Roll 23
"Well, an ashstorm was bound to happen, might as well get it out of the way now."
Put the dagger away and check the post-explosion armory.
[1][1] The armory is a disorganized mess. All you find are weapons of pitifully bad craftsmanship. You could forge better using a metal pipe instead of a hammer.
Lily starts to panic.
Lily: To think we'll be stuck here for hours! I have duties to attend in the forest!As if by some stroke of insight, her face grows pale.
Lily: Wait, how could I forget? I used one of these to save you...She produces a red card inscribed with runes from her leaf-dress, apparently hidden inside some pouch. It's hard to see the pouch since the dress is made of leaves, but it was definitely there.
Lily: It's a spell card, like those tomes you use, but better. They can be used directly from memory. The downside is that they're not renewable, and it takes time catching faeries and stamping them into a fine powder. Still, I wouln't be caught dead carrying a bunch of books around. I have three more copies of this one.Lily: It's called "Automorphic Barrier," and as you might imagine it forms a barrier around you for a split second. The barrier can hold off the most powerful attacks, but only for a short time. It's also not flexible. But!She removes a single blank blue card from the leaf-pouch.
Lily: I could try writing a Morph Card to modify the spell and change its properties. It's worth a shot. BUT, you must make up for all the hard work I did collecting sprites with a net. I'll give you two nets and anti-sprite charms, and you go out collecting them for me after the Lady is done with you. Deal?...
Your whole body is burned (1)
...
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
Willhelm nods gravely at the request.
Rub my bruised arm, it's sore as hell. Also check out my pimpin' new bow some more. Are there hidden features? Can this thing be charged and what would the effect be if it can?
[3][3] Dry-firing a bow is a bad idea, but you decide to try pulling the bow back as far as is sane to test out the maximum draw. It doesn't seem noticeably different from the regular draw. However, you notice two notches on the bowstring, as if the bow was designed to fire two arrows at once. While that's normally a horrible tactic for any archer, the fact that this bow may be magical piques your interest.
To test it, you'll need to get outside, first, without burning up. The forest is likely to have more shade than an open field.
Also, you hear running water. A few trickles of water are coming down the stair corridor, and falling into a drain located in the center of the floor.
...
Your whole body is burned (1)
Your left arm is bruised (1)
...
You have a schematic of an iron arrow trap
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 an uncharged Quickbow (Attack power: 1. Can fire twice per turn. Charging it allows you to fire two arrows per attack, four in one turn)
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
Keep looking for shelter.
The soldier fellow seems to be having the same trouble as you. He seems intent on bringing the supposed criminal along.
[2][5] You find a fellow Adept out on the streets. You recognize him not by his traditional Borian noblewear: a quinted gray jacket with matching fedora and black slacks, but instead you see him taking shelter under a semitransparent dome made of black slime material.
The dome seems big enough for the three of you and the cat, although it hardly seems like a great place to stand for a few hours. The Adept says the bubble slime isn't mobile, but that you can walk right in if you want, and the material will open up, and that it's refreshingly cool inside.
...
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 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, or if a creature is created
+1 if created creature is more complex than a slime
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 met her. She looked like a kid, rode something strange and didn't seem afraid to go around killing people. Fast and kind of dumb too, didn't even know how ya looked and didn't bother listening. Lucky ya. Now help me look for shelter, because I am not letting go." he tells the Astrologer, taking a moment to look around. "Klein, ya little rascal. To me!" The mercenary seems distressed by the fact his black cat's obsessed with the other man's pocket crystal.
Keep looking for shelter. Stick close to the Archae guy in case Klein is still hanging around him.
Archae manages to find shelter under a gray slime bubble dome thing kept up by this Borian Adept. He invites you in.
Astrologer: You kidding? You want us to stand in that all day? Look, we got room at the Office for employees. They normally don't let ruffians in, but they owe me some favors since last time I saved their arses from a shifty fellow with a gun. Least they could do is let some 'friends' in. We could run toward the inner walls and run along the shadow, and the office is just next to one of the gates....
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
I follow Efa to the library and, once there, *help her locate texts* - meaning wander around exploring and seeing if there is anything fun or hidden lying around.
The library is dead quiet, almost crypt-like both in noise and the dryness of the atmosphere. The books must suck all the moisture out of the air. Efa encounters a man in simple black clothing among the shelves. He styles himself "Brother James" and, when complimented by Efa for being "influential," is quick to disavow any credit he might receive for being head of the Monks Hospitaller.
As they discuss things, you decide to go looking around for some fun. You appear as a bright silhouette in the dark halls and shelves, so your presence easily spooks out the first random person you encounter in the shelves. He seems a middle-aged man wearing a red headband and dragging a loaded brown bag across the floor.
You spooked him just as he pulled a book from the shelf. He drops it on sight of you, however, and backs away slowly.
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 4th hour after noon. Ash is blazing bright in the azure sky, burning all exposed objects and adding +1 to all die in a thoughtform roll.
Expected end of Ashstorm: 7th hour. (Next hour: Turn 32)
Author
Topic: Pastblasters - Adventures in Wizardry (Turn 55) (Read 90673 times)