((note: Giant Cave Spiders were the most dangerous threat in Irine's home. She is familiar with the concept. The ones she made dislike light and heat, have highly lethal venom, and can grow to absurd sizes. She would assume she is inside a spider den and be wary of them as such.))
the way the large flame orb is handled is to spread it out into a collection of smaller orbs, and those are spread out around the party, forming a perimeter of light and heat and making sure we can see whatever is coming. There is no need to engage the spiders, so I don't. And if they try to web our path ahead, burn the webbing away and continue undeterred. Do not leave the path.
((I'll just continue on. Ike and the rest can catch up later, if and when they get themselves out of that mess. It's not like waiting for them would change anything, unless they do something very unexpected.))
You spread your flames around in a beutiful display of twinkling lights.
<If the corridor wasn't so small, you could create a beutiful imitation of the night sky. You should try it later. Might be fun to see. You know try making some modern art. "The moving sky."
Too bad we're not on a ship. We could mess up constellations to play a prank on the navigator.
Although I guess turning constelations over cities into amusing shapes is always an option... Then you could literally say 'It's written in the stars.'.>You continue following your path. You walk for quite some time. Sometimes you catch sight of creatures moving in the dark or scurrying out of your way. But none of them seem willing to interact with you.
You eventually reach a dead end. This should hopefully be the exit you were meant to use. Otherwise things could become a bit... difficult.
You grab the key the general gave you, face the wall and take a deep breath as you prepare. You strike the wall and try to match your voice to the tone produced by the key. You repeat the words the general used, trying to imitate his tone and rhythm as best as you can. Nothing happens. You try singing the words again, making sure to calm yourself and relax to prevent your voice from trembling, while at the same time focusing on your intent of opening the secret door. This time it works. The wall dissolves, creating a doorway that lets in blinding light.
When your eyes have adjusted, you can once more see the outside world. The doorway opens out of the rounded cliff-side of the Godstone hill that extends to your west. Is the entire hill filled with tunnels like the one you used? Or is this the only significant one?
In the distance, you see a town, a collection of small buildings surrounded by a thick but old and poorly maintained wall. (Poorly maintained because it seems there are pieces missing from it and its colour and shape varies greatly from the effects of the weather and erosion.) You could probably reach the town before sunset if you hurried. And if you wished to reach the town.
Although that might probably not be the best idea. The town is surrounded by tents, some of them burnt, some of them still smoking. Must be the refugees you heard about. Or what's left of them anyway, if this is the town the general's servant talked about. It probably is, given that many of the buildings inside the town are also smoking or otherwise damaged.
Two things dominate the centre of the town.
One is what could be described as a very tall, very thin pyramid that is covered in holes and scorch marks. Its top has partially collapsed, revealing a cross section of its upper levels.
The other is a huge statue in the centre of a plaza middle of the town. It's hard to see what it depicts from here. Looks like a humanoid standing on something and holding something. But you can see a lot of activity close to it. A large number of people disappearing into a giant hole in the ground while others come out of it. There's a mound of dirt close to it.
The area between you and the town is mostly empty. There are a few people on the road leading to the town (a number of them gathered in a group), but the road is some distance to your south, so they aren't close to you. That and the fact that there are several dry shrubs growing close to the doorway you just opened makes you think that it is almost impossible for you to have been spotted.
((note: Giant Cave Spiders were the most dangerous threat in Irine's home. She is familiar with the concept. The ones she made dislike light and heat, have highly lethal venom, and can grow to absurd sizes. She would assume she is inside a spider den and be wary of them as such.))
the way the large flame orb is handled is to spread it out into a collection of smaller orbs, and those are spread out around the party, forming a perimeter of light and heat and making sure we can see whatever is coming. There is no need to engage the spiders, so I don't. And if they try to web our path ahead, burn the webbing away and continue undeterred. Do not leave the path.
Support DAF's character as he keeps walking with us, so as not to extend any damage from his wound. Follow Irine! Be aware.
"I sometimes wonder if I were in their place. Wondering what new creatures scurried into our territory. Amazing creatures. You're doing alright Irine? Zach?"
Zechariah probably appreciates the help.
The route is quite uneventful. The most unpleasant thing that happens to you is an unpleasant smell, something rotting somewhere in the hallways. There's a particularly thick wall of webs obstructing your path close to that point, but Irine's fire makes short work of it.
"I'm not a sorcerer, I'm Alan! Now then, can we like talk and stuff? Chill beans? Diplomacy? The true magic in this vast cosmos, friendship?"
In case my appeal to his better humanity doesn't work, stick him to the ground with a giant band-aid.
The man doesn't seem to be willing to listen to your argument. He seems very much intent on killing you. At least you're pretty sure that he wants to do that, given the kind of words he's using to respond. But hey, who knows, this is a foreign culture. Maybe telling people to sodomise with sharpened wooden poles is a traditional greeting of theirs.
You respond by throwing a giant band aid somewhere on the horizon. And then at the sky. And then at Ike, who easily dodges it.
Campaign, Ike!
Return to Alan and shank the guy he's distracting in any reasonably uncovered areas of his body.
Alan tries to stop the soldier with his band aids and fails miserably multiple times. The soldier tries to stab Alan and fails miserably multiple times. Ike tries to stab the soldier but he hears him approach and turns around to block the strike with his shield. The soldier tries to stab Ike but he's so quick he might as well had tried to stab water. Ike stabs the soldier again. The soldier blocks again. Ike pushes his sword straight through the shield and the soldier's chest. The soldier swings at Ike. Ike lets go of the sword and jumps back, avoiding the strike, leaving his blade holding the shield in place, like a pin. He keeps his distance and lets the soldier's lung fill with enough blood to no longer be a threat.
While the two were dealing with the incredibly-hard-to-kill soldier (seriously, it took about 30 rolls to kill that guy) the abomination has not been sitting idle. It pushes the can of silly string into the air and bursts out of the ground, moving towards you.
It's quite different now. It's no longer a simple humanoid. Or rather, it's not
quite humanoid or
quite singular. It's more of a large central mass that half-walks half-slithers on the ground with its oversized, partially merged legs. It has thin long pointy limbs sprouting out of its back. The limbs are attached to mangled bodies partially covered by the black substance that are held in front of it. Some of them are walking or at least trying to imitate walking while others simply hang from where the limbs have stabbed them. You can't help but feel that the way the bodies are arranged, they look very much like the teeth of a skull.
Alan pwr->6
Alan dex->2
soldier rflx->3
Alan pwr->8
Alan dex->3
soldier rflx->5
soldier dex->2
Alan rflx->4
Alan pwr-> 6
Alan dex -> 5
soldier rflx -> 3
soldier end -> 9
soldier str -> 6
soldier dex-> 1
Alan rflx-> 3
Ike dex-> 3
soldier awr -> 4
soldier rflx -> 6
ike str->3
soldier end->11
soldier dex-> 1
ike rflx -> 9
ike dex->5
soldier rflx->6
ike str-> 8
soldier end-> 5
soldier end-> 6
injury -> upper front left torso
soldier dex->1
Ike rflx->3
Poll
15 (42.9%)
Author
Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1145308 times)