Halesey mumbles to himself a little before he chooses his brand new magical powers. Immediately as the spells settle into his brain, the reality of the rather traumatized guy at his feet hits him once again. Examining the fellow, Halesey realizes that there are two sides to hideous psychological trauma - the one we usually see, with the post-traumatic stress and whatnot, and the other. This other side smells like an opportunity.
"Dude, I'll swap you this watch for your clothes. Don't try anything funny or you're going back in the potato hole."The guy on the ground doesn't respond, instead choosing to keep on whimpering while assuming a fetal position. Halesey takes that as a form of consent, and promptly loots the man's clothes, appreciating their grubbiness after prying them off the dude, who doesn't resist. Good for him. Halesey leaves the watch on the now-naked form of the man, making off with the clothes, which consist of a hoodie so grubby, he cannot quite determine what its original color might be, and a pair of woolen slacks of uncertain origin that make him very itchy.
Now, he's got new powers. Time to test them out.
[Halesey's affinity roll: 5-1]
He thrusts his hand outward, and lo, a shield forms! It is made of desks that look like something one would ironically buy at a garage sale if they were completely insufferable people. To be honest, it's embarrassing to be seen with a shield like that in public. Even if it floats under its own power and seems rather solid. Halesey shrugs and keeps on moving, choosing to leave the thing alone for now. It doesn't quite disappear, but it also doesn't follow Halesey, so he supposes it's all right for now - what magical things have been known to last for very long? Rushing onward, he scouts out the back of the former factory. He finds that it has several back entrances, not to mention a fire exit (sure, it only reaches down to the second floor, not having been extended further but Halesey guesses it might still be an option nonetheless). Clearly, a distraction is in order.
[Halesey's affinity roll: 1-->6-1]
However, try as he might, Halesey just doesn't have it in him to summon up a rain of shampoo. It just feels so unnatural for some reason. Come on, shampoo raining from the skies? That can't possibly work. Dinosaurs, maybe. But shampoo?
Quite a long distance away, yet more magic happens, this time wrought by the hands of the somewhat cleaner
Kat, who, after picking out a rather swishy skirt from her wardrobe, attempts to enchant it.
[Kat's affinity roll: 6-->5]
Directing her attention to the make of the skirt and the power she can unlock within it, she lets her spell off, watching it run wild through the fabric, infusing it with a particular, mystical power! The skirt glows briefly, then becomes sort of normal-looking after a moment. Kat wonders what might have happened to it. It doesn't
look any different, though something definitely happened to it.
Meanwhile, back in the potato dimension,
Larry realizes that there is one thing he must definitely do now. The powers that be have granted him spells, and he'll use them, by all the gods one cares to name!
[Larry's affinity roll: 4+1]
He points his palm where he presumes the potato men to be, and lets loose a beam of alkaline trouser golems, which immediately tears through the wall of the cookie barrier, streaming through into the swirling mass of potatoes. The golems, when they come to a rest, try to scurry off quickly, but find nothing solid to try and hold on to, flailing about ineffectively. Larry notices immediately that several potato people set upon the golems, grabbing a few at a time and quickly moving away, then returning to repeat the same thing again.
He guesses they're sufficiently distracted, then! Move out!
[Larry's body roll: 6-->2-1]
Larry dives out of the hole in the barrier and begins to swim for his life, to swim like his swimming coach had always told him to swim, to swim like a cliche wrapped in hot air! He navigates the sea of potatoes, hoping to escape the depths of this tubery hell.
[Larry's mind roll: 2+1]
Sadly, it seems that it takes a bit more than just a strong survival instinct to actually save oneself - Larry swims here, he swims there, he swims everywhere, and it is only after about five minutes of ceaseless, rapid swimming that he manages to see something - a vortex! A small one! He swims toward it, feeling his doughy muscles weaken from the massive exertion, his heart beating like mad. He swims quickly, but alas, it is not quite enough! The vortex, which must have seen his valiant effort, quickly snaps shut! Larry, quite surprised, breathes heavily as he floats through the thick void, potatoes beating against his fragile face in what he hopes better not be a mocking fashion.
Considering that everyone's split up, I now no longer require absolutely everyone to post! Yay!
Author
Topic: The Forgotten Art: Approaching the Nexus (Read 271903 times)