RPGWW

by **Seethe** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:16 pm

With Shawn grabbing onto the Mind Flayer's robes, firing the bow again was out of the question, so Rosalyn drew her sword, simply closing the distance and attacking.

by **Spleen** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:30 am

Theller regained his footing after the tentacle attack, clutching the burned part of his face, and attempted to jab his spear into the mind flayer's body. "The tentacles will burn if they touch you!" the raptoran advised. "Be careful!"

(Hey, wait a minute, why did Theller lose his attack last turn?)

by **Idran1701** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:23 pm

Outlands - Tunnels
Round 2

Drawing her blade, Rosalyn swings against the flayer's side, doing her best to keep from nicking Shawn. Though she does take a bit of fur, she also cuts deeply into its side, leaving her greatsword coated with a thin layer of ichor. Theller follows up, but the flayer easily deflects the spear, before turning its gaze on him and Rosalyn. His eyes flare with a green glow that quickly fades, just as Shawn goes wild, sinking her teeth into the flayer's neck and filling her mouth with the taste of rust and stagnant water. It ducks just as Florence takes another swing, this time aimed directly for the center of its head, while out the corner of her eye Shawn can see the cub clambering back onto his feet, swaying dizzily but otherwise looking uninjured from its brief flight.

Rosalyn draws her sword and slashes at the flayer, hits for 3 damage
Theller stabs at the flayer with his spear, misses
The flayer does something
Shawn attacks the flayer, hits for 1 damage
Florence punches the flayer again, misses
The tiger cub gets to its feet

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

Theller:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:49 pm

Theller attempted to roll past the mind flayer again, trying to get it between him and Florence and split its defenses enough to deal heavier damage with his spear. Regardless of success or failure, though, his plan after the roll was to strike with his spear again, which is a plan that thus far hadn't panned out for the raptoran.

by **Seethe** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:22 am

As the Mind Flayer stared at Rosalyn, her attacks against it suddenly came to a stop, and she became completely quiet with lips shut tight. For a very short moment, she held herself completely still, apparently not wanting to move an inch. However, that was far beyond her ability, it seemed, as the effort quickly fell apart and her blade rose up, her gaze on Theller. The look on her face wasn't exactly one of agression, though, instead appearing rather disturbed at what she was seeing herself doing.

But before she actually attacked, she seemed to think of something. Her gaze shifted to Shawn, and she returned her sword to its sheath to free up her hand. Reaching for the feline girl, she attempted to pull her off of the Mind Flayer's robes.

by **Idran1701** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:34 pm

Outlands - Tunnels
Round 3

Rosalyn grabs Shawn, and though she clings as tightly as she can, Rosalyn's strength overpowers her grip and she's ripped from the flayer. Paying her little mind, Theller rolls past the flayer successfully, grasping his spear and pulling it around in a single fluid motion into its back, bringing about a twitch and a gasp of air from the creature. This isn't the end!, it screams in their minds, before it vanishes in a flash of orange light, leaving only a puddle of ichor on the floor to mark that it was ever there.

Unclenching her fists, Florence heads over to Rosalyn, glaring at her as she puts a hand on her shoulder, barely biting back anger. "Put her down. I know you weren't in control of yourself, but put her down." Meanwhile, the tiger cub pads over, panting a little but otherwise looking none the worse for wear.

Everyone gets 600 XP for driving the flayer off (winning, pretty much).

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:06 pm

Theller put his spear on the ground and gingerly touched his face where he could still feel the sting of the tentacle attack. "That was just one. What if we find ourselves fighting several?"

He noticed, then, what was going on with the others. "What happened? Rosalyn...he exerted some sort of control over you? Did you feel it leave?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:13 pm

Shawn squirms a bit, clawing at the air. "She's telling you for your own good, you know!"

by **Seethe** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:06 pm

Rosalyn may have been a bit slower than she had meant to be in setting Shawn down, as she was apparently somewhat distracted for a few moments after the Mind Flayer disappeared. However, once she finally shook herself to attention, she put the girl back town onto the ground without any further delay.

"It's still in my mind..." she answered Theller after a moment. Then she looked in the direction of Florence and Shawn. "I... apologize, but that was the least harmful thing that I could have done..."

She then let out a sigh. Normally, Rosalyn might have been more angry that her mind had just been invaded, but she was in no small degree of shock at the moment over such a grave thing happening so quickly, and not knowing how long it would last.

"If it tells me to do something, I won't be able to stop myself at this point," she admitted. "So... none of you should expose your backs to me for even a moment, for any reason."

"Then... do you have some purpose for me?" she thought to the Flayer, hoping to learn if there was some way to appease it and have her mind freed as quickly as possible.

Her thoughts wandered back to the elf with the rats, and she shuddered at the prospect of herself ending up like that...

by **Idran1701** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:37 pm

Slowly nodding to Rosalyn, Florence removes her hand. "I felt it too. Not as much as that, but..." She nods again, as a small moment of awkward silence hits. After it passes, she gives Shawn a smile before looking to Theller, careful to keep a bit of distance between her and Rosalyn. "Small consolation, but the wound doesn't look too bad, at least. A little raw, but you're not bleeding. How does it feel?" When he inspects it personally, he finds that at his touch (and even with a strong enough breeze), it stings like a burn, but other than that it seems fine. Unfortunately, there's no telling how long it'll take the feathers to regrow.

Meanwhile, with Shawn now on the ground, the cub heads up to her with an inquisitive look, sitting down in front of her with nary a trace of worry in its eyes.

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:39 am

"It is sensitive to the touch, but I will live," Theller said, offhandedly. "My skin is protected where I have feathers."

He turned to Rosalyn with a deeply sympathetic look on his face. He had been under a form of control himself, of course, although nothing so extreme. "I will...remember to keep my distance," he said with sadness. "You have command of your faculties now?"

by **Seethe** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:25 pm

(OOC: Dropping one more post tonight, since I don't seem to have been disconnected yet.)

After another moment of appearing distracted, Rosalyn began to look even more disturbed than before. And at this point, a hint of anger finally did cross her face.

"I do..." she answered Theller, somewhat distractedly. "It could be taken from me at any time, though..."

Express her objections? She certainly had some, but... Would it do any good? Not very likely...

by **Spleen** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 9:47 am

(OOC: As I've been posting to all my RPs: I'm gonna be slow posting while I'm moving to a place that hasn't yet been internetted yet. I'm not as worried about keeping up with this RP as I am about, say, Child's Play, but if I need to be broomed along, you have my permission to do so, Idran.)

by **Idran1701** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:47 pm

Shawn heads to the cub, cleaning him despite some minor verbal objections from him; despite the small yowls, though, he doesn't seem to mind all that much. Though not all that dirty, he does seem to have collected a bit of dust and dirt from the cave - especially from the impact - but it's quickly gone under Shawn's care. Once clean, he settles down next to her, still looking curious over what's to come next.

Meanwhile, Florence nods to Theller. "Good to hear. Now...I know what my new goal is now here." Scowling to herself, Florence cracks her knuckles as she looks between the party members, her anger barely having abated since her brief period of mental influence earlier.. "I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to kill that creature now. Before it does something even worse to one of us."

by **Spleen** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:25 am

"Yes," Theller agreed. "Let's keep exploring; perhaps we'll have a run-in and we can settle the score, as it were." He checked his pack and his weapons and realized he hadn't cleaned off the flayer's ichor from his spear, and so took grim satisfaction in wiping the point clean.

by **Seethe** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:27 am

A silent nod was Rosalyn's only response to what was being said. She certainly agreed that the death of the Mind-Flayer would be a very good thing right now, but she doubted that she would be able to have much of a hand in it. Really, it would probably be all she could do to simply stay out of the way as much as possible.

In the meantime, seeing Theller cleaning his spear reminded Rosalyn that she had stuck her sword into its sheath still covered in the Flayer's ichor. She probably should have just dropped it instead of doing that, really, as she was now going to have something of a mess in there to deal with. Moving a short distance away from the others, not wanting to make them nervous, she took the sword back out and began cleaning it as well, at least getting rid of what was still on the blade itself.

by **Shinigori V2** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:57 am

Shawn looks over to Rosalyn, and thinks. "Put the sword down for a second, and walk away. I'm gonna sniff at it to see if I can smell him elsewhere."

She waits for that to be done, and speaks some more. "I...Don't think he can mind-control me like he did with you guys. I think I'm probably...I dunno, immune or something. So..Maybe I should handle this?"

by **Seethe** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:33 pm

After hearing out Shawn's idea, Rosalyn gave a nod and set the sword down.

"Do you think you can beat him on your own?" she asked as she moved away. "I mean, even if he can't control you, it would be a one-on-one fight. If you're sure you can win that, then good, but otherwise it's a dangerous thing to try."

by **Idran1701** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:42 am

"What?" Gaping, Florence can't help but stare at Shawn in disbelief. "You think you're going to go after that monster alone? Shawn, are you crazy? Even if you are immune to that, if, what if it does something else? No, you're not doing this. Rosalyn's right, this is too dangerous. You don't even know what you might be throwing yourself into." She shakes her head firmly, and fixes her eyes on Shawn. "If you head out there, I'm coming along with you, if nothing else. If you don't want that, then we can come up with another plan."

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:07 pm

"I won't let you fight the monster alone, either," Theller said, shaking his head. "Even if you are immune, those of us who are not might be just pawns against you. We should, all of us who can, fight the mind flayer together."

by **Shinigori V2** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:25 pm

Shawn's about to say something to Florence when Theller speaks. Slowly, she turns her attention to him, and makes a face. "You...Do realize that doesn't make any sense at all. If I'm alone, he can't use you against me."

by **Seethe** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:04 am

"Getting his scent is probably still a good idea," Rosalyn offered. "But the three of you together drove him away. If you find him before he recovers, maybe you can finish him. I'll have to stay away, though..."

She sighed at that thought, feeling completely helpless right now.

She still didn't respond to the Mind Flayer, as she was fairly certain that it wouldn't accomplish much. It could think whatever it wanted.

by **Shinigori V2** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 4:47 am

Shawn nods, and walks over, sniffing at the cloth. "A lot of people think that cats are only good at hearing. They can smell too, though...Not as good as a dog, but much better than a person could."

by **Idran1701** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:06 pm

Okay! I think I can keep from being distracted away from this game now that I'm actually at school. Sorry, all.

Shawn picks up the smell - it smells vaguely metallic, like blood, but...wrong. Saturated with unnatural elements, speaking to a flayer's place outside the way of things. Still, she thinks she has enough of the scent to track. It'll be tricky considering how the flayer left, but she may be able to just hunt for the smell of its fresh blood throughout this complex.

"I don't care, Shawn. You're not going against him alone, and that's that." Her piece on that matter said, Florence looks to Rosalyn. She puts a gentle hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eye. "I'm sorry he's done this to you, Rosalyn. But I don't like the idea of you being alone here either. It's too dangerous for you too; for any of us. You're right that there's a risk, but at least we can be ready for it.

"And you shouldn't give up hope either. He might have some control over you, but I saw you fight it off, even if it was just for a bit. And I saw your blade out too; you could have done much worse than grab Shawn too. When you couldn't fight him with will, you did it with cleverness. As long as you've got some kind of resistance, he doesn't have you, not completely."

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Shinigori V2** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:52 pm

Shawn growled, but let it drop for now. Instead, she raised her nose to the air, and began searching for the scent of blood. It would, admittedly, be easier if she had the form of a wolf or something, but you have to take what you can get.

And as soon as she catches something, she'd begin off in that direction, quickly.

by **Idran1701** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:49 am

Shawn does her best to track down where the flayer might be now. Even the slightest whiff of the monster's scent would help...but there's just nothing fresh anywhere even slightly nearby. The good news, though, is that this information isn't entirely for naught. The creature's not in the central cavern, that much she now knows for a fact. She has the scent well-memorized too at this point; if she comes anywhere near the creature, she should be able to hunt it down before it even knows what's coming. She's a cat, after all, and there is no more deadly natural predator. Especially one with a reason to kill.

by **Seethe** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:29 pm

The Mind Flayer's question left Rosalyn feeling even more disturbed. Apparently it must have been able to hear through her to have known about Florence's words. And if it could hear through her... She really didn't know just how much of her perception it could claim for itself. On top of that, the question itself was compelling her to answer it, not even letting her own thoughts remain private.

Though, maybe she could take this as a chance to see just how far she could go.

"... I don't," she answered in a dejected "voice." "I can't resist your commands. Whatever you tell me to do, I must do."

It was an honest answer in one way, but dishonest in another. On the one hand, the statement was true. She didn't believe Florence's words... yet. She may have been able to pick the most inoffensive means of carrying out the command she had been giving in the fight, but pulling Shawn off of the Flayer had likely made it easier for the creature to escape, not exactly constituting a subversion of its will. She didn't disbelieve Florence either, though, but the Flayer hadn't technically asked about that. This very undertaking would be her means of deciding.

Of course, it was dishonest in that she was attempting to subvert the Flayer's will even as she "spoke." It was hard to keep herself from blurting this fact out to the Flayer, the mental equivalent of trying to keep a boulder from rolling down a hill. But luckily, that actually helped her in a way, as she truly didn't know if she'd be able to pull it off.

But at least partial honesty would technically meet the Flayer's demand. Hopefully the technicality would be enough, and she wouldn't be forced to come clean in a few moments. And if it did work, she had to hope the Flayer didn't simply ask the question again.

Since she didn't know if the Flayer would be able sense the discomfort she was feeling, she simply allowed herself to sink into the despair she felt at the overall situation, willingly turning her thoughts to the future that awaited her if the creature got its way. Never again knowing freedom, and doomed to the eventual fate of having her own mind devoured once her usefulness passed... It was enough to call up a whole new level of depression and anxiety. It would hopefully make a decent mask.

Pulling out all of the stops and playing the part externally as well, she sighed and gave Florence a half-smile.

"Just remember that I'll still be an enemy when we get there," she advised. "And that I've brought potions of healing along."

by **Idran1701** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:24 pm

Florence smiles at Rosalyn, unaware of the battle being waged in her mind. It's a struggle for her, but indeed she manages to keep her mental words where they were, and hold back from the flayer. The pressure of compliance seems to ease on her as it expresses its approval, and her mind is able to relax. A minor victory, as she is still under the flayer's yoke, but a victory nonetheless, and perhaps an instructive event as to just how far she can go.

Turning her attention to the rest of the party, Florence speaks to Shawn. "Have you picked up the scent yet? Think you can lead us to that beast?"

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Shinigori V2** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:42 pm

"I'm going to have to keep looking, but I'll know when I find him." Shawn says. She picks up her pace, dashing further into the tunnels.

by **Spleen** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:55 pm

"Come on, then," Theller said, loping along a few paces behind Shawn.

by **Idran1701** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:43 am

The party leaves the small flayer home and the central plaza, heading for the nearest tunnel entrance. Shawn pads down the hall in front, nose sniffing for any sign of the flayer, with Rocket keeping at her heels just behind her. The rest follow a few feet behind, careful for any signs of movement down the tunnel ahead. "We should probably come up with some sort of plan for when we find the creature. Get ready in advance for what might happen. How are we going to take him?", says Florence.

by **Shinigori V2** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:12 am

"I'm gonna rip 'em to shreds." Shawn says, nonchalantly. "I AM nature's greatest predator, after all."

by **Spleen** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:41 am

"I have..." Theller glanced at Rosalyn and sighed. "I...wouldn't want to spoil the surprise of it. I will need your help, however, Florence."

by **Idran1701** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:29 pm

Florence grins at Shawn while Theller speaks, and nods at his concern, glancing to Rosalyn herself. "All right. Just tell me what you need, and I'll do what I can."

Whoops, uploaded this but I forgot to post it. New map

by **Seethe** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:54 pm

Rosalyn was worried that the Flayer would tell her to listen in. As long as he didn't, though, she took the liberty of allowing a bit of distance to grow between herself and the others while they discussed her plan.

"I believe we may have found something like that already," she answered the Flayer. "But it had some sort of green fluid in it. Would that... be the same thing?"

by **Idran1701** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 5:06 am

The party continues down the tunnel, finding the occasional sign of the massive battle that so recently hit this city, but yet no sign of the flayer. They eventually reach a cross-junction; down the right, barely audible voices echo, while down the left, the tunnel's light seems especially bright, the source of which cannot yet be seen.

Keeping her voice low at the sudden sound, Florence peers down both tunnels. "Until we find the trail of thing, maybe we should keep ourselves distracted. Give ourselves something else to think on. Any conversation topic suggestions from you three?"

The map has been updated.

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

by **Spleen** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:06 am

"I think we should approach the voices," Theller suggested. "I would go by myself and stay to the shadows, but...if the mind flayer is over there, he probably also knows from Rosalyn's mind where we are. We would do best to stay together and not attempt stealth, perhaps."

"As for conversation topics...where are each of you from, and what set your wanderlust? I hail originally from the Plane of Air, specifically a little-known colony of raptorans from the Material Plane we call Homespire. Leaving home is a tradition for us; I'll be allowed to return when I demonstrate that I can fly under my own power."

by **Idran1701** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:53 pm

Keeping her own voice low, Florence looks down the tunnel off towards the voices, trying but failing to make their source out. "Your time with the Guild's just a temporary one, then? It's a shame, but good luck to you, then. How long do you expect it to be?

"Myself, I'm from a little village in Ysgard, me and my family. I learned to fight there." Chuckling quietly, she heads back over to the group. "Of course, so did pretty much everyone. But it never really fit me. Finally I just decided I was sick of it, and I wanted to see the rest of things, so I ran off." She smiles as she looks back on her memories, her time spent in exploration. "I'm hoping to finish one of these days, but I've got a long way to go."

by **Shinigori V2** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:43 pm

"I don't want to talk about it." Shawn says sharply.

by **Spleen** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:50 pm

Theller nodded at Shawn with a pained look in his eyes, as if he understood some of her pain on a personal level.

"I'm under no geas to return," Theller said, answering Florence, "and I didn't always fit in there, so if I do, it likely won't be for long. My grandfather was the original leader of the colony, and of the nine children in my family, I am...the odd one. My father and I never saw eye to eye. I will like to see his face when I return as a member of the Planewalkers' Guild; perhaps I'll bring some members with me when I do. How about you, will you return one day to your village? Tell them of the worlds outside?"

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