((Apologies for the lack of an update the past few days, I didn't get a chance to do a writeup.))
Roll 18
Phantom Lake Essence? Unending Phantasmagoria? Who comes up with this stuff?! Ignoring the fanciful names, Zikal picks up the tomes and examines them. He remembers back to his schooling at the Vin Ecclesiastical Academy. One of his teacher was often rattling on about the evils of illusionary magic, stressing how it "corrupts everything it touches and sows mistrust in all." Looking at the dark tome he currently holds, he wonders just how accurate her words were. Distrust is sown and watered well enough by non-adepts. How much can 'black magic' really add?
He breifly considers offering the tomes to Wilhelm before deciding against it. Judging by his demeanor, he would likely refuse them anyway.
Pick up the spell tomes and revert the memory dagger back into a memory. Go back to the unlocked chest and pick up the real dagger and valuables.
You go back to the chest where you first discovered the dagger, and notice that the dagger has gone missing. In fact, the memory-dagger itself is remarkably detailed, something which you doubt you could have conjured with only a passing glance at the dagger while it was in the chest. Perhaps, then, there is more than meets the eye to this weapon...
[4][1] You then take the valuables for yourself, and Wilhelm hands you a stack of blank papers along with a black outer spell tome cover. Suddenly, your bag finds itself almost full. The spell tomes themselves are light and about hand-sized, but together along with the valuables they really add up.
...
You have 3 black empty tomes (black tomes must be written in red ink, and gain +2 positive dice if inscribed with an illusionary spell)
Silent Wind of Night: Dispells all nearby items and detatched effects, regardless of origin. Shapeshifts, summons, and polymorphs are unaffected.
Phantom Lake Essence: Dark tendrils emerge from the book, ensnaring enemies that fail to dodge.
Unending Phantasmagoria: Dissolves a dead body to create a reanimated ghost in place of this tome. The ghost can use Shadow Blink and drops a black spell tome upon death.
You have a stack of spell tome pages and a black cover
You have a bloodied ceremonial dagger (Attack power: 3) (attaches to target and Drains it, suppressing it) (remembering a memory teleports this weapon to your hand)
You have a Beech Javelin (Attack power: 3 (thrown), 1 (stab))
You have 10 Javelin memories (lucid)
You have about thirty Hours
You have a royal goblet, a golden watch, and some jewelry
You remember the Lady of Winter
You remember a giant eye
You remember many pixies
You remember a band of Arinthian soldiers and some bandits
You remember a bandit sinking into the ground
Traits and Skills:
Forest Ranger
>Gain +2 positive dice when navigating and moving through the wilderness, as well as performing stealthy actions
Javelineer
>Your targets get +2 negative dice when you target them with a javelin
Noble's Education
>Gain +1 positive dice when learning from writing or conversing about literature
Shapeshifter
>You have unlimited strong memories of forest animals
Cynical
>Others will press any advantage...
Xenophobe
>Foreigners always disappoint
collect the tome pages and cover, hand these to my buddy. Collect both the axeman's axe and the maceman's mace. Then head over to the smithy and look through the window to get a better idea of what's inside.
[2][5] The smithy actually appears to have had some use in the past weeks, with fresh charcoal piled up in a hopper to one side, and several bars of gray metal stacked on a table on the other side. Near the back of the establishment, you see another table with several bent pieces of metal, wires, and chains, along with a schematic sketched out on ink among several crumpled schematics.
The schematic is a drawing of a metal box with some sort of arrow placed next to it for reference.
Maceman is gone, and there is no other activity among these ruins. The hatch to the robe guy's hideout remains open. There are also faeries coming after the smell of blood on your weapons and clothes, but they don't do much.
...
Your left arm is bruised (1)
...
You have a steel axe (Attack power: 1) (Deals piercing damage if the attack connects but fails to pierce)
You have an iron mace (Attack power: 2) (If the target has less than 2 damage, deals piercing damage)
You have a charged large greatbow (Attack power: 3 (charged), 1 (uncharged)) (charging takes one turn of preparation)
You have 13 arrows in your quiver (Attack power: 1)
There is one recoverable arrow near the Old Fortress Mound
You have an important scroll in a copper cylinder
You have about one hundred Hours
Traits and Skills:
Man of Steel
>Gain +1 positive dice when using melee weapons
>Your opponents get +1 negative dice when attacking you
Fists like Hammers
>Gain an additional +1 positive dice while unarmed
Bow Mastery
>Your targets get +2 negative dice when you target them with a bow
Illiterate
>What's a book?
Amnesia
>You have forgotten many things
"Klein, can ya recognize one of 'em?" he inquires his cat, most likely to no avail, as he scritches behind the feline's ears. He still liked asking the furball a few questions now and then anyway, and since the black cat has swallowed something magic it's worth checking whether he's smarter ow. At least awfully propense to attacking pockets he seems to be.
Look around the large concentrations of people and see if I can recognize the man's face amidst them.
Klein only seems intent on going back the way you came. He must be really fond of that silent young man, or at least whatever's in his pocket.
[4][6] You look around, paying equal attention to the merchandise and food sections, in case the astrologer plans to buy supplies and leave the city--although with many people on the far side facing away from you, it's not a comprehensive search.
Fortunately, it's not hard to forget the face of a murderer. You see a face that appears familiar at a merchandise stand, bartering for some bandages from a toga-wearing desert wanderer. Looking closer, you verify that it is indeed his face, and should be able to get close without drawing suspicion.
...
You have a Zweihänder slung on your shoulder (Attack power: 4) (can only be used offensively every other turn)
You have a Katzbalger (Attack power: 2)
You have an arquebus (Attack power: 3) (Your opponent gets an extra positive die to dodge)
You are wearing light plate armor (incoming attacks lose 1 attack power if over 1)
You have about one hundred and fifty Hours
Traits and Skills:
Charisma
>Gain +1 positive dice when speaking with others and persuading them
Veteran
>Gain +1 positive dice to defense rolls, and your enemies gain +1 negative dice to their defense rolls
Swordmaster
>Gain +1 positive dice to attack rolls with long, bladed weapons
Sharpshooter
>Your targets get +1 negative dice to their defense rolls
Noisy
>You get +1 negatice die to stealth, and an additional +1 negative die if you are wearing armor
Old Pains
>In cold weather, without thick clothing, you get +1 negative dice to all actions
Using organic plant matter nearby (preferably weeds that nobody cares about), form a green slime with a large sucking apparatus which deposits into a chamber inside it's belly, and make it suck out the poison.
[5][5] The roads are dry and few weeds grow underneath the endless foot traffic. Still, you notice a large pyreblossom tree up ahead in the center of the next intersection with a healthy covering of mosses and lichens on its trunk. There's enough to do what you intended, creating a small fist-sized slime under your total control.
The slime, having no brain of its own, requires your own thoughts to control it. You place it on the bleeding man's chest then have it remove the poison, sucking into a tiny chamber.
The victim shows immediate signs of recovery, and soon a doctor arrives offering to apply some herbal remedy to ease the pain, as well as bandages.
...
You have a green poison slime with Paralysis
You remember a red, blue, and a green spell-slime (weak)
You have a spiny walking stick (Attack power: (attacking head) 2, (attacking other parts) 1)
You have a silversteel falchion (Attack power: (on odd swings) 3, (on even swings) 2)
You remember your time in the wilderness well
You have some sandwiches and citrus
You have a Sprite Trap, labelled with the words "Samantha Magdelene, professor at U.T"
You have about seventy-five Hours
Traits and Skills:
Mystical Learning
>You can create and cast simple (complexity of 1 or less) Aganis spells on the same turn. Spell complexity:
+1 if range is longer than 1-2 yards
+1 if multi-target
+1 if effect lasts more than a single turn (other than damage and status effects caused by the damage)
Animal Handler
>Gain +2 positive dice whenever animals are involved, unless you are hunting them
Wilderness Survival
>Gain +2 positive dice for actions involving gathering natural resources, starting fires, tracking, and other survival skills
Photographic Memory
>Weak memories become strong if you successfully cast them the first time
Cannot Speak
>Silence is golden
One-Eyed
>Your targets gain +2 positive dice if you attack them from a distance
I walk out on to the balcony and stretch, my wings flaring and my tail whipping itself about. I then lean forward on to the balcony and look around for a little while, listening to the sounds of the city.
Despite the bad angle, you notice quite the dust cloud coming from a ward near the city's west gate. You cannot see the source due to the university itself blocking the view.
Aside from the dust cloud, the city teems with mundane excitement. Horse-carts carry along goods to be sold for a fortune at the auction-houses. Royal guardsmen, in their monotonous and draining patrol duties, still revelled in the fact that they were in the grand capital city, the seat of the Kaiserin. It seems that this city has merit because Kaiser Bismarck chose it, not the other way around. It's a modest mountain city, located in a prime defensive position in the heart of the empire.
As you watch the scenery, the northern cathedral of Tyron rings its bells. Every five minutes, the next one in line shall ring its own, the one in the east, then south, then finally west. At that time, the four cathedrals will all ring four times in unison, along with the grand one in the palace ward. This signifies the start of the fourth hour.
The sound of bells ringing tends to attract the predatory aerial life that typically makes its home in the mountains. Mistaking the low ringing noises for the sound of a herd in the distance, massive raptors called Rocs occasionally make their way toward the city. The archers over the wall will scare them off normally, but it is well-known among seasoned travellers to always carry an hourglass and flip it each hour. If the next hour is soon to pass, it is best to hide rather than risk an attack.
Each Roc has a wingspan of several yards, and weighs as much as two grown men. They fly in pods of four to ten, and circle around looking for prey when they hear noises. Travelling in groups is counter-intuitive to avoid them, as they instinctively seek out herds of animals so that they can hunt in the confusion. Fortunately, these birds are rare, but you notice a group of six up in the sky flying in a figure eight pattern.
While you turn your head across the sky, the twin suns sweep past. Char is rather painful to look at, although Ash is only typically bright during its outbursts. It does look rather bright right now, though, and is disk is glowing across its inner rim.
Traits and Skills:
Secret Powers
>DoOOoobillidabidydappidydap dipigillidydapda!
Current Stat Modifiers:
+0/0 positive dice to attack rolls
+0/0 negative dice to enemy attack rolls
+0/0 positive dice to defense rolls
+0/0 negative dice to enemy defense rolls
It is the 3rd hour after noon, and the Twin Suns are obscured by a cloudy blanket. (Next hour: Turn 22)
Author
Topic: Pastblasters - Adventures in Wizardry (Turn 55) (Read 89314 times)