Into the Lion's Den, provided the lion was on narcotics.
Ok, no. You're not that stupid, something is clearly wrong. You follow Kasimor upstairs, and tell him to stop. He keeps a brisk pace, but you manage to catch up to him before he enters the office.
Kasimor. I can tell something's up, what is going on?Nothing, now get moving. We don't need a cleaning job every day... It's, uh, been quiet. Nothing much. He's still climbing the stairs, but he stops before entering the last floor. He turns to you, using the wide steps to even jump from one foot to another in a display of nervousness.
Look, something... Bad. Is happening right now, and I would rather prefer if you weren't here for it. We can handle it, but you might just aggravate the situation. It's because of your mark.What? What the hell is going on, then!I can't tell you! The more you know of this, the worse it might get! He speaks through clenched teeth:
Now get moving.But I... Oh fine. I need to check out a cult, anyhow.You go downstairs, and tell them things are weird, but you need to check out a cult. Your party members decide against trying to find out what's going on, considering they have absolutely no reason to care at all about anything in this tower, ultimately. Now begins the search for the location of the "New Paladins". It takes about an hour before you manage to find a dilapidated shack with some less than impressive people on front of it. One of them is squatting and pointing his jaw at anybody who comes close. The few people that do pass the street don't seem particularly impressed, however. It's hard to be intimidated when you can use gold statues as paperweights. When your group comes closer, the people at the entrance seem to think twice about trying to look tough. One of them goes inside, while the one that was squatting on the ground gets up and tries to look as if nothing's happening.
Is this the cult of the "New Paladins"?Uhhh, nope. Not here. Nu-uh. Then what IS this place?The guy seems to find some courage. He puffs up his chest and moves his loose tunic to show his three chest hairs. He still looks as if you could snap him in two, of course, but the effort counts for something.
W-what's it to you, old man! His voice cracked half-way through, breaking what little effect it would have had. Alibert moves in closer, and stares him down.
Somebody from that little cult attacked my daughter. They wanna kill my little girl, and they're praying to an eldritch god besides. Now give me a straight answer, or I'll see how much blood's in you.The strong front the man was trying to keep up melts under the power of the stare. He meekly admits that, yes, this is the place with the new paladins and yes, he would like to leave now...
You slam the door open and take a look around. Mostly, it's just people lounging around a destroyed house, three of them snorting some kind of powder off of said table. The place stinks of dust and... something? It's a dank sort of smell, and you assume it has something to do with the smoke permeating the house. Still, once you enter, people fall out of their funk. Shaking their head, you can practically see the synapses in their brain firing as they try to make the connection between your lower body and your upper body. Eventually, one of them catcalls you. You smile, although your eyes don't exactly follow. You make your exasperation quite clear as you ask:
Are you idiots the "new paladins"?The most impressive looking mouth-breather, who never quite seems to close his mouth, decides to rub his two braincells together long enough to finally create something resembling thought.
Uhhh.... I think they is downstairs, hot stuff. They're boring though... Want some sparkledust? It's good stuff, got it at a good price.That stuff is really bad for you long-term. How long have you been using this stuff?Whoah, shit! That dog talks!...Question answered.Whatever. Let's get to the basement.It takes a little bit before you find the hatch to the basement. It was inside a closet, of all places. You had a bit of trouble fitting through, as you're not exactly the type of girl that can use ladders. Fortunately, the walls allow you to go down anyways. Eveline rides on your back, clutching your midriff as you go straight down. As you were able to establish earlier, she has a really strong grip. You have to walk a little further, and then you end up in a huge basement. It's absolutely massive, and surprisingly well-kept. A little damp, sure, but there are many pillars keeping it all up. Supplies are spread about the room, half-full sacks of grain and miscellaneous bits and pieces. You see a plaque on the ground, with the image of a shining shield and "New Paladins". Their slogan is, apparently, "The forgotten will bring purity". Looking at the far end of the room, you see a collection of people messing around. Some of them are practicing with wooden weapons, one of them is gesturing at a target dummy, and finally, you see five of them around a table. They are all armed, and one of them has spotted you already.
M-monster! Get ready, brothers!All of them jump up and clumsily reach for their weapons. There are around 15 of them, all of them armed with a seemingly random collection of weaponry, ranging from daggers, swords, maces and one guy with a plain sledgehammer. They don't have much in the way of armor, but they've got you in pure numbers.
Charge!Attack first, ask questions later.Retreat!No need to get injured! Get out!Fight defensively.Let them come to you.Attempt to defuse the situation.You need to talk some sense into these people. You need answers, not a fight!Other.If you wish to do something special during a fight, mention it.Level: 5
HP: 16/20
Mana: 25/25
Stress: 05/100
Equipment:
Drider shirt
Steel sword
Overgrown iron shield
Rough leather armor
Items:
Handkerchief
96 coins
Magic Cookbook
Expensive Drider Coat (in a bag on your back.)
Magic:
Resurrect vermin: Allows you to resurrect very small creatures such as rats(1) (invests 1 of your max mana)
Reshape minion: Allows you to slightly change the appearance of your resurrected minions. (//////...)
Minion Vision(weak): Allows you to see what a minion sees. The minion must have eyes.
Animate Piece: Allows you to animate just a piece of dead tissue. It requires your constant attention, and cannot act independently. (invests one mana) (1)
Graft: Allows you to use dead tissue as a replacement limb. Requires a lot of mana. (2 per second)
Gather Soul: Allows you to make a soul visible. You can't do anything with it, quite yet. (10 mana)
Skills:
Poison Stinger (Potentially lethal)
Major experience in blocking and swords.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Cooking skill: excellent
Corpse Cutting: Awful.
Animal handling: inexperienced.
Necromantic knowledge
Sorry about the delay. I had to spend an evening listening to people drone on about a series of history books.
Author
Topic: Web of Life: A Drider's Adventure (Ended) (Read 185025 times)