Turn 0: Turtles all the way down
Your motley group eventually arrives at the center of a vast obsidian wasteland, the iron cage holding you being jostled wildly as the rickety wagon bounces across the rugged landscape. Ahead, you see a surging mass of rogues and ruffians, you estimate there roughly a thousand people.
Towering over them is a gigantic jade golem, in the six-armed three-faced Asura-style that was popular a few centuries ago. A flock of steel gargoyles circle above the crowd, occasionally plunging their spears downwards, creating large torrents of lightning to block people who try to flee.
The jade golem moves frighteningly fast, appearing in front of your wagon like lightning himself.
He examines you for moment before speaking a deep rumbling voice, "You'll be our mage contingent then?", stone grinds as his scowl becomes even fiercer, "I was expecting more of you."
Your driver, a misshapen, possibly goblinoid, creature, chuckles gleefully at this, "Duke Oakheaven took the better ones for a sekrit projek, be glad you get anything anything at all Jadesea."
The golem grunts with indecipherable emotion, then sheathes two of his crackling swords, taking some sort of fancy looking blue parchment from somewhere, "Very well then, listen up prisoners! I am Lord Jadesea, member of the Undying Court-"
The driver leers at the seven of you knowingly, whispering sotto voice, "Barely"
Jadesea ignores the driver with remarkable aplomb, "-and overseer of this little expedition. It is only due to the mercy of the Sapphire Judges that you have been given the light punishment of permanent exile. You would do well to be grateful. Get that wagon with the rest of the group."
The driver, somehow manages to appear even smugger, replying, "Are you joking? You didn't really think you'd get something as valuable as a anti-mage cage for this little adventure? The cage doesn't stay.", very clearly savouring every word.
The parchment crumples slightly as Jadesea visibly restrains himself from reducing the little bastard to a fine pulp, then glances several times between the parchment and your group, one massive hand sliding open the top of the cage and lifting you out one by one, inspecting you like a girlchild would her favourite dolls.
"What do we have here then? Thomas Wane? Ah I've heard of you, the 'Feral Nobleling'. You should be useful at least."
The surprisingly mundane looking human clutching a trolley to his chest is placed at the edge of the criminals, who eye him warily. He notices that the mages have apparently been assigned a personal gargoyle. How flattering.
"Goggmagog was it? I think you're the scapegoat that provincial mayor threw to the wolves when his little forest clearing project became such a fiasco? Hmm, I doubt your primitive tribal magic will be of much use, but it's not like I'm spoiled for choice here."
The gnoll soon joins the human, his 'gnollish, barely magical, junk' jangling as he lands. He'd show those damn Court snobs...
"Lets see now then. Pyron, Pargon or maybe Firel? No, no, that's not it. Mmm, you should Pyriette? Well more battlemages are always useful, as long as you manage to refrain from your property destruction tendencies."
Seemingly unfazed by Pyriette's !!hotness!!, Jadesea easily picks her up and places her with the rest, if slightly farther away from them.
As Jadesea picks up Mordenor, the smooth procedure suddenly stops, as he looks the elf with an evil grin, lightning sizzling along his teeth, "Ah, and you must be Mordenor. I've heard so much about you. That was my good friend's great-granddaughter you sacrificed you know."
He pauses here, bringing you up to one of his glaring eyes, "I'll be keeping a very close eye on you. I'd advise you to watch your step little elfling."
Mordernor is added to the colony's growing cabal of wizards significantly less gently than the rest, barely managing to hit the ground in a roll to reduce the impact.
"Ah, Vlad Numar. I've also heard interesting things about you. I've been looking forward to talk with you about some... projects. Reserve some time in your schedule."
A forge scuttles out of the cage on scintillating spiders legs, following its master.
"Gerod Ald'Arge? Did I say that right? The newfangled apostrophied names always trip me up. Mmm. What young wizards these days see in the otterweasel fad I'll never know. You'd do well not to mess around with time where we're going though. The local metaphysics make it even more ludicrously dangerous than it already is."
At this point only Blorgath is left in the cage, but mysteriously, Jadesea doesn't reach in to grab him. Yes he'd have to use two or three hands instead of the one he'd used for the rest, but he didn't even bother, seemingly absorbed in examining the parchment, scritching something with a quill.
Eventually even the slow Blorgath became impatient, and tore open several bars of the cage with brute trollish strength to squeeze his bulk through. The driver, apparently dozing until this moment, suddenly squawked in outrage.
"Now see here Jadesea! Can't you control your charges before you even set off! He's bloody well gone and damaged the cage! When Duke Oakheaven hears of this-"
Jadesea, wearing an expression of innocent puzzlement interrupts,"Why whatever do you mean Wretchen? I had not yet transferred Blorgath here. He was still your prisoner. I hope you have a good explanation to give Duke Oakheaven for how one of the prisoners under your charge managed to break out of the cage. Fortunately I was here to secure him, or he might have run off!"
Blorgath just stands there and stares stupidly, hoping Jadesea would just pick him up already like the others. It looked fun!
Wretchen, as the driver is apparently called, is left sputtering impotently and Jadesea strolls back to the main group, casually dragging Blorgath behind him. Blorgath never got picked up.
As Jadesea begins to herd the colonists to massive hole in the ground, you wonder if you have anything to say to the nearby mages. You were stunlocked for the majority of the ride over, only recovering as you reached your destination, so this is your first chance to greet your peers.
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Topic: Penal Mage Colony (7/7): Turn 0, Turtles all the way down. (Read 6355 times)