| Kiira’Tiru II; The tower's tricks | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 2 2007, 10:12 PM (3,163 Views) | |
| eocine | Feb 12 2007, 08:53 PM Post #201 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Were Kellindel telepathic he probably would have ruefully reflected on the fact that the lesson about not sleeping with party members was one that he had yet to learn, and probably never would. In fact he was something of a remedial student in that respect, and even in that company would probably be close to the bottom of the class. Luckily for everyone concerned though he wasn’t telepathic, and so whilst Skafloc was reminiscing about a past anatomical acquaintanceship with an Elven vampires he was instead following his roving eye through the path of least resistance, finding it this time drawn to the half-elven form of Llana. Though she was wearing her armor he could still make out her exceedingly pleasant shape, which was of course hardly surprising given her adherence to the faith of Sune. He did however note with some disappointment that she was wearing a riding skirt. Not of course that there was anything wrong with that, it’s just that he would have vastly preferred something slashed to her thighs and showing a lot of leg. And really would that be too much to ask of a Cleric of Sune?! Probably yes, he was prepared to concede, but that didn’t make it any better damn it! Kellindel was in fact more than a tad scared of Skafloc’s remarkable physical power, and would happily have taken a vow of total non violence in order to not have him sprinting towards him, brain-biter in hand and murder in his eyes, and it was this that enabled him to say in total honestly “I would sooner cast myself off a cliff than try that my friend!” Because at least he’d have a chance of surviving his encounter with the cliff, he knew damn well though that, if he wanted to, the barbarian would leave him a thin red smear on the ground. Fortunately though, for all that, there was nobody else that he would rather have watching his back in battle, and then later on in the bar. “Whatever the hell the thing was called it should have been left behind, I mean what kind of idiot brings a horse onto a spelljammer?” He asked with an incredulous laugh, “Do you remember the way that that sword of hers kept continually calling her ‘sweetie’ and telling her how drop dead gorgeous she was?” At Fade’s interjection he turned towards her and grinned, obviously gratified to have an audience for the telling of the tales… “Oh of course, white and brave and exceedingly noble… A pity that it wasn’t toilet trained though, as you can imagine in such a cramped space that wasn’t appreciated…” “Still,” he considered, “I would sooner have eaten every last thing that horse produced than spend more than three minutes in her presence”. He rolled his eyes towards Fade, “what you have to understand was that she managed to take all the worst aspects of paladin-hood, the preaching and tone, and strip it of any value…” He gave a half resigned, half amused sigh… “It’s just a pity that the Captain seemed for some reason to actually value her opinion…” “That was a crazy time”, he understated with an amused shake of his head. He then turned back to Skafloc, “I take it that you’ve actually kept more active than I have since then? I mean all I’ve been doing is trawling through the bars and back alleys of Waterdeep…” “How about you? Have you been in what I believe are colloquially considered ‘adventuring parties before?” The Elf asked of Fade. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 12 2007, 09:49 PM Post #202 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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"Worst aspects of paladin-hood? I've yet to discover anything even verging on a redeeming quality when it comes to paladins. Especially the female ones." she rolled her eyes. "Self righteous just isn't even the word..." Especially after you've been caught trying to nick all of her nice jewellery via her rather pretty - if rather braindead - squeeze of the moment... At that thought, the fey'ri allwed herself a small, rather self satisfied smile. The jewellery hadn't been worth that much, but in the end, it didn't need to be - just fucking around with Knights of Justice at every opportunity was enough for the rogue - in a way, it was the closest thing she had had to a hobby in Luskan. "Adventuring parties? Nope. Not really." Her tone became guarded again. "Wasn't intending to this time, but I kind of got press-ganged into it." She glanced from Greg to Skafloc and finally to Llana, them being the three from the original party who had discovered her. "Not many people out there willingly take a fey'ri on... but I kind of caught them between a rock and a hard place; they couldn't let me go, but at the same time, did they really want me with them, considering what they're up to. Only other choice presented to me was to kill me... so I chose to tag along. As you inevitably do when offered such choices." |
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| Castamir | Feb 12 2007, 11:04 PM Post #203 |
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Native
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Skafloc laughed heartily at Kellindel's recollection of the paladin and her steed. "I considered eating it. But I'd have needed help.." he added, with a disturbing air of seriousness when Kellindel questioned the logic of a horse on a spelljammer. He nodded when Fade voiced her disapproval of paladins too. "You had to meet her to really appreciate how annoying she was." he added, then after Fade's description of her meeting and joining the party added with a slight air of defensiveness, "You can leave if you want. The group, and the mission would be over very quickly if anyone tried to stop you." He meant it, he was prepared to put it to the test too, though he wasn't so vain as to think that the few possible dissenters wouldn't be able to take him out, especially with magic, but he was fairly confident that it would split the group, and if that happened the mission would be over, and the importance of the mission was likely more important to those possible dissenters than one rogue Fey'ri who's allegiance to her kin was a known quantity. He cast a glance at Greg, someone he felt sure he would have liked had he not been a dead man. That just made the barbarian suspicious, though the sorcerer's usefulness to the group was beyond doubt, especially after facing the dragon. Skafloc had ignored worse misgivings, so he was prepared to give the pale man the benefit of the doubt. His distrust, or rather subconscious fear, of anyone who had seen the afterlife and returned dissipated when Kellindel asked what he'd been up too. He grinned again. "Oh you know. Deeds of extreme bravery and daring. The severed heads of my enemies are piled high in the halls of my ancestors, the tribute keeps flowing." he seemed quite enthused on the subject, as if the constant murder of his enemies was something to be proud of. Then he seemed to remember something and laughed out loud again, "I've also made you a legend in Silverymoon my friend, the bards there speak your name in respectful tones!" |
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| eocine | Feb 13 2007, 09:50 AM Post #204 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Well some of them, and I repeat some of them, really are genuinely good people… Probably twelve of them all told. The rest though are simply not even worth discussing.” His face creased up into a grin again as he remembered another of the paladin’s ‘quirks’, “she also liked to call herself the ‘Chosen paladin of Mystra’, apparently she’d somehow convinced herself that she was the one ‘true’ member of the faith, and was of the erroneous belief that Mystra spoke directly towards her.” He tapped his fingers against the table for a second before raising both his eyebrows and shaking his head, “as it happens I have no doubt that she really did hear voices, I just doubt they were in any way external…” “I think that, without any doubt at all, my defining memory of her is that on her first night onboard ship she decided to regale us with a ‘heart-rending’ story of her lost ‘one true love’.” His eyes flared with a kind of vulgar wonder as he recalled that tediously self centred expose, and her astounding earnestness and apparent belief that her story would instantly set her up as a kind of sympathetic being for the rest of the party… As well as later using it as an excuse to justify virtually any kind of moronic behaviour… “I swear to you I have scarcely ever heard anything as less likely to make me fell sympathy for someone, nausea was actually all she managed to inspire.” Thinking back even now he couldn’t stop himself from wondering exactly what had possessed him not to throw her overboard, and more than that what had stopped him from hurling that sword of hers somewhere as well… He listened to Fade’s explanation behind her joining of the party, having not been presented with such choices before Kellindel had to use his own particular experiences to give him a frame of reference. As such it kind of reminded him of the innumerable examples of ‘stay away from my wife/daughter or else I’ll…’ Discussions he’d had with any number of people in the past. Ultimatums were hell. As a total newcomer to the group though, and not possessed of all the facts, he didn’t feel much qualified to assert any strong feelings either way. Of course this feeling was helped by the fact that he could easily enough see both sides of the argument, nobody liked to be judged on what they couldn’t help being, but by the same token certain races had earned a reputation over millennia, and that could be hard to look past. Fortunately Skafloc decided to intervene, albeit with a slightly defensive tone, one that Kellindel decided to merrily ignore, “see, no harm no foul and you’re able to go whenever you want!” He said cheerily, “of course with me here now to save the day I can’t see why you’d want to leave anyway, I am clearly the deciding factor after all”, he said drolly. At the revelation that the bards of Silverymoon spoke of him with respect the Elf looked mildly concerned for a moment, “I just hope you haven’t over egged the pudding at all, and normally any legends featuring me tend to be filled with words like ‘horror’, ‘disgrace’, ‘banished’ and of course ‘louche’.” “Still I will of course do my best to turn up there and tarnish that reputation before heading back down south,” he laughed. |
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| Castamir | Feb 13 2007, 11:30 AM Post #205 |
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Native
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"No, I think they appreciate your verse for what it is." said the barbarian, reaching into a pouch and retrieving the a rolled and folded piece of partchment. As he unfolded the the thick paper it became apparent that it had seen some hard times, the edges tattered and ripped, and more than a few stains and blots. It was in fact, barely legible, but that didn't seem to bother Skafloc, who was holding it upside down anyway. "When you left the Orosto you left this behind. It's a song about your journey, I took it for safekeeping, and while in a tavern in Silverymoon showed it to a bard who was performing there." Skafloc frowned slightly and shook his head, "The fool was clearly jealous. He said he'd never seen such juvenile foolishness. Of course," his frown broke into a slightly sinister smile, "I explained to him the error of his ways, and made him eat his words, and some of his teeth. He did eventually see sense, and declared it the finest thing he'd ever read." He shrugged his shoulders again, "Unfortunately he remembered an urgent appointment, so I let him go about his business. The next day, and the following day, no more bards came to the tavern. So I took it to see another bard, a nervous fellow who was clearly overwealmed in the presence of such fine work. He told me that it was an epic poem, and though he couldn't bring himself to read it out, for he 'was not worthy' he declared it the work of a master." He handed the patchment over to the elf and continued shaking his head, "Of course, after that, every bard I came across mentioned it before I did, it almost became a burden, every time I saw a bard they insisted upon commenting upon your fine work. Though I have noticed that the bards of Silverymoon are a pale and nervous lot." "Strange, though I had been recruited to help them with some monster hunting that they wanted some outsiders to complete, and were very grateful, they expelled me from the city. Apparently the bards had petitioned the city fathers to ask me to leave." he raised an eyebrow and nodded, "I think the presence of such a work made them feel inferior." |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 13 2007, 05:32 PM Post #206 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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"Leave?" The fey'ri grinned, but it had an uncertain edge as she was unsure if the barbarian had been supporting her or offering her a veiled threat. "And give up the opportunity to give good old Vaerilmor a damn good hiding? And if we're thinking about things practically - go where, exactly? Naa, you're all stuck with me now... should've bumped me off when you had the chance, matey." She couldn't help but glance over in Greg's direction. "I'm quite happy to be a thorn in everyone's side for at least a little bit longer." She continued to listen to the banter between Kellindel and Skafloc, feeling a little jealous of their easy back and forth and the way there was no open animosity nor hidden agendas in their friendly teasing of each other. At the bard's continuing description of the paladin, however, she couldn't help but offer up a disbelieving smile. "And no one just, you know, slapped her one and told her to snap out of it? Sheesh. Sounds like a nightmare." When the bard continued about saving the day, though, she leant back in her chair, regarding him through narrowed eyes. She knew he was joking - at least, she hoped he was joking, because in all honesty, she couldn't see much value in a bard during a fight unless he was to be served up as a starter - and since this time didn't have the added complication of a ridiculous amount of alcohol in her system she was able to keep her temper, and tongue, in check, but his flippancy and self-congratulation was beginning to grate a little again, flaring up her competitive streak. Realising that she was sneering a little, Fade rearranged her features into a much more passive visage and shifted her focus onto Skafloc and his little tale. Most of her instinct told her that he was well in on the joke and knew exactly why the bards of Silverymoon had acted the way they had, but a small part of her actually did wonder if he was actually being completely truthful... there was much to the seemingly simple Northman that she had yet to fathom out. After he had told his tale, she leant across the table, gesturing for him to give her the parchment. "Let's have a look at that, then..." |
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| eocine | Feb 13 2007, 10:37 PM Post #207 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“Well…” Began Kellindel as he scrutinized the piece of paper, “If anything I suspect you under reacted, as you point out the fellow was clearly a braggart and a fool with no perception of the deep elegance of my words!” Privately of course he was prepared to admit that it wasn’t exactly one of his better pieces of work, and in had it had been composed just moments after he’d actually been turned down by the ‘star’ of the piece, and it had to be said that this had rather colored the tone… “You see the err, the key thing about those bards of course is that it really needs a fellow with a proper bass voice to project it properly, I alas lack one, so cannot do my own works justice in this case.” He seemed to hit on a happy idea and smiled back at the barbarian. “When we’re done here we’ll take a trip out to see one of the tribes I stayed with a few years back, they had a fellow there with the perfect voice for this, the type that could chop down a redwood.” Also that time period might mean he’d be able to make a ‘few’ adjustments to the lyrics and actually have it looking rather more like an epic tale, and less like a drunken scrawling on an instruction sheet from an anti itching cream… “Yes, I can indeed see why this would make them feel inferior, It’s a case of singing technique and I’m sure that they’re simply fearful that their lungs wouldn’t be up to the task…” Still, it did actually cheer him up to know that he was something of a legend there for what he considered the right reasons, now if he could only go there and reap the comedic rewards that it offered… He had of course noticed Fade’s expression, but he did what he normally did to things that displeased him, simply ignored it until it went away, and whilst he wasn’t fool enough to think that her opinion of him was good, he did recognize the value in drawing a reaction from anyone, be it positive or negative. And more than that he was still one hundred percent positive he could swing both it, and of course her, his way. With some reluctance Kellindel pushed the parchment across the table towards the Fey’ri, keeping a smile on his face, though it would have to be admitted that he had to suppress a slight wince… “I should point out that this is hardly any of my better work…” He cautioned, hoping to the Gods that she actually believed him… The parchment that Fade took from Skafloc read; NOTES FOR USE; SALVE IS ONLY TO BE APPLIED TO THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE ITCHING, AND IF THE PROBLEM PERSISTS THEN I SUGGEST SEEING A CLERIC. There was once a tough whore known as Prue Who got rich though her tricks were quite few. She explained with a grin, ‘First they pay to get in, Then they pay to get out of it, too.’ Prue could scarcely be thought to have class, what she had was a fantastic ass. It drew the punters in, But what happend next was a sin, As she crushed down on his little fellah. They all exclaimed 'her hole's magic!' But the men just found this tragic, For now their todger's were crushed, Most hurriedly they rushed, Down to the nearest drinks cellar! |
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| Castamir | Feb 14 2007, 04:36 PM Post #208 |
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Native
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Skafloc laughed and handed over the partchment to Fade, before demolishing the remainder of the bread he was holding and then speaking again, his eyes shining with humour. "But, art is subjective!" mimicked the big northman holding his hands up in mock terror, "Subjective? I threatened to break his fingers so that he couldn't play his lute anymore, and he changed his tune straight away. 'Subjective' obviously means when you threaten to subject them to a career threatening injury they agree with you." "No-one mocks my friends or refuses to perform their work. Especially not when I'm very very drunk." he grinned. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 17 2007, 12:48 PM Post #209 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Taking the parchment, Fade settled back into her chair and began to read. After she read it through once, she looked up: first at Skafloc and then to Kellindel, quirking one crimson brow. She then read it through again, just to make sure she had fully absorbed the contents. In all honesty, the fey'ri had little to do with music and poetry other than what she had been forced to study during her time with the Brotherhood, but even she could see why the Silverymoon bards had initially denounced the verse as a work of pure infantile idiocy... but at the same time, the thought of some snooty bard being forced to recite such a crude piece of work - in both senses of the word - appealed to her sense of humour. Carefully folding the piece of parchment closed, she slid it across the table back to its owner. "Verily, 'tis a noble example of wordplay via the medium of the limerick. Even though it deviates from the standard form a little in the second and third stanzas, mainly with the emploment of half rhymes as opposed to true the rhyming form in the last lines of those two stanzas... still, I can only imagine the difficulty one would would have trying to find a rhyme for the word 'ass' that was in keeping with the context of the text as a whole." She smiled sweetly. "Although I have to say, only elven bards should be allowed to recite such a piece - it would be wasted upon anyone else. Who else could understand the intricacies of the overall message and be able to project the true emotional depth of the event being described. And then there's the name of the saga... I can only imagine how future scholars will look at this and see the many different and meaningful reasons for such a title..." |
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| eocine | Feb 17 2007, 10:37 PM Post #210 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Knowing full well exactly what the ‘masterwork’ really was, it was with some surprise that Kellindel watched Fade’s initial response. In fact it was rare enough that he didn’t get some type of reaction from someone reading his work, but it was dawning on him that he was probably going to have to work a little harder than usual to get much out of the Fey’ri, but frankly he didn’t mind going to extra yard for some things… Of course that didn’t mean that he was going to end his attempts to snare the other women either, it was just a case of picking and choosing methods that looked like they had a chance at bearing fruit. Her literary critique didn’t phase him, frankly he only penned things for one of three reasons, firstly to point some bile at someone that had annoyed him, secondly to amuse himself, and thirdly and most importantly, to help him get into someone’s panties. The production of great verse was hardly something that he concerned himself with, and he was well aware of his many, many flaws as a bard. Still, the issue of the title was perhaps not something that he needed to be shared with the general populace. After all he HAD been to a cleric afterwards and that particularly itchy nightmare was no over… Though it had to be added that in his line of work the next rash was normally only one lay away. “Yeah… I was just picking that up for a friend… A magical curse you see. An itchy magical curse. Very itchy indeed.” This wasn’t exactly one of his finest retorts, but then honesty wasn’t really an option at that exact time. “Though if he were here he’d probably like me to point out that a cleric set him right not that long after he used that cream.” Anyway… “You seem to have sobered up nicely yourself this morning”, he observed of Fade, who had last been seen more than a little worse for the wear. “Did Llana’s healing touch clear up your problems as well last night?” He asked innocently, remembering that curious moment that he’d experienced where he went from steaming drunk to sober in an instant, and wondering if the half-elf had helped Fade in a similar way. |
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| Castamir | Feb 18 2007, 11:38 PM Post #211 |
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"A stanza?" mused Skafloc, who was utterly illiterate. He stood up and stretched, his massive arms spread wide. He relaxed them and tilted his head to one side, a crack eminating from his neck. He grinned triumphantly, ready to leave and eager to resume the bloodletting. The safe confines of the magical manor now unappealing and antiseptic. "Must we tarry longer?" he asked, to no-ne in particular as he started to pace.. |
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| eocine | Feb 19 2007, 12:39 PM Post #212 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin had actually been awake before the Nymph had knocked on the door, but hadn’t felt any particular reason to stir before he had to, and as such had simply lay still until after his wife had left the room, content enough to have some time to himself to make his preparations for the day ahead. For, as much as he loved his wife, there were some things that he very much preferred to do in solitude, and preparing his vast array of blades, poisons and other miscellaneous toys very much fit into that particular category. He swung his legs out from under the sheets and then stretched his hands out in front of himself, lacing his fingers as he did so and pushing forwards until they cracked, before then tilting himself forwards and leaning down until his spine clicked loudly. Feeling a little looser he then headed to the bathroom, before emerging thirty minutes later a lot cleaner and neater, having taken the time to trim his facial hair and shave properly. Once the bed had been remade, more for appearance sake than anything else, he spread a large and pitted leather sheet over the bed, then picked up the clothes that he wore yesterday, that had since been magically cleaned, and dressed himself. Once garbed in his familiar black again he pulled on a leather apron and a pair of thick gloves, and started to lay the accoutrements of his trade onto the bed, being exceedingly careful when handling the poisons. When everything has exactly in its proper place he began the arduous task of preparing his serums, venoms and other tricks, finally ending with the job of working a hefty dose of contact venom into the poison reservoir of his specialist assassin’s blade. A blade he then slid into the hidden sheath in his boot, before clicking the other daggers into place, then finally strapping his sword around his waist. The rest of the time spent involved secreting the various vials and containers about his person, and then packing everything away again into his bag of holding. This done he only had his hair to re-braid before heading down to breakfast, and the potential of a day with the band of misfits that they now adventured with. Not a thought designed to fill him with joy… Still, it was something that had to be done, and the Fey’ri seemed to be a genuine threat, and as such were worth being put down. Hard. Which had been a rarity of late, and combat was exhilarating, though he got something distinctly different from it than Skafloc and the like would have done. For them it was about releasing rage and imposing your raw power upon your opponents. He though viewed it as a method of utterly dominating an opponent, for if you can first best him mentally and emotionally, then the physical step will be far easier. It was a belief and style that had served him well for years, and he was curious to see if coldness and cunning could take him past the Fey’ri. After one final check that he had everything together he headed towards the stairs, heading straight towards one of the banisters at the top of the landing, turning at the last second as he approached and twisting his body around so that he could backwards roll off the first floor landing, and drop down into the main hall. Of course he could have just used the stairs, but occasionally doing something for the sake of doing it isn’t a terrible thing. He entered the main hall in time to hear Skafloc’s extortion to action, but said nothing immediately, instead crossing over to where his wife sat and seating himself. “I think it best myself that we leave soon, there is little enough to be gained by tarrying and allowing nerves to begin to fray”, observed the assassin as he started to bite into a simple piece of bread and cheese. Whilst he was well enough aware that Llana would almost certainly have preferred to remain in the magical mansion as long as she was able, he was also aware of the high likelihood of there being ‘problems’ with keeping such combustible elements under one roof when there was an imminent battle looming over their heads. “My suggestion is that we take an hour to prepare ourselves before we leave and go on with what we’re here to do. Any objections?” |
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| eocine | Feb 20 2007, 12:50 PM Post #213 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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At the suggestion they leave early, Anaara stood up and gave a mute nod, the Sunite aura of the magically summoned building offended her sensibilities, and it had only been that there had been a definite need to relax and also to prepare herself properly that she hadn’t had a vehement reaction to the idea of spending her time in what amounted to a temple of an enemy of her faith. The idea though of taking freely of another religion’s grace had appealed to her on some level, and it could also have been that this had been an additional factor on top of her exhaustion. Either way though the ‘novelty’ had most certainly worn off, and she was eager to be anywhere else, even the swampy cesspit they had battled the dragon in. “It meets with my agreement”, said the white haired Drow before she slid towards the door, not sparing a backwards glance as she made her way up to her darkened bed-chamber. As she walked along she was surprised to find that her palms were sweating and her stomach was fluttering with nerves over the day ahead, nerves that she knew she had to stamp down on and suppress before they threatened to sap at her will to undertake the task she had set herself. Whilst she didn’t have a strong mind in the traditional sense, what she had was an ego of a curiously brittle strength. One that drove her onwards when she could focus, one that reminded her that she was Drow, and as such had standards that she simply had to adhere to, but by the same token it was able to be shattered across certain faultlines by even the lightest of assaults. A curious dichotomy that seemed to be common amongst spoilt princess types both on and below the surface of Faerun. She pushed open the door to her bed-chamber and once more slid herself into the darkness, feeling the jangling in her nerves subside somewhat in the familiar blackness. The equipment that she had borrowed from the group was still stacked up by the door, and she turned towards it. Her sense of entitlement was certainly one that ran to feeling no shame at the borrowing of gifts, but there was still something that was needling at her, and for a brief time she was unable to figure out what it was. Eventually though she pinned it down, realising that her true problem was being in a position of, if not subservience, then at least equality, and it was very much not to her taste at all. Which is why you’re taking steps to remedy that… She reminded herself, forcing her mind out of such self destructive pathways and onto what she planned to do to change things. As she pondered that and went back over her plan for the umpteenth time she began to buckle on her armor and pick up her weapons. Not that she planned to rely on them, her spells were far more potent than her martial skills, but it certainly wasn’t going to hurt to fall back on them in times of desperate need. Once she was fully attired and prepared she began to pace up and down in the darkness, her nerves too jagged and her mind too jumpy for her to sit still and relax in the remaining time, but by the same token she wanted the peaceful solitude of her room for as long as she could have it, and that rather removed making conversation. In the end she resolved to enjoy the pitch black of her room until it was time to leave the mansion. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 20 2007, 05:55 PM Post #214 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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The fey'ri offered a one shouldered shrug. "I feel okay. Didn't have too much in the end. Didn't need any spells. Just slept it off." Well, it was only a half-lie... truth was, she hadn't had half as much as she would have done if she had been indulging back in Luskan, and the narcotics meant she had slept - well, okay, a drug and alcohol induced semi coma hardly counted as sleeping, but at least she felt more rested than she would have had after a night of tossing and turning - and being up and about had helped somewhat with the sore head. As Skafloc began to pace, Fade began to feel her own sense of confinement increase. She considered telling him to stop for a moment, but grudgingly swallowed that down as she realised this was his way of dealing with periods of inactivity; having consideration for other people's ways of dealing with things had been one of the first things Keita had taught her (after being able to vaguely keep her temper in check), and it seemed disrespectful to ignore those teachings now she was gone. Instead, the rogue decided to occupy herself with little dexterity tests, and pulling out a gold coin, began flipping in intricate patterns around her fingers, practising her sleight of hand skills and at the same time, keeping herself largely amused without having to resort to starting arguments. She looked up as Karosin entered and nodded at his suggestion. After last night's indulgences, she could probably do with a little warm-up session... still, she doubted that the mansion had anything like a Thieves Run, so it would be up to her to improvise. |
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| eocine | Feb 20 2007, 08:08 PM Post #215 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Kellindel looked up as Skafloc rose, recognizing easily the sudden impatience in the barbarian, for it had hardly been an unfamiliar sight whilst they had been on board ship. Frankly at times he had wondered what had drawn the barbarian to the life of the spell-jammer. Because whilst there were undeniably exciting times there were also long periods of inactivity that Skafloc clearly found maddening. Though it had to be admitted that even Kellindel himself had found the time there started to drag for inordinately long periods. Of course it could easily have been the company that they had been forced to keep that had caused that, because there had been more than one occasion where he had briefly considered flinging himself into the void of realm-space to escape some of his crewmembers and their continually insipid conversations and opinions. Still, he was a long way away from being that bored just yet, and frankly was enjoying another lazy morning, reaching out to snag a pastry and wolfing it down before burping and thumping his chest, “Sorry about that, but better out than in ehh?” Said the entirely shameless Elf. Twisting his head towards the brawny barbarian he’d been about to respond when the dark haired fellow whose name he couldn’t remember had interjected. “See, looks like you’ll be gutting things in an hours time my friend”, he said cheerfully before reaching for yet another of the sweet pastries and biting into it, smiling at the strong taste of apricots. Once he’d scarfed that down he pushed himself up and stretched expansively, “Well, I’m going to prepare my equipment and take a cat-reverie”, spoken as if this was the most natural idea in the world and that everyone would be buggering off for a bit of relaxing shut eye just moments before plunging themselves into mortal danger. “See you all in an hour”, with that he was strolling towards the door, swinging it open before trotting up the stairs and disappearing into his room. Once safely ensconced within his magically created bedroom he gathered everything together, pulled a few pillows into position in front of himself, and then simply let himself collapse forwards onto the soft bed. In virtually no time at all his eyes were closed and his mind was at rest, totally blanked of any thoughts of the potential horrors that lay in wait on the other side of the mansion’s doors. |
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| Pamela | Feb 20 2007, 08:38 PM Post #216 |
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Molly
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Llana shook her head at the mention of objections. As Anaara rose, she stood herself, and excused herself from the rest. If they were going to leave in an hour, she would dedicate the time to meditation. It would calm her nerves and prepare her for the return to battle. “Then I’ll go wake the dwarves,” she replied as she saw the rest were in agreement with this plan. It would give them time to be able to enjoy their meal in comfortable surroundings- and her time to heal them if any of them had celebrated their freedom a little too strongly. |
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| eocine | Feb 25 2007, 08:08 PM Post #217 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Eventually the allotted time passed, and the group was gathered by the exit from the mansion, hopefully slightly better rested than they had been before they entered and ready now to face the challenges that still lay ahead of them. There was a virtually palpable aura of impatience though as the Nymph, who looked after the intra-dimensional palace whilst it wasn’t in use, stepped forwards to pull the door open, revealing the swampy battle field that they had left a little under twenty-four hours earlier. As promised there had been no movement at all in the necromantic laboratory, and the heaping piles of gold and other treasures were still lying unclaimed and no less shiny than they had been before. More than that though the undead dragon and his minions were also no less defeated than they had been earlier, for nobody really wants to fight a Draco-Pire having only just woken up. As she turned away from the door the Nymph smiled at all gathered, “I can but thank you for the task you undertake, and promise you that your works do not go unnoticed.” With that she simply stepped aside and gestured towards the door, allowing them all to pass freely back into the prime material plane. |
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| eocine | Feb 25 2007, 08:46 PM Post #218 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Whilst the Nymph had been speaking Caine had been virtually able to feel his pulse start to race at the thought of heading out into battle once more, and he could feel an all too familiar tingling in his fingertips and jaws as the claws and fangs of his hybrid form seemed to be virtually itching to come out. Yet he denied that side of himself for now, content to be seen as human for a little while longer, and to have the comparatively clear head that his current form gave him. For he knew that once he slipped into his animal or hybrid form it was hard to focus enough to change back into his human shape, for the first thing that went was his ability to concentrate, and the transformation required just that, albeit only a small amount, but even that could be hard to come by. As she stepped aside he flexed his fingers one final time, and then stepped into the portal, not waiting for any of the others to go first, nor worrying about any danger that may have been there, after all he had been reassured that somehow it was the same time in the ‘real world’ that it had been before they had slept. Frankly he found the whole thing confusing in the extreme, and couldn’t truly comprehend the magics that would need to be worked to achieve such a thing, so he chose instead to focus on what he did understand. That the beings who had imprisoned and experimented upon him were still out there, and that he owed them a blood debt. One that he intended to pay back to them with all the rage and ferocity that he could. As his feet touched down on the damp grass he instantly became aware of the fact that something was amiss. Very amiss indeed… Something was missing from his persona that had been there only seconds before, something that, if he were to keep his human form it was generally considered polite to possess. The magically constructed clothing that he had worn in the mansion had simply dissolved away into nothingness as soon as he had stepped out of the portal and into the necromantic laboratory, leaving him stark bollock naked, and frankly more than a little exposed. Luckily his very nature meant that he had a warm fur coat that could be donned at any time, unluckily it came at the price of having a part of his human nature stripped away and replaced by a blood thirsty animal. Yet he couldn’t countenance staying naked, and he would have to don his hybrid form before long anyway, and really it wouldn’t do to be caught in human form and have to change in the heat of battle anyway… This being the case he closed his eyes for a moment, reaching into that rearmost part of his mind that housed the beast, and pulling it forth. Almost instantly fur began to sprout from his body, and there was a cracking as his bones split, broke and then were instantly reformed, warping his form and distending his arms and legs. His fangs extended downwards even whilst his face elongated into a lupine shape, and his ears moved upwards onto the top of his head. In only moments the transformation was complete, and Canie had fully assumed his hybrid form, garnering the benefits that brought to him. “Nothing has been changed”, he observed, forcing himself to talk despite the change, in a bid to keep more of a hold onto his human side than was normal, his reason being that if he kept talking then his human mind would have to be at the front, and if he kept on doing so then there was a chance that the animal wouldn’t be able to assert full control. It wasn’t a great plan but it truly was all that he had. “We shouldn’t be here long. Time to prepare for our enemies is bad for us”. |
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| eocine | Feb 25 2007, 09:06 PM Post #219 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As the trio of Dwarves stepped into the laboratory they all as one looked around at the unclaimed wealth, and the gold seemed to catch their eyes in some way and glitter in the very pits of their souls. It has been said that virtually any Dwarf would sell his own dear mother for enough gold, and whilst this isn’t strictly true it’s only because they frankly don’t fetch enough on the open market for it to be worth their whiles. Earlier they hadn’t really had enough time to appreciate the scale of the horde of the Dragon, rushed through the room towards the magical sanctuary as they had been, but now there were no immediate distractions from the sight of all that gold, and it literally took the breath away. “Moradin’s beard…” Whispered Nalrid as he stared with wide open eyes and his jaw virtually touching his breastbone. “Ne’er thought I’d see sum‘at so beautiful in all me born days”, if these words were meant for anyone it was unclear as to whom, for they were whispered quietly as he stepped forwards haltingly, on legs that seemed as unsteady as those of a newborn calf. The response from Bhain and Azten was no less intense, for both brother’s had stopped still right by the exit, their eyes glazed with avarice and a lust that they would certainly never had exhibited towards anything that wasn’t golden and gleaming. As one they too stepped forwards, reaching out to hold the other for support as they staggered towards one of the massive chests. Bhain gave an audible gulp as he stepped close to a pile of the fat gold coins, before dropping to his knees and reaching out gingerly to stroke one of the gleaming pieces of metal, with all the care of a parent stroking the forehead of a newborn child. For all of them the gold seemed to whisper the sweetest of seductive nothings directly into their ears… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 25 2007, 09:51 PM Post #220 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Stepping out of the mansion, Fade felt a small amount of tension leaving her, as if a tiny but rather insistent weight had been lifted from her shoulders; for a moment she closed her eyes and blew a sigh, relaxing her grip a little upon the her demonic side's metaphorical leash - just enough to take the edge of the prickly feeling she had been experiencing since stepping into Sune's realm. The sight of the gold safe and sound only served to improve her mood even more, and eyed it covetuously as she tried to think of a way to transport the hoard. One of them has to have a bag of holding... hells, I'll even pay 'em rent if necessary, just got to... Lordie! Although the fey'ri had seen her fair share of naked flesh over the years, she had to admit that in near enough every single occasion it had been something she had been expecting, so when Caine's clothes disappeared from his rather disturbingly fit frame, she couldn't help but grin toothily. However, the grin soon disappeared into a grimace of distaste as the werewolf assumed his hybrid form once again - mainly because the actual transformation was a rather sickening thing to witness, but also partially due to the fact that his hybrid form was the polar opposite of his human one. Deciding that the gold was now by far the more attractive prospect, the rogue turned her attention to the hoard, only to discover that it has attracted the attention of the dwarves. Hissing a little under her breath, she stepped forward. "Oi!" she snapped her fingers in irritation, fighting back the urge to pull all three of them forcibly away from what she firmly saw as her loot. "What are you doing?!" |
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| eocine | Feb 25 2007, 10:08 PM Post #221 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Anaara leaned against the cool marble wall of the magical mansion as she watched the other’s gather, her crossed arms and half-closed eyes doing more than any words could to express her boredom. Which was of course the impression that she had intended to give, for there was no point at all in actually letting people know what you were really thinking. In fact her thoughts were really more fixated on the day ahead and her escape plan should everything go wrong, which was of course a distinct possibility… Still, cowards never prospered, and it wouldn’t do to dwell on that, for she had no intention of allowing herself to be placed in that kind of situation if she could possibly avoid it. When the others began to step through the portal she detached herself from the wall and stepped forwards, ignoring the gathered crowd and simply stepping through the portal in silence, feeling that curious spiritual tug that came from inter-planar travel. Her now booted feet touched down on the muddy grass as she stepped forwards behind Fade. The sight of the naked figure of the werewolf caused a sudden pulse of interested desire in her, but she pushed it aside, a task made easier by the sight of the being undergoing his horrific change into a half-man half-dog. The Drow ignored the Dwarves and Fade, and stepped towards the door… She would return when the fiery demon-kin had separated herself from the gold, and then take what she could, there was no point in getting between the magpie like Fey’ri and a pile of gemstones and gold, that much was more than apparent… |
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| eocine | Feb 25 2007, 10:21 PM Post #222 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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It took a few seconds for Fade’s words to penetrate any of the three Dwarves skulls, but once they did the trio turned back to face her and as one said simply, “praying”. Their voices were cracked and slightly distorted, as if all mental faculties had been channeled towards only one part of their minds, shutting down the other, non essential systems… Like speech, thought and not drooling like two year olds. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve e’er seen in me life”, repeated Nalrid as he gazed at one of the heaps. Given that they had just left the company of a Nymph, a literal incarnation of the beauty of nature, this was clearly no small comment. More than that though the Dwarf was clearly speaking the total truth… For Nymphs could come and Nymph’s could go, but freakin’ great piles of gold only came along once in a lifetime. And that was if you were lucky! Most Dwarves couldn’t even really begin to dream of a pile of gold this big… “I’d put out me eyes iffin’ it would preserve this sight forever more”, sighed Bhain with a sincerity that was total as he looked over the field… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 25 2007, 10:32 PM Post #223 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Forcibly bullying her raised hackles into settling, Fade griped a little under her breath, but in the end smiled at the dwarves, understanding their obvious appreciation of the gold. "Well, it's a sight all right... but unless we can find a way of transporting it, it's going to remain just that - a sight. And leaving a great pile of gold like this is just criminal. The thought of that damn dragon reclaiming this lot..." she shook her head "It pains me. Locked in chests under a mouldering swamp... a travesty, that's what it is. What we need is a bag of holding or the like... anyone got one to spare?" the fey'ri turned to the others, switching on her most winning smile. "Anyone? Just a loan to move this lot... you'll be compensated - promise..." |
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| Darkwind | Feb 26 2007, 05:19 AM Post #224 |
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Native
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A stark contrast, the refined beauty of the Mansion and that lovely nymph, and the dreary swamp into which they emerged. He'd changed into his own clothes--cleaner than his bachelor self had ever seen them since the day he got them--before leaving, so didn't have to deal with Caine's problem. "I have my belt, but I don't know if you can fit all that in there..." Though it did not appear all that special, in fact it had many pockets and each of those pockets was like a bag of holding--a miniature extra-dimensional space. He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Assuming you would be willing to trust a full-blood with all that gold--some of which is yours, of course--you can make use of it. Just keep dumping it in until no more can go in." |
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| Castamir | Feb 26 2007, 10:41 AM Post #225 |
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Native
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Skafloc was relieved to be getting underway. He didn't like to indulge in moments of reflection too often, so the hour between him being ready and everyone else being ready to leave dragged. As they passed through the door, or more accurately, the portal back into the swamp, Skafloc's gaze was drawn to their hostess, whom he'd largely tried to ignore, not really having any interest in religion and also not really wanting to stare too much. Almost instantly he felt a rush, and a thumping great surge of testosterone flooded through him, not an unusual thing for the barbarian, but in this instance it wasn't thoughts of bloodlettng and violence that caused it. Some fairly inappropriate and carnal thoughts rose to the top of his consiousness like a flock of large noisy and very insistent crows. For just a moment, the barbarian knew what it must be like living in Kellindel's head, though the fetid air and drab surroundings of the swamp brought him back to reality fairly swiftly... He was glad they didn't have to face an army of Nymphs, though he felt sure he could beat one even if he was unarmed, it wasn't their martial prowess he'd be worried about.. He took a few deep breaths of the air to acclimatise himself, immediately the feeling of cleanliness he'd emerged with fading away. He quickly scanned the area, just to reassure himself that no time had passed, and once certain they were in no immediate danger noticed the Dwarves reaction to the pile of riches they had uncovered. Unlike Fade, Skafloc didn't regard it as important, and would have been happy to leave it. But it was clear to him that Fade didn't agree from the look of her suddenly over protective attitude. He decided he'd only get involved if an actual fight broke out, and so remained on the edge of the action, casting his eyes briefly over the rest of the party, individually assessing their battle readyness. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Feb 26 2007, 10:32 PM Post #226 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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To say that Fade was surprised at Avelaer's offer would have been an understatement - to say that she was also incredibly suspicious of it would, however, have been completely true, but decided to ignore his comment about her distrustful nature with regards to full elves nonetheless. "Heh, One of those. Used to have one, once upon a time. Very useful. Shame I, err, misplaced it, really..." she couldn't help but snort at the bladesinger's comment about the current ownership of the gold. "*Some* of it? Yeah, whatever... Well, off with it, then. Can't fill it up with it wrapped around you, can I?" Not too noble afterall... she added wryly to herself as she hunkered down and began to rake the loot into manageable piles, wondering if suggesting that maybe she should wear the belt as opposed to the elf would be taking things just a tad too far. |
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| eocine | Feb 27 2007, 01:04 PM Post #227 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Ever the optimist, Kellindel left what he considered to be his home address on the table in the dining room where it stood at least some chance of being seen by the Nymph, just on the admittedly unlikely off chance that a) she was in the area at any time in the rest of her immortal life, and of course probably more importantly b ) that she would have any intention of spending any of that potentially endless time in the company of an Elven sot. If pressed he would freely admit that it was probably less likely to happen than Bane tuning up at a council of the gods in a pink tutu, but you never could tell, and faint heart never won fair maiden. Except when the braver men were away at war of course, leaving their wives and daughters with only the company of those of a more ‘delicate’ disposition. In those cases faint heart really could win fair maiden, admittedly by default, but frankly some of the finest victories ever won were won by default… With this happy thought in mind he’d stood with the others whilst they’d waited for the Nymph to open the doors that would allow them to leave. As he stood by he was humming a jaunty tune and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, seemingly oblivious to the nightmarish peril that they could all be facing in just a few moments. This wasn’t actually all that far from the truth, for he hadn’t battled either the Fey’ri or the dragon, and as such was reasonably unaware as to what could be outside in the tower. Yet even had he been he wasn’t the type of person to worry over much. It wasn’t that he was brave in the way that some of the other party members were, it was more that he was simply incapable of staying in any negative state of mind for a period of time longer than a few minutes. Recognising, mostly from the look that the dark haired human threw him, that it would by impolite to leave after the priestess of Sune, Kellindel stepped towards the Nymph with a genuine smile, stooping into a low bow before straightening up. It should go without saying that he used this opportunity to allow his gaze to freely fall over the form of the divine servant. Well she was a being of Sune after all, it would have felt rude not to… His lechery justified, to himself at least, he reached out to take her hand, pressing her curiously fragrant skin to his lips once before stepping backwards. “Ever your servant”, he said with a grave tone that didn’t in the least fit his grinning face, “Alas I cannot promise to wait for you and to remain faithful to your memory, and I do not ask for a similar promise from you.” He waved a hand to forestall any imagined interjections, “but know that I shall return someday, and shall ever carry you in my heart…” “Until then my love…” He vowed romantically, his voice cracking somewhat with imagined emotion, before he stepped through the portal and into the battleground where the other members of the party battled the dragon. Leaving a rather bemused Nymph behind. A Nymph who was pushed to the back of his mind as soon as he stepped through the portal. The first thing he noted was the distinctly unpleasant smell of the place, a strangely dead smell, that was certainly not helped by the fact that the air was totally still, and with nothing to stir it simply seemed in some way to die. The second was Anaara’s pert rear sashaying towards the door, and running a close third was the crouching figure of Fade, that instantly inspired a few speculations. Coming up in a distant forth place was the huge pile of gold that the Fey’ri was crouched by. “That’s a lot of nights in a tavern right there”, he said with a low whistle, before placing one hand to shield his eyes from the bright gleam that the coins gave. Careful to breathe through his mouth rather than his nose he walked forwards towards one of the piles, “Clearly you guys are buying the drinks from now till doomsday…” He reached around to the bag of holding that he carried at his hip and dropped it to the floor by Fade's side. "Feel free to use that, and you can carry it as well if it'll make you feel more secure", offered the Elf. He had no call on the treasure himself of course, and was well aware of it, but this way he got someone else to carry his stuff for him and looked helpful into the bargin. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 1 2007, 08:49 PM Post #228 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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With her feelings of suspicion forever deepening by the minute, Fade looked up at the party's other elf through slightly narrowed eyes and then back down at the bag of holding he had dropped beside her. "I can carry it?" she asked, a slightly wary note creeping into her voice. "No arguments?" Shrugging a little and more than confident in her own abilities to guard what she firmly now saw as 'her' treasure, the rogue began to scoop large handfuls of treasure into the bag. For a moment she was simply lost, delighting in the golden glow of the coins and the soft chinking sound they made as she dropped them into the bag, but after a while even she realised that this task was rather too large for one woman alone - whilst she had made a sizeable dent in the pile of wealth, there was still an absurd amount to go. Reluctant to leave even one shiny coin behind, she decided to address the group as a whole, not really caring who joined in. "Err, a little help?" |
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| eocine | Mar 1 2007, 09:15 PM Post #229 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“As long as you still give me access to the stuff in there that isn’t shiny and golden then I see no problem with that”, he replied honestly, relieved in fact that he wouldn’t have to carry it. More than that though he wouldn’t have wanted the responsibility of carrying that much gold around. Being the banker wasn’t really his style, and the thought of somehow misplacing the bag and then having to explain to the rest of the group that he’d lost the gold that they had claimed from the Dragon’s horde wasn’t one to fill him with a whole lot of cheer. Also he got the distinct feeling that the Fey’ri would have been watching him like a hawk. And more than that, watching him like a hawk would watch a mouse. Which clearly was only a good thing if it looked like it would be getting bedroom related, and frankly he had his doubts that would be the case whilst he was the fiscal guardian of the group. For a while he stood by watching as Fade tried to scoop all of the gold into the bag, frankly content to just wait till she was done. After all he was never in any great rush to expose himself to danger, and could happily spend all day looking at women down on their knees and virtually cooing with pleasure. However when she asked for help he was more than willing to offer it, after all positive reinforcement of any kind had to be worth it in the long run didn’t it? As he bend down to help the Dwarves hurried their ways over to help as well, shoveling the vast fortune into the bag as quickly as possible… “So will you be entering the housing market or starting your own empire with this? Or perhaps you’re going to take a leaf out of the dragon’s book and just use it for bedding?” He enquired cheerfully of the crimson haired rogue. |
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| eocine | Mar 1 2007, 09:32 PM Post #230 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Whilst the Fey’ri and Elf were gathering up the gold, now aided by the Dwarves, Anaara stepped towards the closed door that led back out into the main hall where the magical sigils were still glowing, and from where the evil impressions had vanished. It wasn’t that she was overly eager to face further danger, but she did want to get what she planned in motion as quickly as possible. Whether that was due to nerves or a more inbuilt impatience wasn’t entirely certain, what was true however was that the young Drow was eager enough to ignore the fact that she would be heading forwards alone… She reached out and swung open the door… Revealing the circular room to be as it had been all along, no new enemies had appeared in the time that they had been battling the dragon, and now four door remained unexplored… Despite her impatience she wasn’t a fool by any means, and so she went no further than the doorway, however she did make a distinct point of standing by the open doorway and drumming her fingers against her hips. "When you are ready I suggest we move out, whilst time may not have passed in the sickly mansion it is now moving for us again, and if we want to find and kill this 'Vaerilmor' then we had best hurry before he is too well prepared." |
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| Castamir | Mar 1 2007, 09:50 PM Post #231 |
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Native
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Skafloc could barely hide his impatience. At Fade's request for a bag of holding, he shook his head, tutting and looking away as she dropped to her knees and started shovelling the gold away. This was not what he was here for. He knew he had a share, but if it was up to him, he'd pocket a handful of coin and abandon the rest. His stretched patience seemed to let go like an elastic band as he watched Anaara open the door. As much as he wasn't naive enough to trust her, yet, he agreed wholeheartedly, and strode to the doorway, stepping sideways past the drow and out the other side, immediately falling into a state of alertness as he took up a defensive position near the door. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 1 2007, 10:10 PM Post #232 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Quirking a decidedly skeptical eyebrow at the bard, the fey'ri paused her shovelling for a second and cocked her head to one side. "It'll be put to a good use - have no doubt of that" she answered. "Not going to make a bed of it, though... nothing worse than pulling gold out of your crack in the morning. Know what I mean?" Deep down she knew she shouldn't say such things to Kellindel, him being the way he was, but at the same time, she had to have someone to antagonise... Without a seconds pause she re-focused her attention to the loot and continued piling it into the bag. At first, the rogue ignored Anaara, but upon hearing Vaerilmor's name, it was as if a switch had been flipped instantaneously in her head. She froze for a second and then sat back on her haunches, unconsciously using her tail to balance her. Looking down to the little gold that remained, she swept a few more handfuls in and then stood up in one fluid motion, leaving the bag on the floor for the others to empty their final rich handfuls into, and placed her hands onto her sword hilts. "Vaerilmor will be prepared no matter what. He is... cautious; an unusual trait for a fey'ri for sure, but it is the one thing that has guaranteed him his place in this world." She looked back down to see that the gold was now safely packed away in the bag; bending down, she gathered it up and rather than tying to her belt where it would only get in her way, secured it firmly to her own small backpack instead, using the time to recover the amulets she had found earlier and returning them to their former place, wrapped around her wrist like a gaudy, oversized charm bracelet. |
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| eocine | Mar 1 2007, 10:44 PM Post #233 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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In truth Kellindel had barely been aware of the events by the door, instead he had been busily pouring gold into his own bag of holding, and taking out the things that would probably be most useful on this type of day. Well… He’d been doing this as well as doing a base level amount of lecherous looking as well, but he could be facing an execution and, provided his killer was an attractive female, or there was at least one in sight, he’d still be perving with his last breath. However he did at least understand that groveling around in the dirt wasn’t a huge amount of fun, so he worked quickly, his magically enhanced dexterity helping hugely as he snagged coins and statues and gems as fast as possible and shoveled them into the bag. On thing he did note was the sheer variety of coins that the dragon had possessed, for they seemed to be from every corner of the realms… Some indeed appeared to have been minted in Kara-Tur, and even a few in Mazitca. Still whilst this was certainly a curiosity it was probably no more than that, and not worth worrying about. “I can think of far worse things to be removing from there in the morning”, observed the Elf. He also ached to make the gag that he was technically speaking a gold (elf), and would happily be up her crack and beyond first thing in the morning, and last thing at night and all the time in between, but decided that on this occasion it might be better not to go with his first instincts, and instead to keep that particular sentiment to himself. When Anaara spoke and Fade rose to her feel Kellindel did what all shameless horn-dog males would have done were they crouching at ass level. Flat out staring at her butt whilst she faced the other direction. Nice. He did though at least have the sense to avert his eyes and look busy as soon as she turned away, and crammed the last of the gold into the bag before standing up straight and brushing himself down. “Looks like we’re all set to go, only the Priestess and whatshisface to come now…” He observed before turning towards the Dwarves, noting for the first time that they were both unarmed and unarmored. “Not joining us?” He asked of the trio, receiving a series of shaken heads in response, “We be miners an’ craftsmen , no’ fighers,” stated Nalrid, who seemed to have somewhat shaken himself out of his gold-lust now that the object of his desires had been removed from immediate sight. “We’ll be stayin’ in one o’ tha other places”, with that the burly Dwarf turned to his two sons, “c’mon lads”, he gestured with a nod of his head. Once the safety of the hallway had been restablished they strolled off back into the divination room, leaving the door open in case of any trouble… |
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| eocine | Mar 1 2007, 11:03 PM Post #234 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As the barbarian stepped forwards Anaara stepped to the side to allow the vastly more powerful figure to pass her by. It was very much as it should be, let the brainless meat-shield go first and die as they should whilst the nobility followed behind, their spells spreading chaos around them. Of course having seen the human fight she knew very well that, unlike the virtually limitless hordes of kobolds and ogre’s that were favored by her people as expendable warriors, the muscle-bound barbarian was a deadly warrior… But he was still just a warrior, and a human at that, not even a surfacer Elf, and those were bad enough. But she recognized easily the value in keeping this shield alive as long as possible, and would be doing her best to form a symbiosis of sorts with him. If he was happy to keep hurling himself in front of danger then she would do her best to keep him alive. Something that was made doubly important by the fact that she knew that the others would never consider placing themselves between her and danger. Surfacers are so cowardly… It should surprise none that the Drow was entirely unaware of the irony. She barely listened to Fade’s words on the danger that the mage posed, she had only said anything in the hope of chivvying the sluggish into movement, and now that seemed to have worked she no longer really interested. Somewhere in the back of her mind a tiny part of her warned that she should probably listen more closely to the Fey’ri, but it was easily pushed down by a far larger part telling her that she had nothing to fear, and that the challenges posed by a surfacer were as nothing compared to the dangers of the Underdark, and that, as such, there was no need to worry unduly about this Vaerilmor. Caution? Merely a polite way of saying cowardly… She smirked internally before turning back towards Kellindel, who had just spoken. “I am all the Priestess this party needs, I say we go, now, and get ourselves moving.” With that she followed Skafloc outwards and waited for the others. Four doors down, and four remaining… |
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| Darkwind | Mar 2 2007, 04:39 AM Post #235 |
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He'd started to take off his belt when the other Tel'Quessir beat him to it. Allowing her to carry all that wealth struck him as being of dubious wisdom, since she clearly had a hard time separating herself from it. He shook his head. Of course he knew how valuable such things could be--a large part of his own wealth had gone into compensating a wizard for enchanting his wondrous sword and armor--but Fade's reaction was just unhealthy. Stories of rogues knifing their party in the back when they slept came easily to mind--and, incidentally, they would not be necessary after they defeated this Vaerilmor character... The thought of sleeping soured his expression once again, and he turned around and walked to the door through which they'd entered--only a few minutes ago, in this timestream?--and caught the end of the conversation between Kellindel and Anaara. So she thought Llana was unnecessary? "Lady Goldheart preserve us." He didn't bother to elaborate on that comment. "Anaara, it occurs to me that the tanar'ri Lolth might not look with favor upon your helping us. Maybe you should stay out of further fighting." Although she'd been helping, it could be argued that she was pressed into it, so "I'll not hold it against you and I'm sure the others won't either." And on the plus side, he wouldn't have to watch their collective backs. |
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| eocine | Mar 2 2007, 09:46 PM Post #236 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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“It occurs to me that I know better than you what the Spider-Queen wants and expects from her faithful…” Retorted the priestess to the blade-singer, her top lip curling upwards slightly as she spoke. “So why don’t you let me worry about matters of faith as they pertain to me, and you can worry about whatever it is that you concern yourself with.” In truth she wasn’t as confident as she could have been in her belief that Lolth would appreciate entirely what she was doing, but she did however know that her dark Goddess would always give her servants enough rope to either make a bridge, or hang themselves, so she knew that, unless something went badly wrong, she did at least have time on her hands before Lolth passed judgment. It wasn’t that the Spider-Queen was patient. Far from it in fact, but Anaara knew that she often indulged sights that amused her, and the young cleric suspected that her far reaching plan would at least do that for long enough for it to turn out for good or ill. Not that she was under any illusion though as to what would happen were she to fail. She knew that her punishment would come from both the spiritual and the terrestrial. “I think not actually…” She purred towards Avelaer at his suggestion that she step away from the fighting. “I see what you’re doing surfacer, and I will not allow you to marginalize me and then to back out on the deal that would have you return me to the underdark…” She then looked at him more closely, “or were you planning on hoping that, were I not in the heart of battle that I would lower my guard and you could skewer me whilst I was unprepared?” “I fear that I shall not be sidestepped or slain so easily,” a mocking smile crossed her lips as she shook her head, “Perhaps that’s not what you planned though? Perhaps you were merely hoping to keep me untouched and undamaged that you might later return me to one of your surfacer citadels? Where I could be slaughtered… After being used to entertain your menfolk of course?” |
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| Darkwind | Mar 3 2007, 02:48 AM Post #237 |
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His mind handed him a rebuke, but he shoved it away. "Have it your way. My only concern is that you might get hurt in the fighting. Our last battle showed that we are very vulnerable to loss of a spellcaster. If I hadn't saved your life back then, we would be in dire straits indeed now, without any clerical support. Subtract me, and the party is basically still able to proceed, with Skaflock, Caine, Kellindel all providing variable high levels of combat skill. Subtract a spellcaster, and we might have to turn back." |
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| Pamela | Mar 4 2007, 10:17 AM Post #238 |
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Molly
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Llana had not had any intention on holding up their journey, but the nymph’s words of concern and comfort- as well as her beauty and presence- had, for the moment, made her forget the urgency of her mission. When she’d turned from the fey’s last embrace, the dreamy look upon her face soon faded as she saw the party scattered and preparing to move on. She gave one last regretful wave as the portal disappeared, and she was surrounded once more with the dreary, bloody mire that had been their last battlefield. “My apologies,” she murmured to the small group around the treasure, ignoring the salvaging effort to join those gathered at the doorway. Again she offered her apologies, as she looked around the doors. She cast her spell once more, and ignored the beacon of evil beside her in the Drow, as she turned her attention once more upon the doors. “Well, we have done one of the ‘dangerous’ rooms,” she remarked dryly, as she saw again the wave of continually increasing and diminishing evil in the conjurer’s quarters. “I hope you won’t mind if we continue our order and move to a hopefully uneventful one?” She hadn’t forgotten how a couple of the creatures in this room had been able to cloak their presence, and was privately grateful for that reminder. “Enchantment…we’ll hope they don’t have some fey that they’ve turned towards their own goals….” She turned back to the fey’ri, who was fixing her bracelets. “Fade, can you do the honours of checking the door again? I know they haven’t been trapped so far…” She then turned towards the dwarves. “And you had better get to safety again,” she said with a nod in the direction to the diviner’s quarters. “Please make sure that you lock the door behind yourselves,” she said with another glance in the direction of the conjurer’s quarters. The last thing they needed was to have one-or several- of its inhabitants breaking up into the various rooms. |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 12:04 PM Post #239 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Unlike some of his more impulsive colleagues Karosin was capable of waiting patiently, it being one of the most important abilities in the line of work that he had pursued for all of his adult life. Basically if you’re not prepared to do a lot of waiting around for hours on end then you need not apply at the local assassins’ guild. Those lonely nights laying on rooftops and hiding in the shadows of darkened alleyways were invariably vital to him on occasions when Llana met with other members of her faith. Whilst he could appreciate the strength that she took from such occurrences, he couldn’t actually truly understand them. The issue of faith was one that he hadn’t often paused to look at, and the issue of how that faith is displayed and communicated even less so. Astonishingly it had never seemed to be overly important to him when he was slaughtering people for money. The purity, or lack thereof of his soul wasn’t in issue, it was as black as they could come, and surely no amount of prayer was going to change that. Back then the only people that he met that were ‘faithful’ were either the marks that he killed, or the madly preaching children of the Dark Gods, and the thought of following anything that those insane fools preached was an anathema to him. And so he had merrily continued his path of death, avoiding any thoughts of what would be happening to his immortal soul once he died, for he saw no way to change his destiny in that regard. He was a killer, but he was nobody’s follower, and that combination would of course assure that he would end up as one of the faithless, unless he were reborn in the Nine Hells and joined their armies. Another less than enticing prospect… So he ignored it all, and was more than happy to do so until he found himself slain by spell or sword… Until of course he met Llana, at which point his own lack of faith was brought into rather sharper focus by dint of the fact that there were virtually limitless people all around him who espoused the power of faith and prayer, and of course the security of having a haven for them once their mortal lives were over. For the time being he had made no definite decision on how to handle this, and thus he tended to try to tune out discussions when then became faith-based, for fear of either thinking too much about the issue, or getting unduly annoyed by them. One thing though that he was grateful for was the fact that it did mean that Llana did have a support group for moments such as this, for no matter how far you advance in the ranks of anything you still need a web to fall back onto from time to time. And he was ever aware that there were certain topics that were important to her on which he had no answers. Whilst he waited for Llana to say her goodbyes he himself simply played over the spells he had chosen for the day, as well as idly wondering what threats the day ahead would hold… When his wife had finished saying her goodbyes to the Nymph he gave the fey creature a curt nod and then stepped out behind his wife, curling back his top lip slightly as the swamp-stench assaulted his nostrils. He then gazed down at the ‘gathering party’ with distaste as they knelt in the dirt. Something that his mentor had drilled into him from a young age was that there was never any excuse for groveling about on the floor for money, no matter the amount and no matter how poor you might be. A man’s dignity was ever eroded by such acts, and there was no way to get it back. Karosin had added his own little proviso to that particular rule however, and that was that it was perfectly acceptable to humble yourself before another man… Provided you killed him later to avenge the insult. Where Llana went so did he remaining, for the time being at least, her shadow. He drew both of his blades in anticipation of what was to come… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 4 2007, 01:16 PM Post #240 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Anaara's comment regarding what might possibly happen to her if she was taken as a prisoner on the surface caused Fade to stiffen for fleeting moment. With a slight shrug, the rogue pulled herself together and, nodding in acknowledgement to Llana's request, began to inspect the door with the Enchantment symbol upon it. At first she checked visually, taking her time to ensure that touching the door itself wouldn't cause any traps to be triggered. Once satisfied that there was nothing she could see, she then lightly ran her hands over the door and frame, probing with gentle fingers for anything out of the ordinary. Again, nothing. She then finally turned her attention to the door handle itself. There was no lock - none of the doors had had one, and this one was no different - but bitter experience had taught Fade that it wasn't just locks that could be trapped. Exhibiting a form of patience that many would probably have considered her incapable of, the fey'ri lay her head against the door and slowly began to turn the door handle whilst leaving the door closed, hoping that she'd hear or feel anything out of the ordinary through the wood. At last completely satisfied that the door was safe, she stood up and dusted her hands on her thighs. "Safe as far as I can tell." she grasped the door handle again. "Are you all ready?" |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 03:58 PM Post #241 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine stepped forwards to aid the Fey'ri, and the doors hissed as they swung open, and instantly the perfumed air in the room beyond reached the nostrils of those standing closest. It was a delicate and light scent, which seemed in some way to invite people inside. What instantly became apparent was that, unlike the previous rooms, there was little to no sign that there was any magical study at all going on beyond the doors, for all that could be seen was hanging silk and billowing curtains. Violet and crimson were the predominant colours, with streaks of yellow throughout. As they stepped into the laboratory they could feel that beneath their feet the floor had a decided spring to it, almost as if the entire floor were one giant bed. Curiously the boots that they wore, dirty as they were, left no marks at all on the fabrics as they made their way deeper and deeper into the bowels of the curiously hedonistic layout. As they moved further onwards it seemed that the room was in some way moving around them, separating them and splitting them up, the curtains sweeping across to cut off pathways. Yet despite the fact that there seemed to be some intelligence behind this division there was no obvious other person in the room… No sooner did one look to the side than they lost sights of their companions, and one by one they were all segmented and separated. Event holding hands with another party member seemed to be pointless, as it became like trying to hold onto quicksilver, the tighter and tighter the squeezing the more easily the fingers slipped through grips. In the absence of anywhere else to go the only way was surely forwards, and as they pushed on through the billowing silken folds they all as one noted the scent changing slightly… Caine noticed it first, and his heart began to beat faster at the familiarity and the slightly coppery tang that there was in the air. In time the others noticed it too, the scent of blood, and reasonably fresh at that… As one the all managed to push their way though a final layer of curtains and step into the central area of the enchantment laboratory… Laying on the floor were a dead Succubus, a huge bite taken out of her side, two dead Fey’ri, each wearing the remnants of armour that had been shredded like so much tin-foil, and a Vrock, in two separate pieces…. Once this scene had been seen beyond they were then able to take in the other details of the room. A room that looked like few places of magical study that had ever existed. In fact it looked more like a temple of Sharess than anything else… Golden braziers hung down on chains from the cross-beamed ceiling, puffing out bursts of sweet scented smoke, and the floor beneath them was a nigh organic arrangement, hillocks and seating areas made of one flawless surface that rose and fell around the whole room. The party had little enough time to take in what they were seeing though before another of the curtains rippled and shifted, and into the room stepped another being. A slight and petite moon Elf, her hair a perfect white and skin a pale silvery-blue gazed at the party through flawlessly pearlescent eyes. Her expression was one of annoyance and anger, that increased when she spotted the presence of Fade, Anaara and Caine… Then became confused at the sight of Llana and Greg, two beings that were clearly of good ilk… At once she seemed to make up her mind… “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find that the Drow and the Fey’ri have combined their forces, nor that you should charm those of good ilk into doing your bidding…” Said the being with a glare towards the two women, and then a regretful look towards the others, especially the Martyred Greg and the Sunite Llana… The thought of destroying those two distressed her, for she loathed killing enchanted creatures who entered battle through no fault of her own, but she would battle to the death for what she protected… It was simply too precious to do otherwise. “I do admit though that I suspected that after your last three escapades into my domain failed that you would give up… It appears that I over estimated your wisdom…” |
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| Pamela | Mar 4 2007, 04:36 PM Post #242 |
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Molly
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As Fade examined the door, Llana cast another spell upon herself, protecting her from any attempts at charm that might arise. This done, she mentally braced herself to cast her next, favourite spell, which at the moment was tinged with bad memories. As wings sprouted from her back once more, and divine energy infused her, she breathed deeply, her mind’s fears lifting as a greater wisdom enveloped hers. Buoyed by her improved senses and strengths, she entered the room, wary of its tempting appearance. As those before her began to slip away, she turned to Karosin, remembering yesterday’s adventure in the evoker’s quarters. She took his hand, but even this was not enough, and she swore mentally as she found herself alone amid this strange maze of curtains and drapes. Now she moved forward carefully, bringing her wings close to her body, ready for any sudden surprise- especially when she caught the smell of blood. Let them be well, she prayed unconsciously, Let him be well… It was with some relief that she stepped into the laboratory and saw the others once more. This was tempered by the bodies strewn upon the floor, though she felt some private relief as she identified all the victims as evil creatures. Not enchanted then- unless there are schisms among the fey’ri? She looked up as the moon elf entered, and returned the look of confusion. She’s young, she thought to herself, And she’s not pleased- but what in the world is she doing here? Her eyebrows raised as she shook her head at the mage’s supposition, but was careful not to make any other gestures that might provoke any attack. “I am not under the command of either fey’ri or Drow,” she replied. “My companions and I have come to destroy the fey’ri threat residing in this city, and to rescue your imprisoned kin. This fey’ri,” she said, with a nod in Fade’s direction, “Was outcast, and she seeks revenge against them. The Drow was a prisoner in one of these rooms, and has agreed to aid us in Vaerilmor’s destruction. None of us are enchanted by them; this I swear by Sune.” “The only reason we came in here was to assure ourselves that there was no hidden enemy ready to attack our backs- and to retrieve an amulet, that seems necessary for us to venture further in this tower. “If you doubt my intentions, I will be happy to try to prove them, so long as it does not mean harming those present. When this is done, I would like to request the gift or purchase of this amulet- unless you can tell us of another mean to get upstairs, where our enemy resides.” “But may I ask what you yourself are doing here? Were you captured by the fey’ri yourself, and found refuge in these quarters? Do you require help leaving?” Or is this some illusion, she wondered. |
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| Darkwind | Mar 4 2007, 04:56 PM Post #243 |
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Though his mood had been dampened by the low spirits of several members, and the prospect of returning into the swamp, once the elf confronted them Greg found his tongue. He addressed her when Llana finished speaking, even as he let the radiance of his aura be apparent. "My name is Greg and I am under no compulsion. In fact, I am immune because am deathless, and in proof thereof I invite you to cast any mind-affecting spell you care to on me. Assuming you're the mistress of this laboratory, of course, and an enchantress. I guarantee that it won't work. We are intruders here--the fey'ri are our enemies. Except Fade here, of course, as my friend has explained." He let the glow subside, knowing that there were some that found it unpleasant. |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 05:59 PM Post #244 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Before Llana cut her off the being was about to go into a spell casting, but the comments from the Sunite stopped that, and she lowered her hands to her side, still clearly ready to resume her attack, but for now at least prepared to listen. In truth she wanted to believe that the half-elf was telling the truth, for she’d had enough of the battles against the despicable Fey’ri in the past while, and had also grown lonely for company that wasn’t trying to kill her and take what she protected. However she was also aware of this longing, and this made her if anything more suspicious of the words that came from her lips, as she knew how susceptible she would be to hearing what she wanted to hear, unless she guarded against it. But the more she listened the more sense it made, and the angelic priestess was a persuasive talker, and she couldn’t detect that she was lying at all. Vaerilmor? She wondered, unsure if he had been the being who had been behind the attacks on both her and the magical laboratory that was her home. A prisoner and a renegade?... She scrutinized the Priestess more closely, looking for the lie in her words, or for the slightest hint from any of the other members of the group that something was amiss, but try as she might she could detect nothing of the sort. Could it be then that this was the naked and unvarnished truth? The amulet… The one hanging around her neck presumably, she made no move however to indicate that she wore it, if they proved to her that they were of good ilk and were indeed doing what they claimed then they could have it, the dweomer only allowed entrance to the higher level, it was hardly a valuable treasure. She had been about to reply to Llana when Greg also spoke up, and she felt a distinct relief as the radiance of his aura poured out. What words couldn’t fully prove this display did, and a genuine smile crossed her delicate features. “Then I bid you welcome to my abode, and there is no need for me to test the veracity of your claim good sir”, she gave a curtsey towards them and stepped forwards. “You may call me Alysitiba, and know that any enemy of those who persist in their attacks against me may call me friend.” She then turned back to Llana to address her earlier questions, “This has been my home for a long time indeed as these things are reckoned, and whilst they are my refuge I am not here because of the Fey’ri, I have been here since long before they arrived, and will be here long after they leave.” The being smiled at Llana’s offer of assistance in leaving, “Alas it is not to be, for I must stay here… I am a guardian of sorts as well you see, and I would sooner die than leave what is charged to me.” |
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| Castamir | Mar 4 2007, 06:03 PM Post #245 |
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Skafloc moved throught the room, his senses straining to hear or see any movement, finding the environment both strange and unfamiliar. When he emerged he viewed the bodies with interest. Something powerful had caused a violant and bloody end for these creatures, and the thought of facing it filled the barbarian with something akin to excitement. That was turned to confusion as the elf emerged, and Skafloc desperately wondered how she might have caused such injuries, unless she had a very large pet, or... "Hahahahahaa!" he laughed out loud after she spoke, perhaps it wasn't the most dipllmatic reaction, but her statement had interrupted his thoughts and caused a genuine belly laugh. He quietened himself as both of the most holy members of the group spoke, and looked at Fade and Anaara in turn. He shook his head apologetically and spoke, humour still evident despite the potential severity of the situation. "I have yet to see any evidence of 'charm' from either of them.." He grinned, but didn't turn to look at them again, for fear of being turned to stone - Skafloc's sense of humour wasn't always appropriate but it seemed his near foolhardy lack of self preservation applied here as much as it did in combat... |
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| Pamela | Mar 4 2007, 06:15 PM Post #246 |
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Molly
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Llana’s hand quickly rose to cover her lips, though it was unable to hide the twinkling amusement in her eyes at Skafloc’s remark. Oh if only it weren't true, she thought wryly. Fade could be charming…when she was relaxed, and not ready to jump down their throats with her misanthropy and suspicions. Anaara had the unfortunate tendency of thinking her body could make up for her ‘personality’. Which it might, for some, she thought, considering the latest addition to their party. A smile spread across the redhead’s face at the elf’s, and she returned the curtsey gladly. “Thank you, Alysitiba. I am Llana.” The Sunite didn’t bother to try to hide her wonder at the enchantress’ seeming age, nor did she expect an answer. She was concerned however about the moon elf remaining in such an isolated place, in a dead city. “If you are sure you are comfortable here…” She hesitated before adding, “Are you aware, however, of the creature that dwells in the swampy quarters of the necromancer?” |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 06:42 PM Post #247 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As the curtains parted and he stepped into the central area Kellindel couldn’t help but reflect on how similar it was in certain ways to the bedroom he had left only minutes ago, what with the fact that the floor was soft and virtually bed like, and the colours were very similar as well. Of course there were a few differences… The half eaten Succubus for one. He resisted the urge to give an impressed whistle at whatever had torn through the demonic forces that now lay on the floor like so much butcher’s refuse. It was a pity really that this spoilt the view somewhat, for there was a faintly brothel-ish feeling to the whole set up, and frankly he was all for that. But it was just a little harder for him to think along those lines when there was the unmistakeable reek of blood in the air. Though admittedly the scented oils the braziers were burning were doing a lot to cover it up. When the Elf stepped through the curtains on the other side of the room he gave a cheerful nod, prepared as was normal to assume the best of her, he’d stopped though as he’d noted her expression, and then followed her eyeline towards Fade and Anaara, guessing what the problem was. Not that this was hard, what with the presence of two dead Fey’ri laying on the floor. Kell had plastered his most disarming smile onto his face, and had been about to speak in a bid to clear up the misunderstanding that seemed to have occurred, when first Llana and then Greg had cut across him. For which he was grateful really, as it meant that he could disengage brain and activate eyes. Had she been a human she would probably have been in her late teens, at least that was the visual impression that he got from her, but she had an aura and a ‘something’ about her that suggested that this was a false impression. Not that it mattered really, the evidence of his eyes told him that she was attractive, and that was more than enough for him. He was distracted from this by the fact that Greg once more gleamed, and had to close his right eye to keep from looking away, so sudden and brilliant had the light been. It was a relief though to see that the display had worked, and the Elf believed what she was being told. As she stepped forwards and dropped into a curtsey he too moved closer to the centre of the room and dropped into a bow of his own, “Kellindel Illovande'l at your service and delighted to make your acquaintance”, he beamed. Further enquiries were about to take place as to why she couldn’t leave, and what she was guarding when Skafloc spoke up. Kellindel’s smile became a laugh and he looked towards the moon-elf, “as you can see, it’s not they that have charmed us, rather we charm them”, he rolled his eyes in jest as he spoke… |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 07:02 PM Post #248 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine had rushed forwards through the curtains eagerly towards the smell of blood, and had been disappointed that the battle appeared to be over when he got there. He’d been about to step towards the bodies when the others had started to appear, and had been forced to restrain himself from carrying on. He ached to, and yet feared, turning over the bodies of the two Fey’ri and looking at their faces. It wasn’t that he in some foolish way feared the dead bodies would have any power over him, rather he feared that his revenge might have been taken from him by someone else killing the bastard that had tortured him before he’d even had the chance to sink his fangs into the other’s flesh. Whilst the discussion had gone on he’d stayed silent, not stupid enough to attack the frail and weak looking Elf with the others stood by. He knew how they would react to such an assault, and although his grip on his more restrained human side was slightly tenuous from time to time, he did at least have a grip of sorts on it, and was able to restrain himself with minimal difficulties. All he hoped for now was that they would get this over with as fast as possible, there were things out there that he would be able to slake his rage on, and he wanted to introduce them to his claws as quickly as possible…. As the Elf introduced herself he said nothing, literally bouncing now on the balls of his feet as the desire for something to happen jumped around his mind. The worst part of his incarceration hadn’t been the pain, though that had been bad enough, it had been the pure boredom for the werewolf lacked the mental capacity to entertain himself for any period of time… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 4 2007, 09:51 PM Post #249 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Fade entered the new room cautiously - even though the door hadn't been trapped, you never could be too sure that the floor beyond wasn't; keeping her eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, they fey'ri stepped lightly across the room. The first thing that struck her were the colours - red and purple used in this way smacked of a brothel to her, and such things always made her feel uneasy. When the billowing curtains began to seperate them out, she drew her swords, ready to meet anything that might erupt from them. As the unmistakeable coppery tang of freshly spilt blood reached her nostrils, she dropped into a more defensive stance, creeping forwards carefully, one blade in front of her and the other held behind so her whole body was covered. Using her shoulder, Fade barged her way through the final curtain... only to be met with the corpses of her kin. Still unwilling to sheath her swords just in case, she edged forwards into the room to inspect the bodies, and perhaps determine what had done this to the tana'ri and demonfae laid out before her. Before she reached the body of the succubus, the rogue noticed movement coming from the back of the room, and snapping her head up, watched cautiously as what looked like a young female moon elf made her way towards them, noticing the look of distast and anger upon her face. In response, Fade twisted her own features in a snarl, ready to defend herself if necessary, but kept quiet, deciding to let one of the more diplomatic members of the party speak up on their behalf. Predictably, the fullblood began whittering on about her having charmed the others to do her bidding, and the fey'ri rolled her crimson eyes in response. "Oh, find a new piece of parchment to scribe on" she snapped angrily, almost immediately breaking her vow to let the others do the talking. She quietened down as soon as Llana began to speak, but at Skafloc's comment, she couldn't help but retort back snippily. "Nothing worth charming, my dear meat shield..." As it seemed that between them, the Sunite and the Sorcerer had convinced the fullblood to stand down, Fade stepped forward again and inspected the bodies, showing her utter contempt for her own race kicking them over onto their backs so she could see their faces. The two fey'ri she did not recognise - probably just soldiers, with the succubus as their leader and the Vrock summoned as the damage magnet. Looking back up at the elf wench, the fey'ri narrowed her eyes in suspicion; she couldn't have done this much damage on her own... "What did this?" she asked, her tone short and her demeanor decidedly hostile. "As fragile as they look, succubi don't die easily. What happened here?" |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 10:03 PM Post #250 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Karosin followed the others into the gaudy monstrosity of a room, staying as close to Llana as he could, unwilling to be separated form her if he could possibly avoid it… This being the case he returned her grip with one of his own, and did his best to hold her tight but somehow, in the swirling of fabric, his grip was lost and they were separated again. He cursed quietly under his breath before stopping and standing still, hoping to be able to hear her call out or spot some kind of pattern to the movement of the curtains, but there seemed to be no kind of regularity in their movements, and if Llana had called out to him the sound had been flawlessly muffled. It seemed that he had little choice other than to continue onwards and hope that there was a way out up ahead, and more than that that Llana had somehow managed to find her way there. Sword leading he moved forwards cautiously, twisting his head back and forth in an attempt to spot any potential attacks from behind, and feeling extremely vulnerable. Aware that there could easily be a platoon of archers out there about to pour a volley of arrows into where he stood. He smelt blood, faint at first, and was at once gratified by it and made nervous. The thought that there could actually be a flesh and blood enemy to face at the end of the demandable maze was a pleasant one, but he was still too close to Llana’s slaughter at the hands of the draco-pire to be entirely comfortable with the situation. The knowledge that there was death near at hand, and that he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that Llana wasn’t the victim wasn’t something that sat easily with him, and so he picked up his pace, hacking at the curtains ahead of him and slipping through the billowing folds as quickly as he could. Suddenly though the final layer of the material parted, and he found himself stood in a circular room, with four corpses littering the floor. Interesting… Whoever, or whatever did this clearly has a pretty big mouth… They’d fit right in here. The assassin took a pace back as the Moon-Elf entered and watched carefully, his fingers holding the leather-wrapped handles of his blades loosely, content to watch for the moment whilst they were talking… It was through narrowed eyes that he watched the exchange between the group and the Elf, and all the while he was watching for the merest glimmer that she was about to attack. Even when everything seemed to have just about been settled down he didn’t drop his guard for a second. He’d been involved in too many ambushes, from both sides, to accept stalemate so easily… He didn’t much like the Fey’ri, but he had to admit that it was a very good question indeed… What exactly had killed the piles of refuse that were scattered out over the floor? |
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| eocine | Mar 4 2007, 10:24 PM Post #251 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Skafloc’s humour wasn’t exactly to Alysitiba’s taste, but she did give the jest a small smile of acknowledgement. Which was probably better than the puzzled look that she had been about to give him before he explained himself. Humans were so puzzling in their ways and their humors. She’d lived long enough to see innumerable generations of the short-lived creatures come and go, but had never truly managed to get any kind of handle as to what drove them, what there was that unified them as a race beyond the need to reproduce and then suddenly disappear, in the comparative blinking of an eye. She was polite enough to ignore those who chose to ignore her, admittedly belated, gesture of greeting, and straightened herself up to her full height of just under five feet tall. “I am ever pleased to meet a servant of the Gods, Llana I greet you.” At the mention of the Necromantic Laboratory a look of resignation crossed her face, a far cry from the fear that might have been expected. “I am aware of the corrupted ruin that ‘exists’ there”, she confirmed. “Not that he can harm me here in my lair, it is barred to him by magic far older than he or I.” “There is comfort enough here, please do not concern yourself on that front, everything I could need I have”, with the exception of company… “And I would not wish this burden and the responsibility onto anybody else, so please do not let my self imposed incarceration worry you.” She had been about to say more when Fade’s voice sliced through the conversation like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Her expression matching Fade’s as she turned back towards the demon-kin she spoke in a similar tone, “They attacked me and I defended myself. I suggest you do not make their mistake.” “If you remain peaceful then I have no quarrel with you, but move to attack and I will respond with all that I can bring.” For an instant there was a gleam in her eyes, but only for an instant and then it was gone, “I assure you I am more than capable of defending myself…” |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 4 2007, 10:45 PM Post #252 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Standing up from the corpses, Fade couldn't help but bridle at the moon elf's implications and tone, and took in the gleam in the wench's eye. Squaring up to the fullblood, her hands gripping the hilts of her swords tightly, the fey'ri glared down at the other female even though she was only a couple of inches over five foot herself, her tail now lashing wildly from side to side. "As am I. So I recommend you take your own advice and 'remain peaceful'. I want all my strength intact to face Vaerilmor, the fey'ri wizard who has come to this place... but if I have to defend myself against a jumped up, prejudiced fullblood, so be it." She jabbed Tholdagnir in the direction of the dead fey'ri and tana'ri. "Whatever killed them had a much bigger mouth than yours, so I ask you again - what happened here? What did you summon that would do this?" |
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| Castamir | Mar 4 2007, 11:19 PM Post #253 |
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Native
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Skafloc didn't flinch from Fade's response, instead he turned his head in her direction and blew her a kiss. He was the master at goading his enemies into doing something stupid, and in a very strange twist of his personal logic - which was probably a little skewed anyway - he wasn't above tormenting his friends too, it was the way of his people, and other's either understood it, or they didn't. That this was probably completely lost on the Fey'ri mattered not to the northman, because he was fairly self contained in his need for acceptance, he was either oblivious, or frankly disinterested to learn what people thought of him. This was the advantage, if it could be considered as such, of all the people who's opinions had ever truly meant anything to him being long dead. He did however follow what was going on, and was interested to know how the creatures in front of him had been bested. He had some theories, and was aware from previous experience that just because the elf maiden in front of them appeared largely harmless, it didn't mean she was what she appeared. Which was why, though he visibly relaxed, he still maintained his guard, slinging his axe over his shoulder, and casting his eyes around the space they all now stood in. |
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| Darkwind | Mar 5 2007, 03:00 AM Post #254 |
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For some reason the theme of dragons came to his mind. "Perhaps it was a dragon, a metallic dragon with a penchant for taking on an alternate form of a female elf... Would I be correct in that supposition, Mistress Alysitiba? Please excuse me for not introducing myself earlier, by the way. Avelaer Lafesti, weaponmaster of the bladesingers of Evereska--well, I would have been had I not decided to visit the Grandfather Tree alone..." And between that and his decisions since his release, it would not surprise him if the Council barred him from taking that position when he returned. At least... |
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| Pamela | Mar 5 2007, 06:25 PM Post #255 |
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Molly
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Llana listened mystified to the elf’s calm reaction to the dracopire’s presence, and her certainty that it wasn’t a threat. What kind of magic is this- and is it really still in effect, she wondered, as she recalled the remains of the diviner in his quarters (or so she assumed). Why would she want to stay here? She mentally shook her head, but said nothing; it wasn’t her business, and if the enchantress was pleased to remain, there would be no point in pursuing the point and possibly antagonising her in the process. She turned at Fade’s curt question, and her eyes fell upon the torn corpses once more. They lingered upon the succubus, and yesterday flashed back in her memory as she recalled Skafloc’s torso after one particular attack. She also recalled the little dragons scattered all over the diviner’s laboratory. Could she…? she thought, and she shook her head at the fey’ri. “Fade. Please try to calm down. She hasn’t attacked us, and is willing to talk to us, and possibly help. We have enough real enemies without stirring unnecessary trouble.” Her tone was calm, and she was careful not to have any sense of chiding or blame; her suspicions were after all understandable. She nodded unconsciously at Avelaer’s supposition, but firmly replied, “None of this is our business, and your secrets are yours.” Anaara was here after all, and she didn’t want this priestess returning to her kin with news about this enchantress, whoever- or whatever- she was. The less they knew, the better for Alysitiba. “We will do our best to deal with the rest of the fey’ri, and I promise to bring you word as to our results. However, if you should ever be in trouble, or perhaps tired of your responsibilities, would you please consider sending myself, or my temple, a message? If you wish that I keep news of your presence here a secret from my temple, I will of course respect your wishes.” |
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| eocine | Mar 5 2007, 07:38 PM Post #256 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Alysitiba’s eyes tracked the movement of Fade’s blade as the Fey’ri gestured towards her fallen kin with the razor sharp tip. She did not though make any movements, seemingly content to tolerate what she perceived to be the Fey’ri’s bluster. For she was well enough aware of two things, firstly that words were meaningless, the demon-kin would either attack or not, and until she did she was to be treated, if not without suspicion, then not as an enemy. Secondly she was also aware that certain creatures simply seemed unable to stop themselves from being needlessly aggressive, and that they were to be pitied for that. And destroyed if need be. She had been about to reply to Fade’s demand though when Avelaer spoke up, and Alysitiba nodded, how very perceptive… Before raising a delicate hand and waving down Llana’s concern over the potential revelation. “I find that what few secrets are mine are more easily held onto than that knowledge.” She said with a smile towards the priestess. “Your friend is right, I have been here for many generations, even by Elven standards, and my natural form differs from the one you see now.” Her head turned towards the slaughtered bodies laying on the floor, “they saw my ‘true form’, and are now none the better for it. It is not something I enjoy doing in this place.” Astonishingly there was a genuine, albeit momentary, sadness in her voice at the thought of the corpses laying before her, as if she regretted causing their deaths. Llana’s kind words brought a smile to the face of the Elf-formed being, “It is not a task that I shall tire of, I assure you of that, but by all means tell the members of your faith of my presence here. This place could certainly use the company.” She seemed to pause for a second as if wrestling with a thought, before pulling a silvery chain from around her neck. It was easy to see that this was the Enchantment medallion. Alysitiba stepped forwards towards Avelaer, and held the magical medallion out towards the Blade-Singer. “Please take this, you seem to know what it’s for, and I have had no use for it in far too long…” |
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| eocine | Mar 6 2007, 10:01 AM Post #257 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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The assassin watched the exchanges in silence, what this being did to the Fey’ri and a few of the Abyss’ infinite numbers was no concern to him at all, and as she didn’t seem to be of a mind to attack them, nor to try and block their pathway he wasn’t overly enamoured of any idea that slowed them down. Time was of course a factor when you considered that the enemy knew that they were coming and was gifted in magic. Battling a powerful mage wasn’t ever easy, but it became harder and harder the more time that they had to prepare. Something else that gave him pause for thought was the reaction of the Fey’ri at seeing members of her kin slain. Though he was pretty sure that she would protest that all this did was attest to the strength of her hatred towards them, her reaction towards their killer was perhaps indicative of a different emotion, though he had no real doubt that it was exceedingly well hidden, possibly even from her. He wasn’t unaware that this would probably be considered to be exceedingly suspicious by the other members of the party, but as he couldn’t have cared less for the vast majority of their opinions then this wasn’t much of a concern. Still it was also not something to be broached just yet, as all it achieve would be to add more strife to the party than was needed. Yet anyway… Knowledge was a weapon as much as a sword, and the right time to confront the Fey’ri with that wouldn’t be now. In fact it probably mattered little whether he was right or wrong really, the reaction he would get from Fade would probably only differ very slightly, she’d bridle and then fall into a fury either way. So caught up was she in her fear of being judged for what she was that she would almost certainly respond with anger to even the merest hint that she was as much a member of her ‘family’ as the others. Proving of course in that response that she was, in a lot of ways, no different to any of the others. Look for example at the little tableaux playing itself out right now… Replace the dead Fey’ri with dead humans and he doubted her reaction would have even come close to being what it was now. But were he to come across a scene with dead humans it wouldn’t even raise a glimmer. After all it merely seemed to him to be a group of evil creatures being destroyed by another being, it mattered not how they had achieved it. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 6 2007, 05:27 PM Post #258 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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At Llana's words, Fade lowered her swords and took a physicaly step backwards so that she was standing physically closer to the Sunite, still glowering at the diminutive figure of the elf-shaped dragon before her. If anyone else had spoken to the fey'ri in that way, undoubtedly a fight would have broken out, but after their conversation last night, Fade had - completely unconciously - handed Llana a little bit of the leash she used to keep herself in check. At the revelation that the female was indeed of draconic stock, the fey'ri simply raised one crimson brow and glanced over to the priestess; maybe getting into an argument with something that could literally bite her in half possibly wasn't the wisest of things to do, but she was damned if she would ever admit to that line of thinking. Even she had to admit that the bloodless retrieval of the Enchantment medallion was a relief, however, and at this gesture of good faith, finally slid her blades home into their appropriate scabbards. "How many fey'ri and their associates have you come across? Was it just these 4, or have there been others?Did they mention anyone else?" she asked eventually, her manner and tone still gruff, but not hostile. |
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| Pamela | Mar 6 2007, 07:23 PM Post #259 |
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Molly
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Llana’s eyes widened at the confirmation of the supposition. Dragons were not common creatures, and if Alysitiba had been here when the city still stood, she was very old indeed. All these years- even centuries, she thought, horrified at the idea of a life spent so long in solitude. With this in mind, she nodded and fervently replied, “The temple would be delighted to meet you, and to fill you in on events…well, as far as we are able,” she laughed. Avelaer would undoubtedly inform the elves, and hopefully the enchantress wouldn't be alone for much longer. Her face broke into a warm grateful smile as the medallion was offered. “Thank you very much,” she said, and turned to Karosin. “Go ahead and begin examining the next door; I’ll say goodbye on our behalf; but leave the conjurer’s room for now,” she murmured. Yesterday they had spoken of alternating between the ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’, but the Sunite was happy to still try to ease their way into the day’s ultimate bloodiness. If they chose that room, however, she would not argue. She turned back to the fey’ri and the dragon, waiting quietly for Alysitiba's reply, ready to bring the meeting to an end. |
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| Castamir | Mar 6 2007, 07:56 PM Post #260 |
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Skafloc remained silent as the dragon/elf was bombarded with questions. He had little to add, other than a sudden interest in what it was that she did guard. What could be that important? Regardless, he was appreciative of the friendly encounter, but eager to move onto the next one, aware that they doubtless had a huge task ahead of them still. It was also an interesting thought that here was a room they could probably rest safely on their way out if they needed to. If the Fey'ri had failed to shift her by now, this was probably one of the safest places in the whole faded elf port.. He nodded at Llana's instruction, and bowed his head deeply to Alysitiba before turning and heading quickly out of the room to take up a position near the next door, the journey out not as strange as the journey in... |
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| eocine | Mar 6 2007, 10:31 PM Post #261 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As Fade’s weapons were lowered Alysitiba blinked once, seemingly in relief at the fact that it didn’t look like she would be forced to do battle again. “They have attacked my domain on four occasions now, each time sending more people here, and I have no doubt that eventually they will try and send a far larger force here to try and wrest what I guard from me.” “But they shall not succeed,” She promised forcefully, “no matter how many they send.” At Llana’s words she turned to face the half-elf, smiling as she did so at the thought of company after the years alone. Which had been a living hell of a sort for her, given that silver dragons were naturally sociable creatures. It had only been her strength of character and mental resources that had stopped her from going insane through the loneliness. In that respect perhaps the Fey’ri incursions into her domain had done some good, as they had broken up the monotony of her guardianship… When it looked like some of the members of the group were leaving she closed her eyes for a second, and the curtains that had formed the bulk of the room shifted to the side and made a path straight towards the door. “When you go, go with my blessing and stay safe…” |
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| Darkwind | Mar 7 2007, 12:30 AM Post #262 |
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His instincts served him well this time. In fact, he'd shot in the dark when he guessed she was a dragon--the bite could easily have been the result of a summoned creature, or she might have assumed the shape of a dragon with magic. It was nice to be proved right. He accepted the amulet with a smile and a nod. "Thank you for your trust. Perhaps... perhaps when this is over, it would be appropriate for the People to reclaim place." And if the Council took as dim a view of his actions as he thought, he might pay a visit himself. If he managed to get into the tower, that is. |
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| eocine | Mar 7 2007, 07:42 PM Post #263 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine had not moved since the explanations began, and in truth he cared little for the whole discussion. He recognised that there was to be no battle in the enchantment laboratory, and as such there was nothing for him there. As soon as the opportunity to leave came he’d took it eagerly, bounding through the door with his loping gait and back into the central room. Thankfully nothing had changed there, so it did indeed seem that the Fey’ri were content to wait and prepare for them, rather than try to launch an ambush whilst they moved in and out of the rooms. |
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| Pamela | Mar 7 2007, 07:57 PM Post #264 |
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Molly
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“Thank you,” Llana said, and curtseyed to the dragon, determined to return as soon as she could and find a way to persuade the being to lay aside a duty to a tower that had long been abandoned. So far none of the other archmages have survived, except for that brute, and he won’t for long, she swore to herself. She cannot be left to stand another millennium in this small prison, no matter what this duty might be. She moved among the gaudy curtains, taking a deep breath at the easy completion of that part of their task. She saw the others gathered around the next door- a ‘safe’ door, supposedly. Though being an illusionist’s, there is much room for deception… She turned to Fade with a gentle teasing smile, and asked, "If you would do the honours again, maestra...?" |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 7 2007, 09:42 PM Post #265 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Rather than say anything else that might fracture the delicate peace the Llana had established, Fade kept quiet, her normally animated features stony. She waited until the Sunite had completed her farewells with the dragon in elf-form, following the half-elf out of the room, only glancing back once, almost as if she suspected some form of treachery. Once they were all back outside of the room, the fey'ri continued in her silence, mulling over what she had just witnessed. So... they tried to take something from the silverworm, did they? I wonder what it was they wanted... the amulet? Unlikely. Then what....? At the priestesses request, the rogue nodded, returning the smile. "Of course." She then turned to the others. "You lot want to take a step back? I know the chances are this one's okay - just like the others - but you never know, and when it comes to things like this, it pays to be careful. And, well, a girl has to have room to move..." |
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| Darkwind | Mar 7 2007, 11:14 PM Post #266 |
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Illusionists being the way they were, Greg decided that it would be prudent, to say the least, to enhance his sight to counter the illusions he was sure were going to greet them. So while Fade checked the portal for traps, he reached inside his black robe and brought out a case filled with a specially-prepared ointment. Rubbing that over his eyes, he spoke the incantation and channeled the pure energy of the Weave into a dweomer of True Seeing. It ought to last reasonably long--perhaps even long enough for them to reach the elusive fey'ri sorcerer at last. Now confident that he was prepared to deal with any illusory tricks, he waited for Fade to finish and the part to proceed. |
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| eocine | Mar 8 2007, 09:58 AM Post #267 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Again there seemed to be no traps encircling the door, or at least there were none that the Fey’ri rogue could find, and so when she stepped back Caine stepped forwards to pull the doors open. Unlike the other doors that they had previously entered through this one gave an audible creak of protest at being put to use, and the hinges squealed painfully. Once it had finally been open there was a momentary pause as the party took in a sight that they would probably have not expected to see, especially given the opulence of the prior rooms, and the fact that they seemed to virtually drip with arcane energies. For as a counterpoint there was nothing at all in the room save a bare table and a single wooden chair. The room itself was all wood, from ceiling to floor, varnished admittedly, but plain wood for that. In fact the only remarkable thing about the room was that it was so very plain indeed, almost to the point of absurdity in fact. Still, one other thing perhaps would have caught the eye. The fact that the amulet was sitting on the table in full view of anyone who would care to approach it… |
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| eocine | Mar 8 2007, 11:49 AM Post #268 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As he walked out of the enchantment laboratory Kellindel paused momentarily to curse the fact that he hadn’t thought to bring with him a small selection of chocolates, a single rose and a card with his name and address on, to leave behind. Alas though such thoughts only seemed to come to him after they were of value, and he never seemed to manage to remember them from one day to the next, which was a pity, as he was entirely certain that such a gesture, whilst not working all the time, or even often, would still probably meet with success often enough to justify the outlay on chocolate and flowers. Still, there was always a next time. As they stood waiting for Fade to do her thing with any potential traps Kellindel did what he normally did whilst bored, and started to daydream things that would probably make an incubus blush. A curious effect often occurred at such moments, and watching through his eyes it appeared that the clothes currently covering Anaara, Fade and Llana had in some way dissolved. Ahhh, the glories of the imagination. It was in this happiest of realms that he remained until Fade straightened up after completing her search for traps. He favoured her with a probably over-bright smile and then drew an arrow to place on his bow, ready for when the door was opened…. As the squealing door was pulled to the side he pulled the projectile back to his ear, focusing the magic that flowed through his being and using that eldritch force to infuse the arrow with magical energy. The missile instantly began to glow with a deep blue light, and he could feel a coldness radiating off it, not enough to be painful, but the touch of cold steel on a hot day. He stepped forwards into the room carefully, covering upwards as well, and as soon as they crossed into the room itself he held the bow to face the space above the door, just in case of ambush from above. None came however as he moved cautiously onwards… To be honest the room looked like several he had owned over the years, rooms that were used for sleeping in and nothing more. But surely that wasn’t what this was used for though? This was a place of magical study, not of catching a few hours rest before heading out again. Then there was the fact that the amulet they were looking for was sitting there, in full view of everyone. So easy to grab. Too easy?… “Anyone who wants to pick that us feel free, I’ll cover you from back here!” |
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| eocine | Mar 8 2007, 12:21 PM Post #269 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine followed the Elf into the room, his nostrils flaring as he tried to look for any clues on the scents borne on the air in the laboratory. Frustratingly though, other than the other party members various odours, there was nothing at all in there, just the scent of wood and dust. “Nothing smells odd”, he pointed out in his oddly growl-like voice, which was a far cry from the heavily accented tone that he had in his human shape. “Nothing has been here in a long time, I can smell no life here.” He dropped forwards so that his elongated arms were supporting some of his weight, allowing his nose to be closer to the floor, and then circled the outer edge of the room, sniffing all the while, but still there was nothing… Wait. Turning back he twisted his head towards where he thought the scent had come from, lost it for a moment, before catching it again. Bones. No idea how many, but bones… He stalked back towards the source of the scent, and found they were centred around an area of the floor, about fifteen feet away from the table on which rested the amulet. “There’s bones here, don’t know where, under wood perhaps.” Said the werewolf as he circled the area, looking for a seam in the wood or something else, something that he could use for leverage to tear up the floorboards. |
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| eocine | Mar 8 2007, 02:29 PM Post #270 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Anaara, who had mercifully remained silent through the whole meeting with the dragon, not seeing any reason to defend her corner, nor to deny anything either watched carefully as Fade did her thing. Whilst doing this though she was, not for the first time, trying to avoid second-guessing herself, and losing sight of exactly what it was that she was striving to achieve. The reason that she hadn’t chosen to answer had been fear that, in the Enchantment chamber, to speak out could lead easily towards being targeted, and that was something that needed to be avoided at any cost, for were she to lose control of her mind then everything was being risked. The later revelation that the being had been a dragon, and from the sound of it an old one at that, had only worked to prove to her that silence had been the correct choice. For she wasn’t naive enough to believe that party loyalty would matter in a battle between a Drow and a Silver-Dragon. She would consider herself fortunate if the group simply stood by and watched her get attacked, for it wouldn’t surprise her to see them all rush to the dragon’s aid… Still, that encounter had been survived, and mercifully, other than enduring a few dirty looks, it had been done with minimal danger on her part. Though that had perhaps been down more to the diplomacy of the other characters rather than anything she had done herself. Though perhaps… Perhaps the presence of two beings like herself and the Fey’ri had meant that the others had been given an easier ride in convincing the dragon of their goodness. All they had to ‘prove’ after all was that they were not slaves of her and Fade, and they had then been given the benefit of the doubt from further questions… It was certainly something to consider. But not just yet... She reminded herself as she watched the door swing open, revealing the bare room beyond it. Wary of a trap she raised her hands to prepare a spell casting, but stepped no nearer to the room, keeping herself out of the most likely danger area. This wasn’t a conscious decision on her part, rather it was simply years of breeding and training. She wasn’t there to take such risks, there were lower order beings that found there perfect use as meat-shields, so it was best to let them do what they were bred to do. She would then be in a perfect position to use her Lolth granted powers to pick off her enemies once they had been revealed. |
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| eocine | Mar 8 2007, 04:01 PM Post #271 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Whilst Karosin had left the room well in advance of Llana, he had moved no further back into the main hallway than the doorway, waiting there for his wife and making sure that there were no sudden last moment changes in attitude from the Elf shaped Dragon. In the gutters that he’d grown up in such events hadn’t been uncommon, and allegiances shifted almost as often as the tides. Whilst this had been a terrible thing during his youthful years in his later ones it had saved him on more occasions than he could count. Being watchfully suspicious of everyone was mentally intensive, but he had so often found that it was important, and more to the point had now so often done it, that it had virtually become second nature to him. Neither of his blades had been sheathed during the most recent confrontation, and so he made do with holding the points low, his stance relaxed as he watched the examination of the door. Whilst he had some skill with the identification of traps it was certainly not his forte. In fact he had ever been bored by that type of lesson, and hated fooling around with picks and other such idiocy. His work was better done in other, darker, areas. Which wasn’t to say that he didn’t have a respect of a sort for those that were content to run daggers across door seams, and examine cracks with the utmost care. But it was most certainly a ‘sort’ of respect, and one that tended towards being of the ‘grudging’ variety. Once the door was finally opened he moved forwards silently, taking in the almost deliberate plainness of the room. The contrast was startling between it and the other rooms, and he guessed that it was probably deliberately so, something that seemed even more likely when he examined the floor in the room, and found that there were no scratches or other marks that would have indicated there had once been furniture there. Perhaps the ‘decorations’ and the like had previously only been illusory? He wondered to himself as he stepped closer to the table, “might we have a trap-search and magic scan on the table?” He enquired of the room, doing his best to ignore the mutt that was scrabbling at the floor a short distance away. |
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| Darkwind | Mar 8 2007, 10:27 PM Post #272 |
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Native
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That something was wrong here seemed clear. Precisely what that was, was the question. Either it would be magical, or entirely mundane. The latter, he left for the rogues to discover. The former, he could try to figure out himself. He cast a simple cantrip which revealed the presence of magical auras and, trying to avoid looking at the others who carried so much magic they were hard to look at, swept the area with the dweomer's cone-shaped area of effect. Let's see what tricks the illusionist might have left here for the unwary... |
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| Castamir | Mar 8 2007, 11:39 PM Post #273 |
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Native
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Skafloc took a step forward, stopped and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't one to look gift horses in the mouth, but he was old and ugly enough to know when something was too easy. As Caine spoke, he dropped into a crouch, Brainbiter resting across his knees as he scrutinised the room for himself, not moving any further until their resident lockpicker had done her thing, whilst listening and looking as carefully as he could and ready to lurch into violent action should a threat manifest itself. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 9 2007, 01:41 PM Post #274 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Watching the others enter the room, Fade quirked one crimson brow at their seeming ambivalence towards any potential traps within the room. She herself would have studied the floor before entering, but considering no one was blown sky-high, skewered by spikes or peppered with darts, the fey'ri contented herself his a wry, lop sided smile and a quick cursory glance before entering the room itself. "No way" she muttered under her breath at the tablaeux laid out before them. A simple table and chair? Right... Deciding to err on the side of extreme caution, the rogue began first with a visual examination, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary before even thinking about approaching the table physically. She ignored Caine's revelation for the moment in favour of examining the table and surrounding areas, confident that the others could deal with anything the lythancrope could potentially uncover whilst she was otherwise busy. |
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| eocine | Mar 9 2007, 05:42 PM Post #275 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Greg’s magically enhanced eyes could detect nothing at all out of the ordinary, there were no illusions in the room to be seen though, and no traps. Or at least none of a magical nature that had been hidden away. All the sorcerer could see was exactly what the rest of the party could see, that this appeared to be an exceedingly plain wooden room, with just a chair, a desk, and the amulet inside it. Similarly Fade proved to be unable to spot any kind of traps worked into the wood, there were no levers or unbalance boards beneath their feet, and no kind of trip wires anywhere that she could see. Examining the desk proved equally fruitless, no poison tipped needles protruded, nor were there any triggers that could be found. In fact from that the Fey’ri was able to tell it truly appeared as if it were a room denuded of any danger at all. Barring splinters of course from all the wood… Avelaer though did meet with some success, for the simple cantrip that he’d cast did at least tell him that there were no magical auras in the room that didn’t either come from the party members or the amulet, radiating strong illusion magic, that was still sat on the desk. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 9 2007, 09:21 PM Post #276 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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After taking a good while to search as thoroughly as she dared, Fade eventually straightened up, shaking her head bemusedly. "As far as I can tell, it's clean... although every instinct I own is screaming that something isn't right here" she remarked to the rest of the party as a whole "My suggestion is for the rest of you to get out or stand as far away as possible - be grateful if someone could watch my tail from a safe distance just in case things go completely tits up - I'll then nip in, nab the bauble and, well, see what happens." she offered them a slightly resigned smile. "If this thing is trapped... well, I've had enough experience in dealing with that eventuality in the past." She then muttered to herself. "If it's not... then I haven't got a fucking clue what is going on here. Almost prefer the dragon to this..." |
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| eocine | Mar 10 2007, 10:12 AM Post #277 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Caine scarcely seemed to notice what was going on with the table and the amulet, so intent was he on scrabbling he way though the floor and digging out the bones below. His razor sharp claws scored the wood again and again as he seemed to be virtually trying to dig his way through the wooden floorboards. If one were to ask exactly why he was doing this then the truth was that he probably wouldn’t have been able to offer an answer, but Caine was nothing if he wasn’t single-minded in his pursuits. Eventually though Fade’s words just about managed to penetrate his ears, and he moved backwards, tossing a series of backwards glances towards the part of the floor that the scent was coming from, but making sure that he was well clear of any potential explosion. |
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| eocine | Mar 10 2007, 10:23 AM Post #278 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Whilst the others may have moved back Karosin, with unspoken yet obvious arrogance stood his ground, more than confident in his own abilities to avoid any danger that might come from the Fey’ri taking the amulet. In truth he could probably easily enough have done it as well, but if she wanted to place her head inside the proverbial noose then it was up to her. Kellindel and Anaara both stayed well back, watching carefully but unmoving. As Fade stepped forwards the amulet seemed to gleam threateningly… Her fingers closed around it and there was a sudden burst of… Silence. No mechanisms clicked, no plates shifted and no traps were triggered, in fact there was nothing discernable that had occurred. It really seemed that the room was entirely as it seemed, safe and harmless… |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 10 2007, 11:13 AM Post #279 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Gritting her teeth slightly, Fade prepared herself for the worst as her hand closed over the amulet. Out of sheer habit she jumped back as soon as she had a grip on it, honestly expecting the worst. When there nothing more happened than silence descending on the party, the fey'ri's brow creased in confusion. "Now that ain't right..." She spoke out loud, but obviously, no one could hear her words. If no one could hear her words... ...she couldn't hear anyone else. And so if something did kick off, no one would hear a warning shout. Not good... Backing away from the table, the rogue continued to look warily around herself not trusting anything - she wasn't sure what it actually was that was amiss, but her instincts were still screaming that something wasn't right. |
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| eocine | Mar 10 2007, 11:23 AM Post #280 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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Kellindel, who had been watching carefully and alertly, could offer the Fey’ri little more than a facial shrug that clearly stated “I have no idea what’s going on here”, before gesturing that it might be best if she simply left the room and then they closed the door behind her and thus ended the chapter of the virtually empty and un-magical room. You find the strangest things in the strangest places… He pondered to himself as he watched the dark haired fellow who had stayed in the room stalk outside. Fortunately, he was himself outside of the radius of the silence, and so could turn to Llana and actually make himself heard. “Let’s hope the rest of the day goes as smoothly”, observed the Elf as his mind turned towards the next room that they might be entering. |
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| Pamela | Mar 10 2007, 11:43 AM Post #281 |
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Molly
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Llana had remained in the hall throughout the examination. She had no skills to deal with traps, and both Avelaer and Greg had cast the necessary spells to help in that matter. She shook her head as Caine began scrabbling at the floor-boards, but since he was off to one side and far from the medallion she said nothing to stop him. Her nerves were on edge at the painstaking and futile search, and she raised her hands, ready, as Fade took the amulet. She laughed at Kellindel’s comment, which relieved some of the tension from the eerie episode. “I certainly would love to, but I’m afraid that we’re guaranteed some difficulty from that room,” she said, gesturing to the conjuration laboratory. She turned however gratefully however to the abjurer’s door, and stood back, waiting for Fade to begin the new search for traps. “If I turn out to be wrong, I’ll be glad and say prayers of thanksgiving,” she finished lightly. "If anyone's cast any protective spells, I suggest that they stand back, however..." She herself moved out of sight, away from anything that might dispel her own. She would lose her chance to make an early attack, but she didn't want anything made by a master to ruin her defenses. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 10 2007, 02:07 PM Post #282 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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Still feeling decidedly uneasy and off-balance, Fade continued to back away from the table until the she had passed out of the silenced zone. Glancing at the others, she pursed her lips and with a minute shake of her head, shugged her shoulders. "I don't know what is going on here, but I for one don't like it... this is too easy. You *never* find your goal just laying around on a table like that." She then eyed the door out of the room, then looked back down at the amulet in her hand and muttered under her breath. "100 gold says something happens when we try to take this thing out of here..." |
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| eocine | Mar 10 2007, 02:21 PM Post #283 |
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Sometimes you just have to burn the card fate dealt you.
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As Fade stepped outside there was a distinct and apparent lack of any response at all from the plain, wooden and decidedly un-magical room. In fact it was almost as if it had, by the very nature of its comparatively mind-blowing triviality possessed some kind of unfathomable aura of terror. The fear that came from not knowing exactly what was going to happen next... Once the room had been emptied Caine and Kellindel reached out to close the doors on that seemingly threat-less passage of the day... The doors closed with an audible whoosh of air, leaving the illusion laboratory perfectly intact, ready to befuddle the next group of adventurers that came across its featureless wooden 'dangers'. |
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| Mistress Elysia | Mar 10 2007, 05:21 PM Post #284 |
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When in doubt, assume you rolled a natural 1
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After carefully backing out of the room, senses straining and wound up like a spring, and nothing actually happening, Fade simply gave the other side of the doorway a perplexed look and blew a sigh of relief. She still couldn't shake the niggling feeling that something should have happened in the room; still, maybe sometimes a spade was indeed a spade, and she should be thankful for small mercies such as this. Raising her eyes for a split second, she directed that thought to The Trickster, she wrapped the newly aquired amulet around her wrist, joining the others already there. Taking a moment to stretch her tensed muscles, the fey'ri made her way to the Abjuration door and began her habitual search for any kind of traps that it may contain. |
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