Roll 45
Archae jumps a bit, startled, and tries to keep the hands away somehow. He sees if magic is any good against it.
Physical attacks seem no good--this is a bit unfair, considering they can pin your feet to the ground and trip you. [1][2] One knocks you over, [6+1][6] but a quick multi-target dispel effect should do the trick. The hands disperse around you--as do your cloak and slime. Whoops!
As it turns out, constructs are weak memories by default. You remember that you were wearing something to protect you from the Ashstorm, but not exactly what or how you created it. Good thing it should be ending soon, given the time.
...
You remember a red, blue, and a green spell-slime (weak)
You remember many eyes
You have a red resonance crystal.
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
>Your Aganis spells are reduced in complexity by 1. Spell complexity determines the number of turns it takes to prepare a spell. You can cast early, but each turn you skip incurs a negative die. Complexity rules:
+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
The shadows aren't doing anything to me. Perhaps this green light is repelling them... wait, light! And they're shadows!
Remember the torches in the preceding room and summon 1 into my hands. Try to drive the shadow's away from the other people at the table.
[1+1][2] A bundle of burnt-out torches appears in your hand, recalling the torch but not its flame. Looks like the sudden burst of adrenaline has made you too focused.
Forgot that there were torches in the hallway.As it turns out, the shadow hands are immune to physical attacks. The torches are made of too soft a metal to cause sparks when you hit the ground.
...
Your whole body is protected by some sort of green glow, visible in the dark (-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 many eyes
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
Try to hit the shadow hands with my mace. Also stay close to Zikal
[4][4][5] The mace does not deal damage to the shadow hands. However, you notice that whenever your mace chips the ground, it creates a spark and a flash of light! The light cuts off the shadow hand by the root, forcing the stump to retreat back into the darkness. You force them back without hesitation.
Lady of Winter: The enemy must be operating from a monolith somewhere inside the castle. I cannot see those, so one of you must find it and destroy it! Please! There is no knowing what the intruders have overheard. I shall relay information between you should you need to, but be warned I will not be able to tell if you are injured. Such is the phantasm barrier, the mosty effective weapon against Keepers and Spirits alike.
Also, Wilhelm. Take the crystal on the table with you. I can use it to communicate with you, although you cannot use it to communicate back. It's slightly damaged....
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 11 arrows in your quiver (Attack power: 1)
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, as well as lifting and wrestling actions
>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
Leonhard's face gets slightly grumpier-looking when the sunburn's mentioned. He's even less pleased when Efa manages to take him by surprise and lift him off the ground, not because of the height but because she didn't even warn him beforehand about her actions. The mercenary makes sure Klein is secured and goes as far as tying the cat to him with a few extra straps of his outfit.
"Ya told me your people are born from spores, right? I have to ask whether ya have concepts of 'politesse' and 'personal space' down there." he comments, making a reference both to her sudden spiriting and the fact he has her tail around him.
Klein actually... seems to be enjoying the ride. When you secure him in place, he seems a lot more melancholy than before.
Efa sets you down in front of a rocky outcropping. A steamy pool is all that remains of a waterfall which once flowed through here, carving majestic flowing lines and patterns into the rock.
This waterfall would have obscured a cave entrance in the rock, but now the entrance is plainly visible for all to see.
Efa: "We do quite a bit of skulking around, during the ashstorms since we are more resilient. As for 'politeness,' well, as a historian it is tempting to say that manners are relative, but I don't happen to agree with the consensus. There are marks and signs of a civilized culture. Mine once was, but its glory days are no longer. I mean, someone still had to care for the spores, right? And water them?
I do apologize for the brisk departure, but we need to hurry. I sense my lady is in trouble."Mysterious Voice: It is true. Keep an eye out for a stone monolith engraved with blocked patterns. They are the vessels through which some of our enemies act, and breaking these cuts off their activities. For the time being.
Inside the cave, there are multitudes of fungi, mostly teal-colored near the entrance, but showing a vibrant range of colors once you reach the deeper, inner parts of the tunnel. Bioluminescent fungi mark the sides of the passage, as well as obstacles such as stones and rocks that could trip you to fall face-first onto cave moss. Who knows if that stuff is poisonous or not.
There is a fork just ahead, with a sign written in a strange pictographic language, one using blocks of spirals and bent lines to convey meaning.
"That's a path to the lower cavern levels," mentions Efa, but she motions for you to continue down the main passage. If you choose to get this far, of course.
At the far end of the tunnel is a faint light, opening into a cavern of smooth, glistening tendrils hanging from the ceiling like translucent blades of wheatgrass, rubbing gently against your coat and head. They feel... warm to the touch, although they show no signs of locomotion.
The floor is now tiled stone, indicating that you may have reached your destination.
"We should find some stairs. But," says Efa. "...the intruders could be hiding here. Remember what the Lady said."
Mysterious Voice: If you find a monolith, I need you to destroy it. Or at least dispel its magic.
...
Your head is sunburned (1)
...
You have a black Cloak of Ash (protects against Ashlight and fire)
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
((See above))
Traits and Skills:
Secret Powers
>DoOOoobillidabidydappidydap dipigillidydapda!
Current Stat Modifiers:
+2/(max 2) positive dice to attack rolls
+0/(max 0) negative dice to enemy attack rolls
+1/(max 1) positive dice to defense rolls
+0/(max 0) negative dice to enemy defense rolls
It is the 6th hour after noon. Ash is burning out, still giving +1 to the first die of a Thoughtform roll. This effect will linger on until the start of the 8th hour.
Expected end of Ashstorm: 7th hour. (Next hour: Turn 50)
Author
Topic: Pastblasters - Adventures in Wizardry (Turn 55) (Read 89141 times)