that, as it seemed, at least form what he had been told, that every living thing in the area was eventually affected. “They have managed to retrieve a large amount of the weapons caches that were stored there, but a large amount of the items appear to have been leeched of their magic’s in some way, and I confess that even I cannot hazard a guess as to what has caused it.” “Still”, he continued before Sarya could begin one of her infamous rants at the degradation of the Elven people in the time that she had been gone, “They have managed to recover a number of powerful items that should serve your army well in the trials ahead.” Just about satisfied with the news Sarya turned back towards the army, still held in place by the planar walls, “soon we shall avenge ourselves against all…” She murmured under her breath. Veshiva heard her, but said nothing, the sowing of chaos was his only interest, and she would serve well enough in that area. |
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| Darkwind | Nov 19 2006, 04:18 AM Post #132 |
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Native
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Greg eyed the creature that apparently stood between them and freedom as he considered his options. It was either a stone golem or an earth elemental--and in either case his diplomacy would be ineffective. So how could he get through it? He could try to disintegrate it or make it into a statue of itself, but he doubted an elemental would succumb to such magics and the golem would of course be immune. That ruled out direct assault by magic. The likelihood of a Web being useful in immobilizing such a powerful creature seemed a little low--an if it were an elemental, it could easily bypass it. His Bead of Force, and the sphere of force it would create, might be of use but he was loath to expend the very useful item. He could cast his Greater Dimension Door yet again and hope that there was no difficulty opening the door. Getting more creative, he might use Glasstrike on the rock beneath the creature--no, glass that thick might be too strong to collapse under it, use disintegrate instead--to buy them time to escape but an earth elemental would take only a few seconds to return. A plan began to form in his mind. He finally spoke. "Seems like I can figure out a way to get us all across that pool over there, and keep the rock there occupied. That might give us a chance to escape, if we're lucky." He really hated expending another casting of the Dimension Door, though. "Can you swim?" His grip tightened on his sword as the drow was unceremoniously dumped before them. The sight of his people's ancient enemy nearly made his blood boil. It was difficult to hate the female, though, since she was clearly nearly dead. He'd fall on Avelas before sharing any of his precious healing potions with her, though. Maybe that made him a bad man, but he just could not bring himself to do it. Keeping one eye on her, he addressed the giant in the common tongue. "We are here against our will. My friends and I would like to go through that door over there. Will you please let us pass? We only want to leave, and not to fight." Although maybe he should not speak for Skaflock, he thought with some amusement. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 19 2006, 12:39 PM Post #133 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Whilst the rebel fey'ri mirrored the Efreeti's stance, folding her arms over her chest and tilting her head, she did not mirror his smile. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well the propensity genies had for tricks and half-truths. "If you do have it - well, I'm sure there would be a... mutually beneficial arrangement that we could come to over it.' She stressed the word 'mutually' just a little. "I have already agreed to your freedom - and as you can see, I have little material wealth on me right now..." well, apart from the sapphires... hope he hasn't noticed those! she thought wryly to herself "... so tell me exactly what it is you want for the amulet - if you have it of course - and I shall see if it is in my ability to grant." |
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| eocine | Nov 19 2006, 03:02 PM Post #134 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Please my dear”, said the black skinned D’jinn, “I need nothing material from you for this at all, I simply ask for a favor owed at some time in the future…” The Genie smiled at her and the werewolf both, “Of course if you have anything more to offer I can be easily persuaded to grant more.” Without waiting for the response from the pair of them the Efreeti raised a hand and into it popped a contract and a pen. “You’ll find of course that it’s legally and magically binding”, said the creature as he looked it over one last time. “Of course you mortals die so soon that you’ll probably be long gone before I even remember to claim it.” “Probably”. |
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| eocine | Nov 19 2006, 03:20 PM Post #135 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Yeeeesss”, came the drawn out and frankly skeptical reply of the elder Dwarf as he carefully chiseled away at a section of rock, that soon fractured in a smooth and clean line, esposing yet more of the metal seam that ran through the stone of the cavern side. “But ye don’ want ta be swimmin’ in that stuff, tis pure acid, n’ strong enough ta melt the skin from yer bones in no time at all.” He turned his head towards one of his sons, who was using a pick axe to hack away at an outcropping. “Bhain, show th’ surfacer yer arm”, ordered the Dwarf. The stocky figure nodded, then carefully placed his pick against the wall, and rolled up the leather sleeve of his coat. Holding it towards Greg he solemnly turned over his arm so the sorcerer could see everything. From the base of his palm all the way to his elbow and apparently beyond a bubbling and still vividly red scar was visible, as were the drip marks where the caustic liquid had started to spread out. Bhain stood mutely for a moment to allow Greg a proper sight, before pulling his sleeve back down again and turning back to his work. “As ye can see, swimmin’ ain’t an option”, deadpanned Nalrid as he continued to work, clearly fearful that the creature would lumber over and start administering a beating. |
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| eocine | Nov 19 2006, 04:36 PM Post #136 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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At Avelaer’s words the giant turned towards him and Skafloc, and then shrugged, “As you wish, I have no quarrel with you, but the dark ones below crippled her”, he indicated the pile of furs with a nod, “so I will slake my rage on them, and the air beings who brought me here”, he said. Once he had finished talking he placed one massive hand inside the neckline of the armor that the Drow wore, and pulled down violently, shredding the metal as if if were so much paper. He then roughly pulled the rest of the armor away from her, leaving the woman dressed only in a thin pair of cotton pants and a spider-silk vest. That done he then moved dragged the insensible woman across towards a blood splattered area in the corner. It was at this time that Skafloc’s eyes started to adjust to the dimness, and both he and his Elven companion looking more deeply into the shadowed corner noticed that there were piles of bones around the cavern, worryingly familiar looking bones at that… |
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| Castamir | Nov 20 2006, 01:26 AM Post #137 |
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Native
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Avelaer was correct in his assumption. Skafloc did indeed want to fight, and as the drow female was dumped on the floor it was obvious to the elf that though he was restraining himself from speaking, his eyes were shouting out for violence. Skafloc had no dealings with drow other than the rebels that had found their way onto the Orosto, and held no particular prejudice other than a knowledge that they were on the whole, evil. It was in his nature to want to defend the weak, and so the treatment being dished out to this one was causing him enough discomfort to make him want to 'intervene', despite everything that was at stake. Until the giant spoke. Then things changed, and Skafloc recognised the pain and anger in it's voice. In a strange way, he could relate to that, and he looked over at the reeking bundle of furs that he'd referred to as 'her' and wondered if the stash of healing potions he'd gotten earlier would do any good. "I could spare a potion or two for.. for that." began Skafloc, speaking in a hushed tone to Avelaer as the giant dragged the drow away, "but not if he plans to torture that woman. There is no honour in staining the floor red with the entrails of the helpless.." This was as close as Skafloc got to asking for guidance, so far Avelaer had proven to be a font of calm rationality, something the barbarian knew he lacked when his blood boiled. "..besides which she would be a better source of information that these brutes I'll wager, and if she resists, we could still kill her. But swiftly." |
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| Mwa13 | Nov 20 2006, 09:10 AM Post #138 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas smirked at Llana's comment and nodded in agreement. Jonas watched as the giant opened the door, his crossbow aimed at the giant the whole time. He didn't trust the giant at all, even if the giant did open the door. The way it behaved, it still might do something, so he kept an eye on the giant. Jonas glanced at Llana briefly. "Ladies first, my dear." He kept his eye and crossbow's aim at the giant, waiting for Llana to go first through the open doorway. He would follow closely behind her. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 20 2006, 06:18 PM Post #139 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade eyed the contract warily. "And so to the pound of flesh, eh? Well, you can't have anything regarding my soul - I sold that a looooong time ago. I can't remember what for - something suitably frivolous, I expect - but I do remember the pact." she shuddered at the memory. The fey'ri then snorted at the D'jinn's reference to her own mortality. "It's times like this that I wish I were human... Well, come on then - put your money where your mouth is. You divvy up the goods whilst I peruse this contract." she then held out her hand, waiting for the Efreeti to pass the contract over. |
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| eocine | Nov 21 2006, 02:41 PM Post #140 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Your soul?” repeated the ebon giant, amused. “No no no, nothing so bindingly pompous as that my dear.” His tone was sincere, but of course when dealing with the D’jinn that meant nothing at all, such consummate tricksters and deceivers were they. “As I said I would ask for no more than I chose to give to you, one single favour, of my choosing and at my time of asking.” “Of course I will not ask for anything so crass as virtual suicide, nor are my interests drawn by your figure, so I can further promise that I will not be expecting you to service me in that sense”. This was of course all explained in the contract, that he now handed to Fade… Once she was reading through it the genie stepped backwards and clapped both hands together in front of his massive chest. The being mumbled a few words, then opened his hands, for a moment there was nothing visible between them, but shortly a sphere of light formed, then there was an audible crack, and a symbol, similar to the others had appeared, hovering in the air. “So now it comes down to you my dear…” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 21 2006, 06:20 PM Post #141 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade read the contract closely, looking to see if it had any loopholes in it - a futile exercise, she knew, but you never knew; sometimes, even genies slipped up. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The contract was indeed for a simple favour, that was all... the fey'ri sighed and shook her head, a wry smile on her face. "I think this is that famous place located between the proverbial rock and the proverbial hard place, isn't it?" she muttered. "Still, I doubt that owing a D'jinn a favour is any worse than owing an Incubus..." she picked the pen up. Before signing it, she did ask one last question. "Before I commit to this... why do you have the amulet? And does it have any other purpose other than to unlock the doors to the levels above?" |
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| eocine | Nov 21 2006, 10:49 PM Post #142 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“I am naturally offended that you consider there to be a comparison”, replied the D’jinn, who was of course of lawful bent, as opposed to the inevitably chaotically minded incubus. Still his eyes seemed for a moment to flare as she took up the pen, though that could easily simply have been a reflection from the bursts of flame that still erupted around them. The genie’s response may well have been something of a surprise, “I didn’t have the amulet, but if you look closely at what you’re about to sign you’ll see that the exchange is a favor from you for a wish made on your behalf by me.” “As for the second part of the question”… He shrugged his shoulders, “Perhaps, but you would have to ask someone other than I for the answer”, this was his own way of saying that in truth he didn’t actually know. |
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| Pamela | Nov 22 2006, 08:36 PM Post #143 |
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Molly
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This is one of those times, thought an amused Llana as she stepped towards the shimmering portal before her, when chivalry is vastly overrated. Ladies first is all well and good at times, but at others I would prefer to be allowed to go second, she mused as she checked herself over one last time, and gave a last look towards the giant that still smoldered with both hatred and of course physical burns. She then stepped forwards into the portal, unconsciously holding her breath as she did so. For the half-elven cleric of Sune there was a sudden feeling of weightlessness, as well as the merest eyeblink of time where she felt herself to be falling, but just as suddenly there was stillness, and the feeling of gravity washing over her as she found herself back in the same corridor that she had just left from. A little disoriented by the sudden motion she staggered to the side, but in no time at all the feeling had faded, and she was left standing alone in the tunnel listening to the relentless grinding once more. Well, back to square one, she thought wryly, weighing up the pros and cons of trying another one of the handles, only this time she planned to use the one that Karo had vanished through. Still, for the time she felt it more prudent to wait, as he could easily emerge back there seconds after she left… Instead of that she offered up a prayer to Sune for his safety, and waited for Jonas to appear as well. OOC: eo here, posting as Pam. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 23 2006, 09:16 AM Post #144 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fade held up her hands, palms facing the genie "Slow down there! I never *wished* for this amulet - I just asked if you had it. Never at any point did I say 'I wish' in conjunction with this bauble." she narrowed her eyes slightly "And the fact that it wasn't originially in your possession meant that it was located somewhere else; somewhere I could have found it if I had searched for it and had it in my possession without signing my life away." She smiled. "Maybe you should just put that pretty little thing back where you found it, eh? Our original bargain stands - you can go free - but there's a difference between a simple enquiry and a wish, and I'm not being held to a wish I didn't make..." |
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| eocine | Nov 23 2006, 09:57 AM Post #145 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The genie managed to keep his facial expression entirely open at Fade’s words, though of course internally he was boiling over with internalised fury. Nevertheless though the creature didn’t pause or allow this irritation to shine though. “I had assumed that you were telling me that you wished for it, you humans can be so very oblique, and sometimes it becomes necessary to look between the lines my dear.” Smoothly the d’jinn dropped into a low bow, “please forgive me the crime of misreading your thoughts.” Straightening up he held the amulet forwards once more, “I do understand your belief that I had been intending to fool you, but I implore you to think again. Think of what hardship this will spare you”. His tone had now become honeyed as he continued his press, “If you take this now you can avoid the traps that the mad mage has prepared for you, and more than that you can avoid the mage himself, for he is both insane and powerful, far more powerful than you can handle.” “And all I ask in return is one single favour…” It was at this time that the previously silent Caine piped up, “I will take the wish in her stead…” The genie looked towards the werewolf for a moment, his expression unreadable, “you have nothing I could want” With that he turned back towards Fade, “This is the final chance…” |
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| Darkwind | Nov 23 2006, 02:48 PM Post #146 |
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Native
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His mind roiled with a veritable tempest of conflicting thoughts and desires. He hated the drow, even this female he'd never met and wasn't even sure was evil. But all drow were at some point led to the surface on a raid against his people, and likely their blood stained the hands of this one many times over. Yet... He'd helped that werewolf, and how could he just allow these giants to slaughter--to consume?!?--a helpless captive? Skaflock's words didn't really help. In fact, his head hurt even more as the barbarian piled the responsibility of making the decision upon him. Whoever said it was easy to be a leader? Finally, he spoke, though with great reserve. "My friend and I have some healing magic. We will gladly share it with you, for your companion's need. Will you give this drow over to us?" He wondered briefly what kept the giants from leaving--it didn't seem like this was a place they chose to live. "By the way, are yourselves here by choice? And if not, why not leave?" "Acid, hmm? I guess then I have no choice... Listen, I've some magical skill," he understated, "and I can teleport all of us across that pool. If need be, I can also summon creatures to keep that thing occupied. So if you're minded to leave with me, gather your belongings and let's go." He raised his voice. "You, too, Karosin!" |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 24 2006, 08:27 AM Post #147 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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The fey'ri couldn't help but laugh at the genie's assumptions' although she felt a flare of anger at being called a human, reflected in the sudden lashing of her tail. And to think, he thought she wanted to *avoid* Vaerilmor... "Chances are this 'mad mage' is the one I'm hunting" she answered "and if he is, I don't want to avoid him." she grinned a little maniacally. "I'm going to kill him, or die in the attempt. You see, he's one of many who owe me big time - I have absolutely no intention of avoiding him whatsoever." When Caine chimed in, Fade turned around in surprise at the werewolf's offer and with a decidedly shocked look on her face, shook her head and mouthed 'no!' at him. Getting herself into trouble was one thing, but she had sworn a while back that her days of getting other people into trouble to get her out of it were over. When the genie refused his offer, though, she looked slowly back towards the giant. "And I do?" she quipped, a little disturbed that the genie was looking for something from her specifically. Quite frankly, she was wishing she had never even mentioned the damn amulet to the genie - although she would never admit as such; he would undoubtedly use it against her as a way of getting what he wanted in the first place. She also didn't trust him to put the amulet back to where he found it... Fade was fully aware that one of her more irritating traits was the inability to think things through properly, but this time she really had dropped herself in the proverbial shit. She glanced back up at the amulet. Chances were she'd end up dead soon anyway... ... but what if she, by some miracle, did survive her own brand of bloody vengeance against her kin? The chances of her survival were now increased; she had hooked up with some pretty powerful folk... ... who she didn't listen to half the time. They just wanted this shard thing back. They didn't understand her goal wasn't to grab the artefact and run; it was to make them all pay for what they subjected her to... ... well, apart from Avelaer, who had been subjected to some pretty nasty treatment of his own. And it didn't take a lot to convince Skafloc to stay and fight. And Llana had promised to help route out the Brotherhood, too... ... And in by accepting the amulet now, she was possibly decreasing the danger that the others would have to face in the future. Damn Sometimes, Fade wished that her conscience was something that had remained a buried, forgotten thing. In the past, this last thought wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest; now it bothered her the most. She had what the party needed right in front of her. Forget the blood, sweat and tears - all she had to do was sacrifice one favour for the good of everyone else... With an explosive sigh of irritation - mainly at herself for being allowed to be bullied by her own concience - the fey'ri grabbed the contract and the pen from the D'jinn and hastily signed it, growling to herself as she did it, and thrust it angrily back into his hands. "There. Done. But I swear to whatever god is listening, genie - you fuck me over on this, and I'll fuck you over 100 times more. Understand? Now give me the bloody amulet and have done with it." |
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| Mwa13 | Nov 24 2006, 08:36 AM Post #148 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas waited as Llana went through and went after her, giving a mocking bow to the giant before he went through the portal. He felt the same as Llana felt when he went through and blinked. It felt a little different from normal plane-walking, but there was something similar to it. Jonas crouched down to a squatting position and stared at the other doors. He didn't feel the need to try another handle, as he knew it would be a bad idea. He glanced at Llana. "I swear, if I get my hands on that werewolf..." He shook his head and started tapping the floor with his daggers. He had put his crossbow away and taken out his daggers as he had settled to the squatting position. He slightly carved on the floor with the other dagger while tapping with the other, waiting for the others to come through the doors, wondering what was happening behind them. |
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| eocine | Nov 24 2006, 09:54 AM Post #149 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The giant had just started tearing the last layer of clothing from the Drow when Avelaer spoke up… He paused for a moment as he considered the options. Food, whilst not common was catchable, and he had no means of restoring health to his woman. Finally, with one final look down at the slender form in his hands he came to a decision, after all there wasn’t much meat on her bones anyway… Turning he tossed the limp body of the drow at their feet, she gurgled for a moment before falling still again, though her breathing remained steady enough for now. “I accept the terms”, he said simply before making his way towards the pile of furs and pulling back one of them, revealing the face of the second giant. It was clear that the woman beneath had been ill for some time, for her face was gauntly grey, and there was a dull insensibility behind her eyes. With surprising tenderness he reached out to stroke her marked forehead, before twisting his head to face Skafloc and Avelaer. “Your part of the bargain…” Whilst they were sorting out the potion he recalled the Elf’s question on why they didn’t leave. There was much bitterness in his voice as he spoke, “when you see the door, you’ll know why we cannot leave.” |
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| eocine | Nov 24 2006, 10:28 AM Post #150 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin, who had been listening to all that had been going on between the Dwarves and his deceased companion appeared suddenly at the side of one of the two brothers, causing him to skitter back slightly at the rather startling apparition. In truth he wasn’t overly displeased with the turn of events that had come, for he’d battled Elemental beings and Golem’s both in his time, and neither were exactly suitable opponents for him given their lack of vital organs and pain responses. “As you command my liege”, he said quietly as he stepped silently towards Greg’s side, a smirk just teetering across his lips as he did so. The Dwarves were nothing if not a comparatively hardy bunch, and got over the surprise of having someone unseen in their midst with commendable speed, and started to hurriedly cram what few belongings they had into sacks, as well as grabbing some of the most choice items that had been mined. After all it never hurt to take advantage of every situation. Of course were they not so desperate to leave they may have been more questioning, but years of imprisonment often caused you to snatch at any available opportunity to get free, and they had been waiting a long time for this one to come along… In moments they were standing by Greg’s side, looking up at him and wondering exactly what was to happen next, for none of them had any experience with magical travel at all. Where they came from magic came from prayer, and normally was more mundane that that which Greg was capable of. The lack of mining however hadn’t gone unnoticed, and the being that had been set to guard the Dwarves as they worked slowly turned it’s body to face them, as if seeing them all properly for the first time. |
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| eocine | Nov 24 2006, 11:15 AM Post #151 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Then you will most likely die, though the genie to himself, amused by the way that those of mortal mindsets would often throw their lives away on something so needless as a desire for revenge. Still that was her folly, and the contract was binding in this plane or any other, so her death wouldn’t negate it. Mortals will never learn when to rein themselves in. Fade’s quip brought her no more than a shrug of his shoulders, it wasn’t that she was a specific choice, rather it was that the werewolf was specifically not chosen. As she snatched the contract there was a look of pleased triumph in his eyes, and he nodded, “A most wise choice,” once she had finished and thrust them back into his hands he held them for a moment, before they flared briefly and were gone, magically transported away to who only knew where. “That was taken as read my dear…” Replied the D’jinn drolly, he now considered himself to have won, for he had something for virtually nothing, after all what did he care for the amulet, it meant nothing to him, and his freedom was brought with much the same coin. This was a good day… Idly he tossed the amulet to her, his personal heat meaning that but for her own ability to resist the effects of heat it would have been hot enough to burn. “Now, shall we leave this particularly dull place?” |
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| Darkwind | Nov 24 2006, 03:12 PM Post #152 |
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Native
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Avealer wore a belt--a plain, unadorned strip of leather or so it would appear. In fact, it contained a number of magical pockets that were invisible and in fact did not exist in this dimension. When the giant accepted his offer, he casually stuck his hand into one of these and withdrew, apparently from thin air, a couple of potions. He didn't have many of these, so he handed the giant one. "Here, try this one first. If it does the trick, great. If not, you can also have the other one." Greg grinned and made a great show of casting the spell--perhaps it was unnecessary, but he felt like showing off. A candle and a small bag served as focus for his will and magical energies as he wove the summoning that brought a huge Earth Elemental to this plane within reach of their guardian. "Appropriate, no? So much for the distraction--now for the escape." And he cast the teleportation spell, after making sure everyone was in contact, to bring them across the pool of acid and next to the exit. |
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| Castamir | Nov 24 2006, 05:05 PM Post #153 |
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Native
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Skafloc's relief was evident. He didn't want to tread on any toes, and had broached the subject with Avelear instead of airing it himself because he was well aware of the hatred that existed between the two elf races. He was also well aware of the deep feelings such hatred could rouse, and didn't want to end up arguing with his companion in front of the Giant. As it was he was relieved that the elf was a level headed as he had hoped - and a damn site more level headed that Skafloc would have been if it had been an orc that was about to get minced. As the drow was thrown over Skafloc crouched down and, sure that she was still alive began to bind her hands and feet with a length of rope fished out of the bag secreted under his huge fur cloak. He looked up as the giant revealed his pitiful mate, and was glad it hadn't come to blows.. "I have some, it was my idea Avelear so I'll replace what you use, you shouldn't have to use your own." he said, without moving from the side of the unconscious drow. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 24 2006, 05:54 PM Post #154 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade glowered at the genie and wrapped the amulet around her wrist, joining the other two she had already collected. "I suppose we'd better" she answered, turning from the D'jinn and facing the door. At first, she was unsure of actually how to open the damn thing, but in the end, it swung open easily. She gestured to Caine, indicating that he should go first. She then stepped into the doorway before the genie could follow the werewolf, turned around and grabbed the edge of the door and swung it towards her. It was a desperate move, but Fade couldn't think of anything else to do. She didn't want to be under obligation to the genie; she knew that the giant could crush her like an ant, especially considering she had already taken a few serious body blows from the elementals - injuries that were really beginning to sing to her now, making her feel a little light-headed and decidedly reckless - but she was damned if she was going to willingly be shackled to someone elses whim again. "I could just shut this door, you know" the fey'ri said in a low voice. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had this chance to leave." she grinned again "You think you've won, but I'm quick on my feet and not too worried about personal safety... and I like to gamble. Maybe you are the quicker; maybe you'll get through the door before I can close it. However, maybe you won't. You want to risk it? Or do you want to get rid of that contract and call it quits? You have a guaranteed way out then - no gambling. No uncertainty. I'm free, you're free, and we never, ever have to see each other again." |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 12:11 PM Post #155 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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For the first time Fade saw an expression on the D’jinn’s face that was something other than smug satisfaction. Though it was perhaps not the concerned and contrite one that she had been hoping for, rather it was rage… As befitted a creature originally from the elemental planes of fire this rage was first exhibited by the creature’s eyes seeming to smolder and burn a crimson that even eclipsed the light of the myriad fires and pools of lava in the room. Instantly his muscles seemed to expand, and his fingertips bent themselves into a worryingly close approximation of claws. “You DARE to dictate to me!?!” He bellowed, before raising up a hand a muttering a few arcane syllables, “Then this place shall be your eternal tomb as well”. Behind her a gaping maw appeared, stretching backwards and filling the space where there had once been only the portal out. Filled with row upon row of serrated teeth, and stinking of rotted meat and other such filth. No sooner had this been cast than he vanished from sight, giving Fade a timely reminder of why the D'Jinn are respected and feared wherever they go. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 25 2006, 01:50 PM Post #156 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade regarded the genie warily as it ranted at her, feeling rather conflicted; on one hand she was supremely pleased that she had managed to annoy him, but on the other, she was annoyed she hadn't managed to get it to disregard the contract she had signed. Still, he couldn't get out now... could he? The first inkling that the fey'ri had that things were not necessarily all that well was the stink that began to emanate behind her. She wrinkled her nose at it and span around just in time to see the door behand her transform into a huge maw, complete with razor-sharp teeth. "Oh, hells..." she moaned, looking around for any other ways of escape - and for the D'jinns lava elementals. Their return would be all she needed right now... Glancing back to the maw, something caught her eye. It didn't look quite right... something was off. Her brow wrinkled in consternation as she concentrated, trying to figure out what it was that was bothering her. She could still see the outline of the door, behind the maw. "Now that ain't right..." she muttered to herself as she moved forward. She gagged as another wave of fetid air washed over her. "Gods, that's foul" she gasped, covering her nose with her hand. She then closed her eyes, shook her head, readied her mindset to see the door and reopened her eyes. The door was definitely there. "An illusion?" she asked herself, still a little unsure of what to think. She had been good with illusions herself once upon a time and so knew their power. She also knew how to break them. She looked back towards the cavern. "Well, if I'm wrong I'll come back as something nasty and give you hell, genie" she quipped as she stepped forward towards the door and directly into the monstrous maw that was- or indeed wasn't - protecting it. "Here goes..." |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 01:58 PM Post #157 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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No sooner had the Elemental appeared than it hauled off and smashed a clubbing blow towards the other creature. The rocky fist connected heavily, and the other stone behemoth staggered backwards, before retaliating with it’s own assault, landing two blows that were delivered with sufficient power to cause the passageway that they were inside to shudder in response. Both of the beings were composed of sufficiently hard material that the impacts weren’t as damaging as they could have been though, and it looked as if this battle between two brutes would possibly go on for some time. Karosin placed a hand on Greg’s shoulder, and the three Dwarves followed his lead, grabbing hold until suddenly the world warped around them, and they found themselves on the other side of the pool. Wasting no time, and moving with a speed understandable after his long years of imprisonment, Nalrid grabbed the door handle and wrenched it open. For a moment he paused as he took in the shimmering form of the portal that the more mundane door way had concealed. It took no more than a second for him to gather his courage and work out that anywhere would be better than here, and even being set to work at the soul-forgers anvil would be an improvement, and so he flung himself headlong into the magical pathway, and was soon followed by his two sons. “Eager little fellows aren’t they…” Observed Karosin, then stepped smoothly through the magical doorway, leaving Greg to follow on behind. ---------- Caine was there, suddenly and without warning, one moment Llana and Jonas were alone, the next the form of the werewolf had appeared within their midst. However the Sunite and the shadow-dancer had no time to react before they were suddenly joined by three Dwarves that they had never met before, tumbling as they appeared, each having launched themselves into the portal in virtually full length dives and carrying their momentum with them. Indeed Jonas had to jump backwards from his crouch to avoid Nalrid colliding with him as he tried to arrest his forwards movement. Karosin appeared next, stepping out of thin air next to the werewolf, “Well, that was an amusing enough diversion.” He responded idly, hiding his joy at seeing Llana, and being secure in the knowledge that she would be the same. Ignoring the rest of the now gathering group he crossed to her side and embraced her, before turning to see who had managed to return. It appeared that they were waiting on the blade-singer, the barbarian and the feyri. Who popped out of the air seconds later, leaving just two more to return. |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 02:29 PM Post #158 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The giant took the bottle carefully, aware that it’s massive finger risked shattering the comparatively delicate container. Rather than unstopper the bottle it simply flicked the neck off, and then poured the contents down the throat of his entirely uncomprehending mate. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then they could see the hideous wound on the giants leg seem to distort, the gash collapsing inwards and disappearing, the gangrenous flesh vanishing and cleaning up. There was then an audible jangling, as several shards of steel were pushed out by the magical healing. The immediate area of the injury remained slightly reddened, but the worst of the damage, and the cause of the continued re-infection, had both been cured by the potion. One final stroking of the straggly hair of the female giant and the male stood, towering over both Avelaer and Skafloc as he did so. “I owe you thanks”, he said simply. “Follow.” With that the massive humanoid led them towards the exit… Once it was in sight it immediately became apparent why they hadn’t left before now, for the door had been designed to be small enough that it would even be a tight squeeze for Skafloc’s bulk, and as such even crawling the giants would have no chance of fitting through. |
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| Pamela | Nov 25 2006, 04:02 PM Post #159 |
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Molly
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“If it hadn’t been the werewolf, it probably would have been one of us,” Llana wryly said to the tiefling. “We’ve just spared ourselves another argument is all, and for that I’m thankful.” Unless someone dies or is seriously injured, and then there will be words, she thought to herself. “And speak of the devil,” she said, startled at Caine’s sudden apparition. She swerved out of the path of the rolling dwarves, trying to figure out if they were enemies, friends, or transformed allies when Karosin appeared. Unlike her husband, her delight was apparent, and she moved quickly to meet him and return his embrace. “Thank all the blessed gods,” she murmured, laying her cheek against his chest. She looked up and remarked, “Your trip seems to have been more pleasant than ours, though I did gain an admirer,” she remarked dryly. “He certainly was enflamed with passion…” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 25 2006, 05:12 PM Post #160 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Staggering a little as she landed, Fade opened her eyes to the welcome sight of the corridor and not the closing-in teeth of the monstrous maw. She looked around, counting heads mentally - after sorting out that they'd gained somehow in that popular currency known as 'the dwarf', she could see that the only ones still not around were the barbarian and the bladesinger. Blowing a huge sigh of relief, the fey'ri leant backwards against comfortingly solid stone, allowed her legs to sag underneath her and sank gratefully to the ground. Looking around and grinning a little bit stupidly, it seemed that the others had fared a little better than she had and were all unscathed. |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 05:27 PM Post #161 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin could easily enough guess exactly what she meant by that, as he’d seen her call down celestial torrents of flame more often than he could possibly try to remember, it had become one of her noted signature spells amongst the Sunite priest hood. Curiously he’d been hit by that very spell mere moments after meeting Llana for the first time, when a Cyricist priest had called upon his filthy god for the spell. The former assassin looked down with a smile at the ring that Llana now wore on her finger, remembering well that its ability to shield him from fire had kept him alive that day, and that now his wife was protected by the very magics that had enabled them to be together as they were now. “Yes, we picked up some souvenirs though…” He observed dryly as he looked at the Dwarves, who were looking around eagerly as if struggling to come to terms with the prospect of being free after their years of imprisonment. |
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| Pamela | Nov 25 2006, 08:33 PM Post #162 |
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Molly
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“Karo,” she chided, smiling, but with also a touch of a concern at the new arrivals. “They can’t leave with Vaerilmor still loose.” She didn’t like the idea of them following either, as she took in their lack of arms. “Where did you find yourself, and what were they doing there?” Llana raised her hand a moment later to hold off any potential answer as she took in Fade’s injuries. She approached the fey’ri, and squatting down beside her, shook her head smiling. “You just can’t seem to emerge out of anything unscathed, can you…” she teased. A more serious look descended as she lay her hand upon the woman’s arm, and gripping her staff in the other, recited a chant that released one of the spells preserved in it. “But then I have the advantage of flight, quite literally…” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 25 2006, 08:55 PM Post #163 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade looked up and grinned back at the Sunite, chuckling at her quip. "Yeah, yeah, I know... seemed like a couple of lava elementals wanted to give me a very specific welcome. Should've run, but you know me..." she rapped her knuckles lightly against the side of her head. "Good thing is, I did get this" she lifted her arm up and showed Llana her wrist with the amulet wrapped around it "So we've got another one of the potential 'keys' to the next level of this tower." She closed her eyes and smiled as Llana cast a healing spell on her and then nodded towards the dwarves. "Karosin been collecting?" she asked, amused by the thought of the cold assassin on a dwarf -collecting spree. "Going to challenge Vaerilmor with his own dwarf army, eh?" after watching the dwarves for a bit, she focused her attention on to the werewolf. '"Scuse me..." she said a little apologetically to the priestess. "I've got something to do..." The fey'ri then made her way over to the werewolf, her arms folded defensively across her chest. "Look... Caine... thanks. You didn't have to offer to take over that favour, and for whatever reason you did it - be it selfish or not - I appreciate it. I'd also appreciate it if you didn't tell the others what I had to do. Just, you know, let them think I found it, okay?" she clapped the lythancrope on the shoulder "It's just better that way - believe me." |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 10:30 PM Post #164 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“I agree”, he lied, suspecting that having a trio of Dwarves gamboling though Elven-Port might be beneficial to their chances of success. “But they can’t come with us either”, he observed, knowing in truth that the final decision lay with them, and that if they wanted to come then it would be their decision, but it would be a cold day in Cania before he’d led them any of his equipment. He’d been about to answer when Llana had spotted Fade’s injuries, so instead he lapsed into silence, leaning back against the wall idly and rotating his neck back and forth for a few moments before there was an audible crack, he then went to work loosening his wrists as well, basically anything to stay as loose and ready for combat as possible. The discussion between Fade and Llana brought a slight smile to his face, but he remained silent. In truth he was busy considering the absence of the blade-singer and the barbarian, and to what degree losing their two main front-line fighters would affect the group. Furthermore they also had to decide how long it would be prudent to wait for them before writing them off. He’d been about to respond to Fade’s dwarf related quip, when Nalrid instead spoke, “If we knew where we were we could probably git an army here before long…” Offered the dwarf, clearly intent on the idea of getting a measure of revenge against the people that had imprisoned him and his sons. Of course being a Dwarf as oppose to a werewolf he had a more community based method of looking for that revenge. |
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| eocine | Nov 25 2006, 10:46 PM Post #165 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“No more selfish than the reason you have”, came a chuckle that was virtually a snarl from the werewolf, “I wish to have Vaerilmor’s blood on my claws, and to feel his flesh tear in my jaws.” The lycanthrope seemed to be considering whether or not to continue speaking, and apparently decided that there was nothing to be lost in doing so, “I will probably not live beyond this, and accepted my death long ago. Knowing that it was easy so offer a future I don’t expect to have.” At her request Canie turned his madness-tinged eyes towards Fade’s own, “You have bravery, and I respect that… So I will tell none of your deal, on this I swear my blood,” promised the werewolf, who had been impressed by Fade’s bloodlust, recognising that it mimicked his own. |
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| Darkwind | Nov 26 2006, 02:26 AM Post #166 |
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Native
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Avelaer tucked the other potion back into the belt when it became apparent that it would not be needed. He followed the giant with a nod. When they came to the door, he saw immediately why the giants had not perused it--it was far too small for them. He wasn't even sure the air elementals, despite technically being made out of gas, would fit through. Opening it, the let them and Skaflock pass through before turning to the giant once again. "Thank you. I wish you could come with us and be free... barring that, I hope you can make the best of it. Fare well." He stepped through, emerging instantly back in the tower. A glance around showed that the others were all alright, and had picked up quite a few people themselves. On impulse, just before he was about to enter the portal, Greg turned and unraveled the spell that bound the elemental on this plane. Why should it continue to fight, and suffer, when that served no more purpose? As the creature disappeared, he made the final step into the portal. When he arrived, he spoke with aplomb, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Everyone, please meet Nalrid, Bhain and Azsten. Guys, meet my companions and friends: Llana, Skaflock, Karosin..." He introduced everyone in turn, stopping at Avelaer. "Er, Avelaer... Who is that with you?" The elf replied somewhat defensively. "I don't know her name. She was about to be slain and we decided that she deserved the same choice as Caine here. When she comes to, we'll explain that choice to her." |
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| Pamela | Nov 26 2006, 11:38 AM Post #167 |
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Molly
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“Thank heavens,” Llana murmured, and shook her head in a private chiding of herself, “I never even thought to look for an amulet while I was in the arctic; thank heavens one of us kept our head.” She smiled, then laughed as Fade expounded on her idea for Karosin’s new companions. “Now, Fade, you’ve known Karo long enough to know that he’s hardly likely to charm people into joining his personal crusades…” She was about to tease her husband on the point when one of the dwarves spoke. She sobered up the offer, and inclined her head in gratitude for the offer. “I thank you for the offer, but unfortunately we’re rather short on time at the moment. We’re in the High Forest, in Elven Port. I don’t know how long you were imprisoned, but our present foes are demon-kin.” “Not a problem at all,” she said as the fey’ri excused herself and she turned her attention back to the dwarf, and her husband, and briefly exchanged their separate encounters. It helped to fill the time as she worriedly, quietly awaited the return of the last two of their group, praying their own encounter was going as relatively smoothly as their own. She then said to Nalrid, “I’m wondering if you would be more comfortable waiting downstairs, or perhaps in the rooms over there,” she said, nodding towards the diviner’s quarters. “The fey’ri hadn’t touched those, although its owner lies dead, from centuries ago. I’d prefer if you were able to leave the tower completely, but I worry that Vaerilmor or his companions are waiting somewhere outdoors for any…” She halted when the last pair returned, and approached Skafloc as she saw the injured Drow. “And you were right,” the Sunite said at Avelaer’s defense, and did a quick examination of the unconscious woman to judge the extent of her injuries. Sweet goddess, we haven’t even reached the prisoners yet… She used the staff to cast one spell upon the drow, and stepped back cautiously, not wanting to invoke a violent reaction from someone who might see her as an automatic enemy. The spell was strong enough to bring her to consciousness, but not enough to make her difficult to bring down if she proved herself determined to be a foe. |
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| eocine | Nov 26 2006, 08:48 PM Post #168 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Nalrid and the brother’s nodded to the rest, clearly finding it a little bit overwhelming to suddenly be confronted with a group of people having spent so long with just each other for company. “Don’ know the place well, but I know where it is”, said Nalrid, who had been raised in the confines of Citadel Adbar. “Me boys and I kin fight, but ye all look ta be better equipped than we be”. They looked over towards the empty rooms, and seemed to weigh up the options before them, “Aye, we’ll wait in the room for ye ta be done here”, he stated, before sending his two sons forwards and out of the way. That done he then turned to the sorcerer who had helped set them free, “Ye did us a turn, an I’m not the sort ta forget it, iffin’ you get through this alive we’ll buy ye a brew or fifteen.” He then shook the back of metal that was strapped over his shoulder, “Also if ye give me an the boys a few days we kin probably make up something from here that’ll work nice even if ye are a spell-chucker”. That said he then shook the Sorcerers hand and headed out towards the Diviners room, from where there could soon be heard mutterings and the clanking of metals being banged together. |
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| eocine | Nov 26 2006, 08:49 PM Post #169 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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More strays… Wonderful, considered the assassin to himself as he took in the Drow. His own adventures had only ever brought him into contact with the underdark dwellers once, and even that had been a comparatively civilized affair as they were ambassadors from the church of Eilistraee. As such this looked like being his first sighting of a ‘proper’ Drow, and frankly he wasn’t likely to be impressed as she was being easily hefted around by Skafloc, who had virtually hogtied her. Still, it never paid to underestimate any opponent, and so he carefully stepped behind where the Drow lay, dropping his hands onto the hilts of his blades as he did so. Given how close to death she seemed to be he doubted that a dose of poison would be easily shrugged off, and so he silently slid his poisoner’s blade free and watched closely as Llana lightly touched the rose-headed staff to the top of the white haired woman’s head. |
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| eocine | Nov 26 2006, 09:30 PM Post #170 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The rose on the head of the staff glowed dimly for a moment, and no sooner that the light vanished that the Drow’s eyes snapped open, then closed again rapidly as she pressed her face against the floor. “Xun dos talinth ulu chath ussta solen?!” Screeched the female in a language that none of the party could understand. She struggled against the bonds for a moment, before laying still and silent. The last thing that she had remembered was the giant wading into her small group and scattering them with an ease that had bordered on the contemptuous. She had cast a spell intended to slay the huge creature, but it had only done the most minor damage, and in getting so close to the beast it had allowed him to clamp his hands around her throat. She remembered the moment where the light had faded, and then snippets as she was carried insensible back to his lair. She had thought death was upon her, but somehow now she was here and bound, entrapped in the blinding light… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 26 2006, 09:39 PM Post #171 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade turned away from the werewolf and grinned when the last of their little rag-tag band turned up - a grin which turned to consternation when she saw what Skafloc was carrying. Without really thinking, Fade moved up beside lana and regarded the drow with a concerned look on her face. "Drow..." she murmured, and unthinkingly extended a hand to push the white locks from the female's face, touching her cheek almost tenderly. "So alike... and yet unlike..." Upon studying the drow female's face, the fey'ri felt a gamut of different emotions. she looks so like her... and yet not... but this is the race that condemned her... even more delicate... she's not the same... she's not her... Suddenly aware that she had spent what could be considered a prolonged moment just staring at the drow female, the rogue backed off, allowing Llana to cast her spell. |
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| Darkwind | Nov 27 2006, 02:45 AM Post #172 |
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Native
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When the drow came to, Avelaer waited a bit for her to get her bearings. He spoke in Elven, knowing that she would understand. "You have a choice. We are going to release you now. If you act as our enemy, we will readily send you to meet the foul tanar'ri your people worship. But if you act as our friend, then that is how we will treat you as well." He spoke to the barbarian. "Skaflock, please remove her bindings." They seemed to be picking up hitchhikers of questionable morality at an alarming rate. First a fey'ri, then a werewolf, and now this. He had nothing particular against this drow or the dark elves in general, but what's next? An alu fiend, perhaps? Greg shook his head slightly. He did not speak their language, but he could understand the basic idea of what he said. But what kind of choice was this, anyway? Surrounded by hostile enemies, did he really expect her to choose to fight? He might as well hold that sword of his to her throat and say that. He spoke up in the Common tongue. "And if she chooses to leave, let her go on her way. Otherwise it's a false choice, Avelaer." |
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| Castamir | Nov 27 2006, 10:24 AM Post #173 |
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Native
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Skafloc grinned as he was reunited with the others. He was pleased that they were all alive still though it seemed that they were becoming quite a crowd, their passing was unlikely to go unnoticed anywhere if the dwarves joined them too. He put the drow elf down and stood back as Llana did her 'thing' and Avelear spoke. He was well aware that the sight of a huge warpaint clad northman with a very-big-axe-indeed looming over you wasn't something many people would want to see first when they woke up - though it was often something people saw just before being rendered unconscious.. At Avelear's instruction he glanced briefly at the elf, expression clearly questioning the wisdom of releasing her without any further attempt at communication, but deciding that there probably wasn't a lot she could do against all of them at once, knelt down and freed her hands first, before stepping back and allowing her to free herself of the rest of the rope. |
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| Mwa13 | Nov 27 2006, 09:33 PM Post #174 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas had jumped out of the way as the others and the dwarves appeared. He stared at the dwarves and grinned his usual grin. More people coming out than went in. This place was more evil than he had thought. He watched and listened to the others talk. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his grin wide upon his face. He wondered about the drow, but didn't really care what she would do. He was sure she wouldn't stay with them. She was a drow after all and should not be trusted. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 27 2006, 09:53 PM Post #175 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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After the initial shock of facing the drow, Fade backed off even further, not wanting to confuse matters. Let the diplomats be diplomatic she reasoned to herself and she turned and faced the dwarves, grinning. Fade liked dwarves. Dwarves didn't always initally like her, though. If there was any race out there that knew how to throw a decent party, it was the dwarves. Fade liked parties probably even more than she liked dwarves, and so attending dwarven parties were pretty high up on her list of ways to entertain herself. Normally stoic and reserved, they fey'ri had experienced the almost magical transformation dwarves went through when brought into conjunction with that universal catalyst known as 'ale' many a time - as if they'd been polymorphed from small, law abiding badgers to massive, hedonistic, slightly sociopathic boars - much to her own personal amusement. She'd lost count the amount of times the local Luskan dwarves had drunk her under the table; initally, they hadn't been too keen on allowing her to join, but the rogue had ways of ingratiating herself with most people when she set her mind to it. And since the dwarves invariably ended up paying for her ale, just for entertainment value, she didn't mind losing to their drinking games. And they knew the best drinking games in all of Faerun... "Y'all right, boys?" she asked, still grinning. "Never thought there'd be a bunch of you lads here in an elven city... what've you been doing here?" |
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| eocine | Nov 28 2006, 08:44 PM Post #176 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin watched the fey’ri with a look of mingled curiosity at what in the hells the impulsive being thought she was upto, and scorn at the fact that she felt the need to stroke the face of the Drow woman. If she’s going to be like this with everyone we come across she’s going to pull her thigh muscles by spreading them too much…. His first instinct as the woman was healed was would have been to drive his knee into the back of her neck and hold his dagger under her throat, but instead he decided that it would probably be for the best if he let the Blade-Singer deal with the situation, the fabled hatred between the Drow and the other Elven races would ensure that Avelaer would be nothing if not on his guard. Still… He couched his poisoned dagger easily, resting it in such a position that he could easily hurl the weapon towards her decidedly unarmored body. It of course had gone without saying that he had no clue what gibberish she had shouted, but it was enough that it sounded like a variety of curses as oppose to a collection of arcane syllables, and furthermore her hands hadn’t moved unusually, and that was what he had been closely watching for. Really as far as the assassin was concerned they were probably time wasting, they didn’t have time to babysit, and they couldn’t ecpect help from her. As Skafloc untied her, and Greg and Avelaer spoke on how to treat the captive, he still kept his own council… |
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| eocine | Nov 28 2006, 09:15 PM Post #177 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Nalrid and his sons turned to face the faintly demonic looking Elf, but they were all big boys and had seen far stranger creatures than her. It would also probably have surprised her to know that any family resemblance that she may have had with Vaerilmor would have been entirely irrelevant, as it wasn’t actually the Fey’ri mage that had imprisoned them. They’s met their fair share of Tieflings, not all of whom had been evil, and they simply assumed that the crimson haired woman was one. “Minin', mostly”, replied Nalrid with an economy of verbage and directness that could certainly be considered to be typically dwarven. “Weren’t ‘ere by choice I can tell ya that”, interjected Bhain, “Some mad human mage up and abducted us”, added his brother. “Course he’s bin gone some time now…” He continued, trying to remember how long it had been. “Maybe seventy years or so?” He looked to his father and brother for confirmation, and they both nodded. “Since then we just bin carryin’ on minin ta be honest”. |
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| eocine | Nov 28 2006, 10:53 PM Post #178 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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At the gentle touch from Fade’s fingers the woman froze, she was not of a noble house, and had often enough felt the stings of the matron mother’s lashes, one in particular had taken a certain pleasure in tender touches interspersed with vicious whippings, and as such the touch took her into a part of her mind she had no wish to visit. The touch soon ceased though, and drifted away, and then there was silence again for a few moments, during which she continued to try to test her bonds with as much secrecy as she could, her eyes still shut tight as she tried to protect her retina’s from the glare. It was at this point that Elf spoke, and she whipped her sightless head around into the direction that the sound had come from, lips drawn back to expose perfectly white teeth that gleamed even in her snarl twisted face. “An Elf offers to treat me well? When your people have not extended a hand to mine in millennia?” Her face was furious, but her tone mocking and distrusting, suspecting it all to be a trick of some sort. Given her feelings about the surface races, and her belief that they wouldn’t hesitate to slay her on sight, the Drow was surprised at the command that she be untied, and even more surprised when they were carried out. She then heard more voices in a language that she didn’t understand whilst she was pulling herself to her feet, burrowing her eyes into the crook of her arm. “So what now surfacer?” She asked in Elven as she tried to force her now streaming eyes open. “I have no quarrel with you, but nor do I have any idea where I am, and nor am I exactly dressed for the occasion”. |
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| Darkwind | Nov 29 2006, 01:30 AM Post #179 |
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"Extend a hand to you? Sorry, but do you mean before, during or after the sneak attack raids on our outposts you carry out on regular basis?" He tried to keep his tone flat, but the passion he felt peeked through the facade at the end. After a moment, he controlled himself and continued. "Enough of this. I didn't bargain for your life with the giants to fence words with you. You are in Elven Port in the High Forest, if those names mean anything to you. As for what now, that's your decision to make. I've already explained your options to you." |
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| Mistress Elysia | Nov 29 2006, 04:20 PM Post #180 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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"Mad human mage?" Fade's eyebrows shot up in surprise for a moment - she was absolutely sure that the genie had been talking about Vaerilmor. Now, she realiased, the chances were that he hadn't been. Still... after 70 years, the chances are he was dead - humans didn't last that long. Unless he had dabbled in the necromantic arts... The fey'ri decided not to let her thoughts wander down that particular passage. Liches were always bad news. And what was a human mage doing in an elven mage tower in the first place? As the dwarves continued to explain their activities for the last seventy years, Fade frowned. "If the mage hasn't been around for a good seventy years, why in the Abyss did you keep mining? I mean, okay, everyone has to have a hobby, but that's hard graft! Especially since that was the task the mage had put you to to begin with - or so I assume. What were you trying to do - annoy him by doing a really good job?!" she shook her head, still grinning. Typical dwarfish attitude, even if they had been locked up for gods-knows how long. "Why did the mage bring you here?" As she asked her final question, the fey'ri couldn't help but have her attention diverted by the ensuing conversation between Avelaer and the drow female. She watched a the elf spoke to the female and felt a strange sense of deja-vu - the drow was being treated exactly the same way as she had been. She the experienced a rush of annoyance - couldn't they see that she was uncomfortable? Again - judging her before they knew her, stereotyping her simply because of her race. "Hang on... just excuse me. I've got to go and meddle..." With that, Fade made her way over to the drow. "There are some shadows further up the corridor" she offered "it's not perfect, but it'll be more comfortable for you." she glanced over to her companions and then smiled encouragingly back at the female, even though she couldn't see her. "Don't worry - they treated me in a similar way when I first met them... but they've been kind enough and kept their word to me, which is saying something considering they hunt my kind. I'm Fade, by the way. Who're you?" |
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| Pamela | Nov 29 2006, 08:18 PM Post #181 |
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Molly
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Llana had nodded gratefully at the dwarves’ acceptance of the offer to hide in the diviner’s quarters. It was one less worry while they finished exploring the rooms, though they would probably need to bring them up each level that they went, in some safe room till they’d dealt with whatever lay at the top. She was surprised at Fade’s unusual initial behaviour to the Drow. Considering that the fey’ri only considered sun elves as ‘acceptable’, there wasn’t much chance that the subterranean elves would be considered worthy. Her prejudices had been strongly in place over the rest of them. Either the fey’ri as a group had had better relations with that race than previously believed, or Fade had done so, personally. The crimson-headed rebels first words confirmed the second suspicion. The priestess closed her eyes at Avelaer’s wording of the alternatives, then murmured her agreement with Greg. “She could wait downstairs if she wanted; it’ll be safer than going outside yet,” she added, doubting either the drow or the dwarves would welcome sharing sanctuary. The trio would probably be able to hold their own against her, and were unlikely to wage war on their own. She was relieved when the stranger seemed ready to listen to reason, and waited for her and Avelaer to finish exchanging their barbs, planning to intercede at that point. She saw Fade turning back, and waited. She smiled when the fey’ri gave sensible, and kind advice, but frowned at the description of her actions against the fey'ri. “Hunting those who’ve been hunting ours for the past five years,” she reminded the rebel in Elvish, “And who still hold them imprisoned somewhere around here. There’s a mage and a priest who’re busy trying to kill us off right now; strong enough to create an earthquake.” It was important that the Drow not underestimate their enemy, or to offer help (if she were inclined) beyond her capabilities. “If you aren’t able to aid us, or don’t wish to, you can remain in one of the rooms here or below till we’ve finished exploring the tower.” |
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| eocine | Nov 29 2006, 10:00 PM Post #182 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“And you would do any different were your people able to survive the hazards that we chosen face on a daily basis in the Underdark?” Replied the Drow to Avelaer’s words, her tone that of a true believer in what she was saying. Still she was smart enough to recognise that exchanging barbs with a member of a group that hugely out numbered you was never a smart thing to do, and so she remained silent. The High-Forest meant something to the white haired figure, but not much, and Elven-Port didn’t even mean that to her, though there was of course a chance that the Drow would have their own name for the area. It was now that Fade spoke to her, cutting off the need for her to reply for the moment and the Drow cleric, who was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth opened her eyes enough to make out the silhouette of Fade, and see where she was pointing. Maintaining her squint the Drow moved further down towards the darker area, and risked fully opening one eye. The light dazzled, but no longer burned, and she judged it to be just about acceptable, though she remained unable to stop the tears from streaming from her eyes and down her cheeks. Unlike the Fey’ri Fade, this particular Drow didn’t much care for the opinions of the others as long as they weren’t actively trying to kill her, and she had no particular desire to ingratiate herself with anyone. Still… Having allies in any circumstance never hurt… “My thanks to you”, the Drow virtually whispered in response to Fade’s kindness, “My name is Anaara Fil’Vya”, she replied, speaking directly to Fade as she did so, seemingly having decided to only address the Fey’ri. Llana’s voice though cut across any potential conversation that could have followed, though of course the ebon skinned woman ignored the words on their treatment of prisoners, still the offer to allow her to join them came as a surprise, and she wasn’t about to believe it. “So I can be your shield?” She sneered, knowing well enough of the tactic of using a disposable group of others to take the brunt of the attacks. “If that is all you offer then I shall not be joining you”. |
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| eocine | Nov 29 2006, 10:13 PM Post #183 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Th’ big pile o’ walkin’ stone tha’ the mage’d left ta watch us an’ slap us around iffin’ we didn’t mine every day meant tha we had little choice”, replied Nalrid with a tone of dejected hopelessness over the hugely unpleasant memory. “O’ course there was also a seam o’ mithril tha’ me father woulda wept ta see”, he then added, to nods from both of his sons. When Fade decided to head off to deal with the Drow situation the three Dwarves shrugged amongst themselves and started a private discussion on how the mithril should be used. |
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| Castamir | Nov 29 2006, 10:16 PM Post #184 |
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Native
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Skafloc recognised the language, but that was all. That three others spoke it meant it mattered little that Skafloc couldn't, and so his interest waned, especially as the Drow didn't want to put up a fight. He turned his head and surveyed the dwarves when Fade and Llana started conversing with the drow and nodded his head in greeting. He always had time for dwarves, his people had traded with them, weapons for furs, and while they had been hard headed, they had always been fair. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Dec 1 2006, 06:23 PM Post #185 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade nodded at the drow as she introduced herself and shook her head a little at the others; they were going about this the wrong way. She knew it from personal experience; she had been in this situation amongst traditional enemies so many times before. She still had a long way to go before she trusted those in this group totally herself, but she recognised that they were genuine with their word. What the drow needed was imply to be asked what she wanted to do, not be given an ultimatum to assuage any feelings of suspicion. "No, we're not going to offer you that. Well, I'm not, and although I can't speak for the others - I wouldn't dare do that - so far they've been very true to their word." For a moment, the fey'ri looked from one member of the group to another, remembering their first reactions to her. Of course, even though they had only happened recently, she couldn't remember everything - there was too much pain for that - but the fey'ri did get a strong sense of deja vu, their individual atitudes to the drow strongly mirroring their attitudes to her initially. With an amused snort and a smile, Fade turned back to the drow. "You're actually getting off pretty lightly" she confided in a whisper "At least they've given you the choice. They wanted to kill me at first..." she grinned. "The 'goodly' races don't cope too well when faced with traditional enemies off the battlefield - they hang on too much to stereotypes. When they found me, they were all "evil one - ultimatum - what are you doing" and all that kind of stuff, but when they found the elf, they welcomed him with barely a flicker of an eyelid" her tail flicked a little in badly concealed irritation. "Not his fault, of course... and not theirs really, either. He's traditionally a 'goodie' - see?" she sighed "And we're traditionally 'baddies' - immediately, we can't be trusted." This time, the fey'ri's smile was slight, but genuine. "I know this is all a bit much, but I can vouch for the fact that I haven't been used as a meatshield..." she gestured to Skafloc and grinned cheekily at him ".. that's his job. The only injuries I've sustained have been my own damn fool fault. So the choice really is up to you... face the mage and cleric with us, or go your own way. They won't go back on their word." |
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| eocine | Dec 1 2006, 08:23 PM Post #186 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin was much like Skafloc in this moment, utterly unable to understand the flow of dialogue at all. Elven wasn’t a commonly encountered language in Calimshan, and so he’d never even started to consider attempting to master it, fortunately if push came to shove he always had Llana there to translate for him, but given exactly what the subject matter of the discussion was, and the fact that there could very literally be life and death hinging on the outcome he didn’t reason it to be the most opportune time to ask for an update. Instead he made his way towards the door and stepped outside, back into the main chamber. Looking firstly down the stairwell by which they’d accessed the room he checked that the magical webbing was still holding and that nothing more seemed out of the ordinary. Once he was entirely certain that they were still alone in that particular area of the tower he approached the next door in the circle. Whilst his own magical knowledge was hugely limited when compared to the virtually encyclopedic knowledge that Avelaer had he was still by no means an idiot, and after being told what the symbols meant earlier he was easily able to recognise that behind the next door the magical necromancy laboratory stood. At this thought he dropped down his left hand to the sabre that was sheathed at his hip, and patted the hilt, reassured by the strength of the enchantments woven into the black steel of the blade. It was a blade that he’d had for several years now, one that he had purchased at no small expense in the city of Iriaebor, as he and Llana had prepared to journey into the Fields of the Dead, to battle the avatar of Kanchelsis, a God of Vampires hailing from the 487th layer of the Abyss, who was attempting to convene a meeting of the Union of Eclipses. Shadow-Secui’s magic had served him well that day in that charnel house of horror that resided beneath the fields, and he had become used to feeling the weapon in his hand, though he recognised that it wasn’t always the weapon most suited to combating the evils that they now faced, given that they often seemed to be of Abyssal or Infernal nature. Still, when used in its element it was a hugely effective weapon… Pondering this he drew the blade from the sheath, smiling slightly at the hissing sound that the magical metal made as it slid free. Holding the blade easily he gave the weapon a few cuts though the air, marveling still at how perfectly balanced it was. Tossing it up into the air he then snapped out his left hand, catching the handle before he then placed the blade across the outstretched index finger of his right hand, letting it rest there, testing its point of perfect equilibrium, close enough to the hilt that in the hands of a skilled wielder the blade could feel virtually weightless. Slipping the sword away again he approached the door, and examined it as best he could for traps and the like, though he would of course admit that his own skills in that area weren’t as well developed as they were in a lot of other areas, for that was more the remit of thieves than assassins… |
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| eocine | Dec 1 2006, 09:10 PM Post #187 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Anaara’s initial response would have been to look at the Fey’ri with incredulity, for what did such generalizations as bad and good matter? Power was all that mattered in the end, power and perhaps a smattering of revenge as well. Still she recognised well enough that this wasn’t the time to speak of such sentiments, rather it would be better were she to play along with this female’s ideas… Further than that though the crimson haired woman had claimed that they wouldn’t go back on their word she recognised well enough the look in the Elven male’s eyes, and decided that he didn’t look likely to let her go if he could avoid it, no matter what the others had to say on the matter. Layered atop that was the fact that she was unarmored, and several of her spells had been spent in the battle against the giant earlier on that very day. She looked down at her hands, and the two rings that adorned them, one of protection against cold, the other to aid her should she have fallen on the slopes of the place of her prior imprisonment, neither of which would do her much good her, and as well there was the fact that the Sunite priestess that had healed her earlier hadn’t restored her to full health, for she still ached all over, and her shoulder felt both tender and as if it had been badly wrenched at the same time. Leaving may get her killed, but if she stayed long enough to claim added healing, for surely they wouldn’t expect her to battle injured, and also to find someway of armoring herself and getting a weapon of some kind, then that would surely be better than leaving now and risking an unforgiving surface world… “If the choice is truly mine then I shall stay”, she stated in Elven, tossing back her hair as she did so in a display that attempted to mingle bravado with a hint of the seductress. Her vest had been nearly torn to shreds by the giant, and she was certainly aware enough of her own beauty to value it as a weapon in certain circumstances, and this was of course one of them. |
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| eocine | Dec 1 2006, 09:37 PM Post #188 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine too was ignorant of Elvish, and would fast have been becoming bored with the continued discussion were it not for the opportunity to gaze upon the lithe and nearly topless form of the Drow. He slouched back against the wall, scraping his claws against the wall, and playing a series of sexual scenarios over and over in his head as he waited for the incessant chatter in that curiously melodic language to end, not willing yet to move out whilst he was being given free fodder for his imaginings. It was in the nature of the lycanthrope to have a certain duality, and perhaps even more than that, in his sexual nature, given that he was a combination of man and animal, and found himself stirred by both humans and wolves, dependent of course on what form he himself took. Yet when he was in his hybrid form he was capable of turning his eye to virtually anything, and at the moment the ebon skinned woman had caught his eye…. Still for the time being there was nothing to be done to slake his desire, and so he would just have to wait it out for now… But perhaps there would be a chance sometime, and the possibility of that chance only strengthened the reason for the werewolf to remain with the party. |
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| Darkwind | Dec 2 2006, 12:33 AM Post #189 |
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Suddenly he realized that he'd made a classical blunder--he'd offered a choice without being able to accept one of the outcomes. As the fact that the drow decided to stay with them hit him, he groaned aloud, a wild look on his face. Why. this meant he was responsible for her! He'll have to always keep watch on her to make sure she behaved. That wasn't his intention--he had to admit, now, he actually wanted her to fight, though he would have let her leave. What I get for being a hero... He composed himself and walked over to where she stood. Locking eyes with her, he spoke. "Good decision. I see you are unarmed and unarmored, however. Don't worry--I'll be looking after you personally. I'll do my best to make sure that if something goes wrong, death will not come from an enemy." He put a slight emphasis on the last word to let her know that if she so much as looked as though she was about to do them harm, death would come from him. |
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| Mwa13 | Dec 2 2006, 08:38 AM Post #190 |
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Crazy webslinger
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Jonas had been listening to everyone talking, staring one by one in turn, wondering what the Drow woman's final answer would be. He wasn't sure where she would be safest, given that she had no weapons nor any armor on, just tattered clothing. He wondered if they had anything to offer her if she chose to come with them... He heard the scraping sound and turned his head to stare at the werewolf. He frowned slightly at first, but he swiped the frown away and his usual friendly, yet disturbing grin came upon his face to hide away his thoughts. He was wondering what was going through the lycanthrope's mind. His eyes were definitely staring at the Drow and not in a good way either. He couldn't really make out what the werewolf was thinking and turned his gaze back to the others. He heard Avelaer's words and stared at the man. Kind of a wonder for that coming from an elf, an enemy of the Drow. Jonas straightened himself up and walked to Karosin. He leaned against the wall while staring at the door. "I wonder what lies behind door number five. Good fortune..." He turned his grin towards Karosin. "... Or vile scum?" |
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| Pamela | Dec 2 2006, 09:38 AM Post #191 |
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Molly
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Llana shook her head. “We have no need of pawns who’d fall under a single blow,” she said coolly to the Drow. “And if that is the case, we certainly don’t want you. But if you are decent in battle, be it with magic or arms, you’re welcome to join us. We also have a few weapons and armour from a previous battle. You can borrow them while with us; after all, I have no intention of wasting any more spells than necessary patching you up.” Her manner was indifferent as she walked away back to the hall. Fade and Avelaer were capable of talking to the woman. Staying would only intimidate and keep the woman- priestess?- arguing, when they needed to keep moving. She'd heal Anaara of course before they entered the next room. But the Sunite was also curious to know whether she was a priestess or devotee, and if she were the former, whether she had any spells reserved (or remaining) for that particular function. She went out, and saw Karosin and Jonas examining the next door. “Any traps?” She nodded as they both shook their heads. “None of them have been yet, but I suppose better safe than sorry. The Drow’s planning to join us. She’s probably a priestess, but then you’d have guessed that as well,” she said with a smile. “That, or a very devoted follower.” She grew pensive as she looked at the door. The two figures were still there. “Perhaps we’ll be spared another battle,” she said wistfully. “Rescue a couple more natural foes, and build up our own army with them. It would certainly be different from the usual run of affairs.” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Dec 2 2006, 11:43 AM Post #192 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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As the drow tossed her hair back, Fade recognised the gesture only too well and rolled her eyes with a wry, lopsided smile. She'd learn. Fade certainly had; the arrogant tossing of hair and sticking out of ones assets had been one of her own signature gestures in the past - it had worked amongst her own people where such things were expected, but with the Luskanites... Fade shook her head. Square up to them and smack them in the gob if necessary - much better than the old arrogant 'toss and pose'... a barely provoked punch in the mouth got you labelled as a bitch and possibly a nutter; the toss and pose got you labelled as an enticing challenge. Fade knew which one she preferred. Still, she nodded at the drow's decision and smiled at her. Fade was about to reply when Avelaer strutted over. The rebel still wasn't too sure about the moon elf; so far, he hadn't displayed any of the decidedly negative attitude and behaviour she had come to expect from full blooded elves when they were faced with a fey'ri, but there was still time... well, let's see how he deals with another of his traditional enemies the fey'ri thought to herself as she leant against the wall of the corridor, folding her arms across her chest in an unconciously defensive stance. At his words, the rogue frowned and had to check herself as she felt her top lip curling up, getting irrationally annoyed on behalf of the drow. So, he'd look after her, would he? As if she couldn't look after herself. On his emphasis of the word 'enemy', her tail begin to flick from side to side - ahh, so he was playing the same game that Mr. Sorcerer had played (and probably was still playing) with her - do as you're told or we'll have you... Before she could stop herself, the fey'ri had butted in. "It's okay, Avelaer - I'm sure Anaara can look after herself. She doesn't need a keeper. The fey'ri don't have an all-encompassing desire to destroy all traditional enemies when we face them -" which wasn't entirely true... the desire was there, but - Fade reasoned in the confines of her own head - self-preservation over-rode it nine times out of ten, and considering there was no way the drow could approach the fey'ri in any way when it came to random violence just confirmed to the fey'ri that the drow would be a safe travelling companion, the ironic thing being that in not realising that in this line of reasoning, she was actually exhibiting the extreme arrogance or her own race, she could actually be completely and utterly wrong... "- and so I'm pretty sure the drow feel the same way; the all-encompasing desire is to survive." And exact revenge on our transgressors... she added to herself but since we didn't capture her in the first place, we won't be the target of her vengence. Satisfied with this rather garbled logic, Fade unconciously tilted her head back slightly in a decidedly arrogant pose of her own, readying herself to be challenged. |
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| eocine | Dec 2 2006, 12:55 PM Post #193 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Anaara sneered slightly at Llana’s words, her questioning tone spiking the pride that the Drow had about her skills in battle and the power of her Goddess as well as that pride which all Drow had about the martial skills of their entire race, seemingly forgetting that recently she had been captured by a giant. A half-breed dares to question a Drow? Thought the priestess to herself, still it did at least appear that they were willing to equip her, and that was what counted here, and so she swallowed her pride as best she could. At least she did until Avelaer’s less than veiled threat, a threat at which she bridled, “If you try to deal death to me then I will consider you my enemy, for you are indeed no friend of mine.” The woman laughed back at the blade-singer, a laugh edged with scorn and malice, “Clearly your people’s reputation for acceptance is ill earned”. “Indeed,” nodded the Drow to Fade’s words, all the while wondering why the crimson haired and leather clad Fey’ri was choosing to step in to speak on her behalf. With that she simply then turned on her heels and stepped lightly into the main hallway, as purposefully as one can when barefooted and virtually bare breasted. She spied the gathering by the door, though she failed to recognise the meaning of the symbols one thing that she did recognise was that an aura of anticipation had descended on the group, and it was one that seemed to indicate an impending conflict of some sort. That borne in mind she began a spell casting, and moments later she could feel an added vitality washing over herself. |
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| eocine | Dec 2 2006, 01:05 PM Post #194 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Both I should imagine”, replied the assassin distractedly as he rotated his neck and then started to stretch out his limbs as best he could, ignoring the fact that this could be considered a slightly odd spectacle for any not accustomed to his way of preparing for what he fuully expected to be combat. It was a habit that he’d had for many years, ever since once tearing a muscle in his thigh whilst attempting to escape after a successful kill when he was still in his teens. Being forced to limp away was hardly an enjoyable way of spending a night, and so since then he had been perhaps even over concerned with ensuring that it wouldn’t happen again, for being so hampered with such an injury could be the difference between life and death, and he was thrice damned if that was going to happen if he could avoid it. He turned and smiled as Llana approached, stepping backwards to allow her closer to the door, to be honest though he didn’t share her sentiment, for they were already a ragtag band as it was, and to add more to the group seemed like folly in the extreme, still for the time being there was little enough point in mentioning that. “The Drow is joining us?” He enquired of his wife, less than convinced of the wisdom of any such arrangement, but nevertheless feeling that he might as well hide behind the dark-skinned elf as any other if it meant that he would be able to do what he did with more freedom. |
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| Castamir | Dec 2 2006, 09:15 PM Post #195 |
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Native
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Skafloc turned his head back to the coversation he couldn't understand in time to see the Fey'ri rebel gesture at him and smirk. He wasn't a paranoid man, but that didn't stop his eyes narrowing in response. He wasn't devoid of humour either though, so when the Fey'ri realised he'd noticed the gesture, he stuck out his tongue petulantly. An altogether unexpected gesture from the tattooed killing machine. He turned away and approached Karosin, careful to not disturb the Assasin. As the others joined them, Skafloc felt the group tense, ready for action, even if only subconscuiously they were all preparing, going through their own rituals. Skafloc twirled Brainbiter with a concentrated focus, his mind entering the 'zone', his breathing deepening, oxygenating his blood... |
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| eocine | Dec 2 2006, 10:20 PM Post #196 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As his free show had gone Caine too made his way into the main hallway of the crystal tower, looking carefully at the scene before him, careful though to let those checking for traps do what they would… The tension in the air was almost palpable, and there seemed to be a feeling that he was only distantly aware of, something that batted at the edges of his senses but gave no true indication as to what it was. In an attempt to discover the source of this strange sensation he moved closer to the door, straining each of his senses to their limit… There is was, a smell, heavy and damp with an undercurrent of rot and corruption, coming from behind the door that they were about to open. The werewolf had only rarely smelt such an odor before, for his hunting grounds didn’t encompass such a terrain, still he could at least put a name to what had caused the stink… His feral gaze traveled over the party, watching as the individuals went through their preparations, finally settling on the massive figure of the barbarian. Lightly the lycanthrope made his way towards the brawny human’s side, watching carefully out of the corner of his eyes he interrupted Skafloc’s preparations. “Swamp ahead”, the creature growled simply, “smells like nothing that should be behind that door.” Of course had the creature though about the impossible sights that had already greeted it since it had taken up with the group perhaps it would have been a little less surprised, but thinking things through had never been Caine’s strongest suit. As if the influence of the barbarian was rubbing off on him the werewolf’s breathing also started to speed up, the pupils of his eyes began to dilate as well, and veins pushed upwards as they fed muscles that were starting to demand more blood. |
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| Darkwind | Dec 3 2006, 01:47 AM Post #197 |
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Native
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"Ah. I stand corrected, then", he said to her back. Death would still come from an enemy. While her back was turned, he took the opportunity to draw his weapon and change it to a bow. As a priestess, she would probably stay behind the front lines, and that meant he would have to stay even further behind and provide archery support. He took up his position and flexed his fingers--thinking with some amusement that that was his version of the exercises the others went through. This was by far the oddest bunch he'd ever adventured with--tieflings, werewolves, drow together with humans, elves and now dwarves! And all they lacked was a bard to pen the tale of the unlikeliest of bands. He chuckled. This had the markings of an epic--or an epic tragedy. If he got out of this in once piece, he might even try to pen it himself. |
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| Pamela | Dec 3 2006, 10:21 AM Post #198 |
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Molly
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When the Drow entered the hall, Llana looked over. She watched her cast her first spell, then shook her head. No healing left then, and perhaps few spells, period… She approached Anaara, and opening her bag, presented the trophies from their battle with Fade’s former compatriots. As the woman armed herself, she used her staff twice more to restore the Drow to health. At the donning of armour, it was certain that she was a priestess. She briefly considered asking what spells remained to her, but decided to hold her tongue. The priestess would find it suspicious if she were still decently-armed, or an excuse for condescension if she wasn’t. When everyone of their ragtag band was gathered and in place, she touched her holy symbol before tracing a symbol in the air with her fingers. Energy flowed out and around the group, protecting them from the worst effects of necromantic magic. She turned to Anaara and quietly remarked, “This room belonged to some ancient necromancer, and there are two creatures within the room.” She then walked away towards her husband, and touched his cheek as she cast another spell. “Be careful,” she murmured; he would at least have extra protection against any spells cast his way. She returned to her own place without further comment, and silently prayed that this room would prove as manageable as the others so far. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Dec 3 2006, 10:37 AM Post #199 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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When the expected - and quite frankly desired - challenge did not present itself, Fade pushed herself from the wall savagely and swept past the elf. He was proving far too even tempered for her liking, and since the fey'ri thrived on chaos and conflict, his refusal at that time to argue with her left her feeling decidedly prickly. It was with a lashing tail that she made her way over to the others, desperately hoping that this time there was something worth getting her swords out for. "Door trapped?" she near barked at the others. At their returning shrugs, she muscled her way through the what seemd to be an ever-expanding throng on party members and inspected the door as carefully as she could. "Nothing." the fey'ri declared once she had finished her checks. Straightening up, she glanced back to everyone else; seeing that Anaara was equipped and ready and that everyone else seemed to be pretty much prepared, the rebel unsheathed Tholdagnir first and in her own eagerness to meet a potential fight, grasped the door handle and turned it. As the door swung open, she unsheathed Lawbreaker and dropped into a defensive stance, scanning the room for potential enemies. |
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| eocine | Dec 3 2006, 10:55 AM Post #200 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The air immediately started to smell damp and earthy as the doors were pulled apart, and a creeping fog flooded out across the sigil marked floor, the markings that were already lit adding an eerie glow to the mist. There was also a definite sense of warmth present as they looked into the shadowed room beyond. As they stood and looked into the shades, they became aware that the sounds of the swamp were all too apparent. More than that though the more observant members of the party could make out eyes in the darkness, and, flooding towards the light came a variety of insects, forming a cloud of biting bugs around each and every party member. As they made their ways forwards carefully, waving away their insectoid assailants, they could soon sense the feel of turf underneath their feet, that were hidden from view by the all encompassing fog. Off to their right a huge and murky swamp seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see, dead trees and tufts of grass scattered around, logs and other detritus floating in the stagnant pools that buzzed with parasitic life. Above their heads stretched the ancient necromantic sigil, rendered monumentally huge by the very size of the room beneath it. The marking gleamed with a dark purple light, stretching out and distorting the shadows beneath it, lending everything in the area an even more sinister cast. Hints of movement abounded all around them, but there was nothing significant enough to give a face to the palpable aura of menace that pervaded. An occasional breeze played out across the room, and brought the stink of methane and other swamp gasses to their nostrils. Looking more deeply into the swamp it was easy enough to spot occasionally flares, where gas pockets had been ignited, though what by was anybodies guess, around these are could also be seen the movement of myriad smaller animals as they scattered away from the flames. As they approached the main laboratory area they became aware of a slight incline, one that lifted the area away from the mists and meant that they could see their feet for the first time. The first thing that was immediately noticeable was a crude table, hewn from thick pieces of wood and roughly nailed together. By the side of this virtual butchers block a free standing rack stood, and upon it, hanging from various hooks were a collection of horrific looking cutting implements, blades, saws, picks and everything else that you could hope to see in a nightmare, some were still covered in dried blood, and others gleamed, seemingly imbued in some way with a cold intent that was normally missing from something that was no more then an object. Strong chains crisscrossed the heavily stained table, and as they walked closer they became aware, even over the smell of the swamp, that the table gave out the ever rank smell of rotting blood. A stench that evoked memories of horrors past in all those who came across it. Examining the table more closely it soon became clear that the chains were forged from a variety of materials, from silver, to mithril to cold iron. Looking beneath the table several maggots and grubs wriggled about feeding on the blood spillage, and the grass was stained black. Amongst this discarded horror though several feathers were visible, perfectly white and delicate. Turning away from the foul post mortem table, that was almost certainly a pre-mortem table as well, they could see two more desks. The first an entirely typical writing desk, tidy and well ordered, with a hard backed chair sitting before it. The desk drawers were locked, but looked as though they could probably easily be popped open with no more than minimal effort. A shelf across the top of the desk held a series of small cork stoppered glass bottles, each of which appeared to be filled with earth. They were all labeled in a precise hand with the names of various places in Faerun, from Calimshan to Scornubel and everywhere else and in between. Indeed as they looked closely they could see that they went even further a field, as one was labeled as being from Baator, and bizarrely another from a place called Oerth. The second of the two tables had no seat before it, and was sloped at and angle and facing in such a way as to allow someone using the desk to look at the post-mortem slab. A series of quills and pencils were carefully placed on a small shelf beneath the main body of the table. A single sheet of paper was spread across the drawing desk with a large pencil sketch taking up the vast majority of the space. In the top corner of the paper, in the same careful hand that had labeled the bottle of earth was written; Observations on the anatomical structure of an avariels wing Various notes dotted the rest of the page, ranging from relative weights of their wing-bones as compared to a typical humanoid’s bones, to the tensile strength of the tendons that ran through the wing. More than that though were the hypothetical postulations on how the design enabled flight, and allowed the winged elves to achieve their levels of aerial maneuverability. Finally at the very bottom of this artist’s setup was a pull out drawer system that was unlocked. Inside this drawer were a series of scroll racks, on which hung literally hundreds of other anatomical drawings, covering everything from “Observations on the brain of the illithid”, to “Observations on the lungs of the Sahaguin”, all of which were drawn and written on by the same hand. Clearly that table or another like it had seen a huge amount of death… Whilst the more intellectually minded members of the group were examining the main body of the actual necromantic laboratory Skafloc was noting a series of very large footprints around the very far edges of the area, as well as a massive patch of bare earth that had been scraped smooth as it dropped away into the fog, and seemed to head towards one of the massive watery pools. What could easily be recognised from these signs was that there was a large creature in the area. A very large one. |
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8:48 AM Jul 11