RPGWW

by **Spleen** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:35 pm

"They're psionic devices. Receptacles for particular powers." He held one up. "This one contains a power of dispelling, a power of protection from psionics, a power of teleportation, and a power of mind control. The other is a power of self-healing. Not useful to me, I have no talent with psionic power. Perhaps something we can sell to a psionic within the Guild." He gathered them up and stored them in his bag for safekeeping, picking his spear up off the ground where he laid it before using his detection power.

by **Seethe** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:59 pm

"Hm..." Rosalyn considered the words about shapeshifters. "They do? Then... Either this mind flayer didn't want whatever was attacking this place to have this stuff, or we may have an exception to the rule of these things not attacking each other. Though, I suppose the attackers would probably have removed their own dead after the battle, now that I think of it... So probably the first reason..."

That would have been more straightforward and believable, anyway. Either way, there still weren't enough clues to determine with certainty what had happened here, so Rosalyn decided that her guesses probably needed to wait.

"I don't have any psionic ability either," she commented about the crystals. "So, I'd agree with selling them."

Think that was all there was to see in this room, Rosalyn looked back towards the door.

"I suppose we should continue along, then," she suggested, ready to move further down the corridore.

by **Shinigori V2** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:11 am

Shawn shakes her head quickly, while trying to wedge the pestle out of the Mindflayer's hands. "No, they'd never attack each other. If one stabbed another, he may as well have stabbed himself. Someone else did this."

by **Idran1701** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:14 am

Outlands - Tunnels

It's tricky for Shawn to get a grip with her cat-like paws, but with a bit of prying, she manages to pull the stone free from the corpse's grip. There doesn't seem to be anything special about it, beyond the small shards of crystals of various colors wedged into the surface above where the flayer had held it.

by **Seethe** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:54 pm

"That certain, is it?" Rosalyn asked, looking back. "I don't know, then. We'll just have to keep looking around, I suppose."

by **Idran1701** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:01 pm

Outlands - Tunnels

Moving through the corridor, the group further explores. Past the rats' territory, two more laboratories are found, both about as smashed up as their lair; the mind flayer, if he was the one responsible, must have been busy. Nothing salvageable can be found in either, nothing but a bunch of smashed furniture and glasswork, and a few metal tools and frames scattered about the floor.

At the end of the corridor, though, the party finds far, far more. A massive, circular room, at least two-hundred feet across, and easily thirty feet tall. All is lit up in the unsettling violet glow that's filled these caves, and along the walls of the room are buildings literally carved out of the stone. At least a dozen balconies jut from the walls, connected by slim walkways. Everywhere - along the facades of the dwellings, the rails about the walkways, free-standing in the walls - stone carvings adorn the walls, carved in a style both artistic and disturbing. Flowing curves reminiscent of tentacles, interconnected lines joined at strange angles networking across otherwise-bare stone, sharp points all designed to face a single point at the center of the plaza.

The floor itself is bare, neither tile nor path to be seen. In the dim light, they manage to pick out dozens of bodies scattered all about, at least 40 in this room - lying prone on the ground, impaled on the stonework, pulverized against walls. Surprisingly, there's still little stench, but they look to be at least as old as the first two found near the entrance. Some appear to have been partially eaten as well, but the flayer bodies (which don't seem to make more than a third of the corpses all told) all look to have been untouched by the rats and whatever else might dwell here. Even in death, they would appear to still rule this place.

New map

by **Spleen** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:10 pm

Theller walked around, inspecting the bodies. "It looks like a battle was fought here. I would be willing to wager that the rats got to these bodies after they died. Perhaps these were the false masters of which our new friend spoke?" He inspected one of the non-flayer bodies, one of the ones least chewed to unrecognizability by the rats.

by **Idran1701** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:15 am

Outlands - Tunnels

Theller takes a closer look at the body; it seems to be a human, as far as he can tell. A man of about 35 years or so, dressed in simple workman's garb, empty hands caked with violet blood. As with the other human bodies found earlier, since-dried blood leaks from his ears, and even in death a focused look of hatred adorns his face.

by **Idran1701** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:39 pm

Outlands - Tunnels

Florence steps back and squats next to Shawn, discomfort with the situation shared on both their faces. She speaks quietly, putting a hand gently on Shawn's back and doing her best to smile for her. "Don't worry, Shawn. I know it's not very pleasant, but they won't hurt you. They're days dead, and whatever happened here, it's long since over. And if you need to take your mind off it, just think of all we're going to find here. I mean...it's an entire mind flayer village. There's got to be plenty here that hardly anyone's ever seen before.

"And if that doesn't help...well...try and keep a brave face up for the cub. He needs you, after all. Have you thought of a name for him yet?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:37 pm

Shawn shakes her head, glancing back at her new friend. "No...I can't think of anything that won't sound stupid when he gets bigger."

by **Spleen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:18 pm

"I see mind flayers and human bodies here, nothing else. No...false masters. These humans look like workmen, not like shapeshifting psionics. Do you agree?" Theller looked over at Rosalyn as he spoke.

by **Shinigori V2** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:29 am

Shawn rolled her eyes. "The 'False Masters' ARE the mindflayers!"

by **Seethe** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:55 am

Rosalyn nodded in agreement with Theller's assessment.

"At this point, I won't be surprised if we don't find any bodies of any false masters here," she said. "They did win the battle, so they probably wouldn't have left their own dead to rot here."

Then, she blinked at Shawn's conclusion.

"How do you figure?" she asked. "... Think some of them went crazy? Maybe got mind-controlled themselves by something else?"

by **Spleen** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:38 pm

"That would seem unlikely," Theller said, standing up from the crouched position he was inspecting the body in. "If they could control others, there is little chance that they would themselves be susceptible to mind control. If Shawn is right and we are dealing with mind flayers, perhaps there could be two groups? A splinter group, malcontents of some kind, in addition to the original group."

by **Seethe** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:21 am

At Theller's suggestion, Rosalyn blinked again.

"I thought... they weren't supposed to..." she protested, fumbling with her words now. "I'm completely lost now."

by **Spleen** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:39 am

"We'll search this area for more clues. And items of value, of course." Theller began to pick carefully through the area and on the bodies, looking for anything that might be a clue or anything useful or salable - money, weapons, gear, magic items, etc.

by **Idran1701** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:40 pm

Outlands - Tunnels

Theller begins hunting over the remains, finding a few pieces here and there that might be worth a look. There isn't much on the non-flayer bodies but weapons, and none looking to be of good enough quality to be enchanted at that: a few swords and knives, some axes and spears, and a mace. The flayer's possessions hold slightly more promise, though not much, as they seem to lack for holdings; perhaps they've already been picked over? No weapons are found amongst their remains, but Theller does find three pieces of promise: a scarab-shaped golden brooch attached to a choker inscribed with arcane runes; a clear gem filled with some sort of green fluid, yet with no apparent means of opening it; and a silver-banded ring with a trio of small diamonds. He also notices something about their bodies as he scavenges them; even in death, about half of them look an especially vibrant hue of violet, while the other half appear more pale, more sallow.

by **Spleen** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:11 pm

"I found a few interesting things," Theller said. "A scarab, of some sort, some kind of fluid-filled gem, and a silver ring with three diamonds. I'll scan them for magic shortly, when we've found a few more worthy-looking items...I can only use that power a few more times today. The other thing...have you noticed that some of the mind flayers are different shades? Perhaps it is a post-mortem change, but all the bodies look to have been dead for about the same time, and there are clear differences in their coloration. A clue perhaps?"

by **Seethe** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:52 pm

Rosalyn looked over the mind-flayers a bit more attentively, giving a nod as she confirmed what Theller had mentioned.

"That is a bit striking," she said. "Perhaps that is a clue. Maybe the difference between the false masters and the original mind-flayers? Maybe that elf would know..."

by **Spleen** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:33 am

"I would rather not encounter him again. I hope he and his new rat masters are happy together, far away and receding into our past," Theller said. He shook his head ruefully. "But that's a hollow hope; he was there and we were not. You are most likely right that we should ask him. First, however, I want to search these buildings. Perhaps we can find survivors, or more clues. We should stick together in case it becomes dangerous; we don't know what we might find here."

by **Idran1701** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:39 pm

Unless Seethe has something else in mind for Rosalyn, I'll go ahead and GM on the assumption that you're doing that later tonight or tomorrow.

by **Seethe** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:20 am

(OOC: No objections here.)

"You do have a point," Rosalyn admitted. "I expect that he'll still be there later."

Really, she would have preferred to get that reunion out of the way as soon as she could, but it wasn't something she would push. For now, she would just be content to have that option available. And if there were any other survivors, they might just be able to ask them instead. Unfortunately, she had a sneaking suspicion that they would likely would prove equally unsettling...

by **Idran1701** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:53 am

Outlands - Tunnels

Heading to the wall, Theller checks the closest building first; one at ground level, with an elaborately-carved facade in the style found all about this plaza framing the open doorway. Curved ramps at either side lead up to the slim walkways that span the room, but for now they can be ignored. Just inside the entrance, their attention is drawn first by the major sight of the room - a fountain surrounded by a shallow pool of crystal-clear water. Steps descend down into the pool along the entire edge of the pool, and water still shoots from the tips of three equally-spaced spouts at the top, designed to not just drop into the pool but to spray a fine mist into the air as well. There's no sign the source of the water, but it looks cleaner and purer than any they've ever seen.

After taking this sight in, they begin to look about the rest of the room. A pair of similarly open doorways lead further in, one looking to lead into a bedchamber while the other seems to be a den of some sort. While the bedchamber seems empty and untouched, at the far end of the den, they can see one of the more grisly sights to great them so far. Half of a flayer corpse lies against a bookshelf at the far wall, its legs apparently missing entirely. Its robes are ripped across right at knee-level, thankfully hiding the worst of the sight, but a broad bloodstain mars the floor beneath it. Its eyes are closed, its hands empty, and its skin looks to be the more pale purple hue.

by **Spleen** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:03 pm

Theller knelt to inspect the corpse. "Grisly. Whoever would do this to a body and leave it like this...I shudder to think. If my suspicions about two different...nations, perhaps, of mind flayers are true, we've found one that belonged to the pale nation." He gave the pockets of the robe a cursory search before leading the way into one of the bedchambers, spear readied.

by **Idran1701** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:28 am

Outlands - Tunnels

Florence enters behind Theller as he checks over the body; his search comes up empty, unfortunately. Frowning, she begins a look around the room. "...you took the words out of my mouth, Theller. Have you found anything?"

Moving into the bedchambers, he gives a look about, but soon finds his spear unnecessary; the room's empty of people, living or dead.

by **Spleen** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:07 am

"There isn't anything to be found in that chamber," he announced, as he strode to the other. "I haven't checked this room thoroughly; I wanted to search these side rooms for an ambush."

by **Shinigori V2** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:03 am

"We should be fine." Shawn says, looking around, pawing in a circle. "My nose and ears are...Very good this way."

She sat on her haunches again, trying to listen and smell for anything that might be off...Other than the smell of the dead.

by **Idran1701** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:38 am

Outlands - Tunnels

Theller gives the rest of the home a once-over, but doesn't see any other signs of life. The room seems empty but for the corpse in the study. The entire building's been picked clean, no treasure to be found here. Unfortunate, but there's still many more homes to check, after all. Still, though, something itches at his mind...almost like he's forgotten something important, but he has no clue what.

Meanwhile, Shawn does her own search, closing her eyes as she smells and listens to her surroundings. Focusing on the nearby smells, she pushes out the scent of death wafting in from outside. In doing so, though, something soon strikes her; she smells no rotting, no old blood from in the building to ignore. In fact, the only blood she smells is fresh, if inhuman.

by **Seethe** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:34 pm

Rosalyn had followed the others into the building. While Theller and Shawn attempted to determine whether there were any hidden dangers, she stood ready in case any showed themselves.

by **Spleen** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:12 am

Theller scratched his head with a blunt talon. "So we have here a pale mind flayer, lying dead. Everything seems to me to have been picked clean. I can't help feeling that something is wrong, although I can't imagine what." He shook his head to clear it, and rapped the butt of his spear against the floor. "Shall we continue into another building? It would be so nice if we discovered that all of the mind flayers killed in these homes were pale - assuming, of course, that pale does not merely mean female or some simple anatomical fact as that."

by **Idran1701** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:44 am

Outland - Tunnels

Looking about to say something, Florence quickly closes her mouth. Her brow furrowed, she closes her eyes and shakes her head, sending her braid swinging. "...You know, I can't help but think we missed something. You go on ahead, I'm going to check the study again. I have this feeling there was something I missed there." She breaks from the group, heading back for the study intently without another word. Squatting down, she starts looking over the bookshelf, barely even acknowledging the corpse next to her.

Theller:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:42 pm

"We'll be in the next building," Theller said, unconcerned. "You'll meet us there?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:29 pm

Shawn looks up, still sniffing the air, concerned. "These aren't dead bodies."

She pads over to the flayer 'corpse', and raises a paw. Claws out, she rakes down it's side- Only a little bit, though.

by **Idran1701** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:51 pm

Outlands - Tunnels

While Florence flips through the books on the shelf, Shawn investigates the corpse. Just as her claws make contact with its skin, its arm shoots out, knocking Shawn away. She lands on her feet, of course, just in time to see the "body" lift above the ground, glaring at her. A voice echoes in the minds of all present. A horrible, inhuman voice, sounding nothing like spoken words and almost emblazoning itself on their minds.

"This could have been much easier, food-beasts. But now..." The shrieking chuckle echoes in their heads. "The Thoonites couldn't kill me, and neither will you."

Florence falls back from the bookshelf, shaking her head clear while an expression of utter disgust crosses her face. She leaps to her feet, hands clenched as she throws a silent glare to the flayer, appearing utterly enraged for the first time in Shawn's memory.

Theller:

Spoiler:

Initiative:
Rosalyn: 25
Theller: 21
Flayer: 15
Shawn: 11
Florence: 10
Tiger Cub: 9

by **Spleen** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:59 am

Theller shook his head quickly, his mind now clear. "That creature had some sort of influence over me!" He raised his spear in both hands to fight, wings unfurling and face contorting with righteous fury. "He tried to make me willing to leave Florence here alone!" He had been filled with apathy before due to outside influence, but the rage he was feeling at that moment was 100% Theller of Homespire.

by **Seethe** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:50 am

Hearing Shawn mention that the mind flayer wasn't dead, Rosalyn turned her head to look in its direction. As soon as it threw the girl off and spoke, she spun to face it completely, bow out.

"You think to toy with our minds?" she asked sharply after hearing Theller. "Would you mean to prey on us?"

And with that, she let an arrow fly at the creature.

by **Spleen** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:05 pm

Theller threw himself into a roll past the mind flayer, wings furled tight, attempting to come up on the side of the creature away from his allies and divide its attention before striking it with his spear.

(At a disadvantage due to maplessness, but Theller's going to tumble past the flayer into something closer to a flanking position and attempt a sneak attack if possible (I don't know if you're defining him as flat-footed because he hasn't gone yet))

by **Shinigori V2** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:55 pm

Shawn grinned, tensing up and wiggling on her haunches. Her tail flicked rapidly from side to side, as her ears folded back. "You're not very bright, are you? I could smell you the whole time and you just laid there, acting like you had something on us."

With that, she sprung forward, claws out, attempting to not only land, but dig into the Mindflayer, like some sort of expensive curtain elemental.

by **Idran1701** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:42 pm

Outlands - Tunnels
Round 1

Rosalyn shoots an arrow towards the flayer, piercing its shoulder and adding a new violet stain to its robes. Meanwhile, Theller makes to roll beneath it, but is stopped in his tracks when the flayer glances down, hitting him alongside the head with a tentacle. He feels a vague burning sensation briefly before the skin on the side of his head is numbed, but feeling at the wound, he can find a streak of feathers burnt away by its caustic tentacles.

In response to her taunts, the flayer turns towards Shawn, and she can feel what can only be described as sparks running through her brain, as a brief seizure overwhelms her. She fights it off, shaking off the after effects, before pouncing. Leaping through his flailing mouthparts, her claws dig into the flayer's clothing and draw some blood.

Florence steps up behind her, sending a jab into the side of the flayer's head. They can all hear the slight crunch of bone at her contact, and a jolt of pain passes briefly through all their minds. The tiger cub, watching Shawn, follows her lead and jumps itself at the flayer. It knocks the cub away with a swing of its arm, sending it to the ground where it falls onto its side. It cries out at the attack, before scrambling to get back to its feet.

Rosalyn shoots her bow at the flayer, hits for 11 damage
Theller attempts to roll past the flayer, fails and provokes an AoO
The flayer strikes Theller with a tentacle, hits for 5 damage, doesn't grapple
The flayer attacks Shawn, Shawn makes her save, takes no damage
Shawn pounces on the flayer, hits for 1 damage, grabs on to the front of its robes
Florence moves up, swings at the flayer, hits for 8 damage
The tiger cub follows Shawn's example, misses, and is smacked to the ground

Initiative
Rosalyn: 25
Theller: 21
Flayer: 15
Shawn: 11
Florence: 10
Tiger Cub: 9

by **Shinigori V2** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:48 pm

Oh hell no.

There was just something about him sending the cub flying that hit Shawn in a way that she didn't expect. As the cub cries, she screams herself at the Flayer.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your LIFE. You get me!? Leave...Rocket...ALONE!"

With that, she begins a frenzy , clawing wildly, gnashing her teeth, and generally giving Squidmouth a bad day.

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