The Planewalkers' Journies

[Seethe]

Once Asp had the attention of the rest of the Bacchae, Rosalyn took her chance and went for Wendell. Thinking on her feet, she thought she might try playing on the nature of these pleasure-seekers to make pulling him away a little less hard.

"Hey, handsome," she greeted the half-elf with a coy grin. "Why don't you come with me for a minute?"

She wasn't going to wait for a response, though. Whether he was willing to go or not, the girl lunged at him with intent to grab and pull him away.

[Idran1701]

Floating City - Anarch's Guild

Nodding to Shawn, Thilqua puts a hand on Lorraine's non-Aaron shoulder. "Come with me. And Shawn, you must rest as well. Your efforts seem to have left you quite well exhausted. I can arrange a room for you to use for the moment, if you wish."

Leading the beleaguered travelers down the hall, she takes Lorraine to an unused room; empty at first, but as Thilqua steps in, the room begins to shift. A bathtub full of steaming-hot water and a lump of soap rises from the ground, while a robe and towel seem to grow from the wall, hanging on hooks that moments before weren't there. A tree-like perch manifests itself in one corner, one Aaron takes advantage of almost without hesitation. "I can provide you with unshaped clothing and footwear to wear when finished, while what you wear now is cleaned. And I will call for food to be provided for the three of you when you are done." Turning to Shawn, she adds, "The next room down the hall has a bed ready for you, if you wish to take advantage of it. You've had quite the tiring day, I can imagine."

---

ʎ

While the bacchae begin their chase, Rosalyn steps up to Wendell, putting on her best "hey there" look against the stench of booze, sweat, and other, less pleasant scents. He looks her over with a lascivious grin, letting his current woman run off to join the attack against the taxman. Reaching over to wrap his gangly arms across her shoulders, he can't even stand, threatening to pull them both to the ground if he wasn't so light; as it stands, Rosalyn has more than enough strength to keep her footing, and could probably even pick him up and carry him if necessary. As he slips to the ground, he keeps a grip on a half-full mug in one hand, and the lukewarm wine splashes against her neck and drips down her back before she can even begin to rip his arms from her (or his) shoulders. In a heavily slurred voice, he speaks, his breath an even stronger assault on her nose. "What you wanna do, huh? Wanna have sum fun?"

For better or for worse, her attempt seems to have succeeded.

[Kelne]

Asp, having incurred the wrath of the mob, did what any kender would in such a situation. He ran. Of course, most kender would be protesting their innocence all the way to the horizon. Asp, however, had annoyed the mob deliberately, and continued to do so, making sure he held their attention.

"Lord Ariakis shall hear of this! You'll all pay!"

[Seethe]

"Uhmm... Yeah," Rosalyn answered, the motivation she had to really put all that much effort into her act not holding up very well in the face of all the unpleasantness involved. "Lots of fun..."

She just hoped that splash didn't stain too much. On the other hand, she took the fact that the guy could barely stand as a good sign. It meant he'd have more trouble pulling away if he saw through her act. And as drunk as he seemed to be, he probably wasn't going to catch on for a while anyway. With any luck, he would just think that she was being a bit on the aggressive and impatient side as she continued her attempt to drag him off away from the rest of the crowd.

[Idran1701]

soɐx

Asp runs from the crowd as fast as he can manage, but his small size doesn't help matters as the crowd begins to gain on him. In less than a minute, they'll be upon him, and they don't seem to care much for tax collectors at all.

Meanwhile, Rosalyn continues dragging Wendell away, who indeed doesn't seem to have noticed the disappearance of his abductors at all. With a stupid grin still plastered on his face, he struggles to get his feet back under him. She can see just how glazed over his eyes are - it seems the bacchae's power might be more than just wine - as he tries to pull closer, though Rosalyn has no real trouble keeping him at a distance. "You jus'...jus' keep pullin' me anywhere you want, cutey. Always liked a woman that...that knows how t'lead, hahaha..."

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn just nods, and heads for her borrowed room, intent on collapsing into the bed.

[Kelne]

Okay, so maybe Asp hadn't fully thought this through. Then again, thinking things through wasn't exactly a common course of action among kender. Still, he had a couple of tricks left yet. First, the distraction. A quick rummage in one of his pouches brought out one of his larger keepsakes - a bottle of wine.

"All is forgiven!" He called back, "Here!" the bottle was dropped in his wake. Asp decided not to mention the brew's terrible curse. Besides, he wasn't actually sure what the curse was. Maybe it was haunted by the spirits of a thousand angry grapes or something. Maybe he should stick around and see what happened... No, wait - self-preservation was probably a good idea. Hopefully, the bacchae would take the offering, leaving him free to make his getaway.

[Besyanteo]

Lorraine quietly goes to get into the tub, undressing gingerly at it's side. When done, she stepped in, and leaned back in the tub. She close her eyes and sighed. Civilization. For now, the trouble had passed.

[Idran1701]

Floating City - Anarch's Guild

Shawn and Lorraine relax, each having had their own trials as of late. Time passes, and they both are able to recover as best they can. After a "night's" rest, Shawn feels much better. Lorraine needs a bit more time before feeling like herself again, but by the next day, she's rested, fed, and clean. The Anarchs provide her with a change of clothing - perhaps not her usual style of dress, but likely a welcome change after being stuck in the same outfit for days.

The two meet for dinner the day after their trials, giving Lorraine the opportunity to learn just why exactly Shawn was to be found in Limbo. The food here tends somewhat on the leaner side, coming close to vegetarian cuisine but not quite reaching it; they have assurances that the food here is all real matter, at that, although grown and raised in Limbo. Aaron's not very happy with what they have available, but being able to have fresh meat at all is enough to keep him from being too upset.

If you want Shawn to have spent the extra time while Lorraine was recovering doing more training, that's fine. If not, let me know what she was doing instead, Shini.

---

X

Asp tosses the cursed brew, hoping whatever strange properties it has are enough to protect him from the advances of the bacchae. Some do break off their pursuit, grabbing for the bottle of bub, but the rest seem more intent on stamping out this person that dared attempt to squelch their fun, growing closer by the second. Nora squirms in Asp's bag as he runs, feeling equal parts concerned and annoyed at the nonsense the kender's got himself into yet again.

[Kelne]

With little option now, and seeing no point in delaying, Asp turns to face his pursuers. He waits for them to close into optimum range, fishing a scroll out of his pouches so that he'll be ready when the time comes. Asp backpedals slightly so the Bacchae won't close the distance too quickly, before casting a spell aimed at generating maximum confusion in the ranks.

(Colour spray on the mob. DC 14 Will)

[Idran1701]

osaX

Asp holds his ground, waiting for just the right moment before sending a blast of colors against his pursuers. Four are knocked to the ground, passed out from the spell, but the remaining two, a man and a woman with rage in their eyes, still continue their dash. They charge through the rainbow onslaught, reaching him and clawing at his body. Dodging from bared claws and kicking feet, Asp manages to avoid any damage, scroll still gripped in hand.

Asp casts Color Spray; four of the bacchae fail their saves and are knocked unconscious, while two make their saves and are unaffected.
They cross the remaining 15 feet and each attack once, though both miss their attacks.

[Kelne]

Asp ducks quickly back, reading out the scroll... And abruptly changing in appearance to resemble one of his attackers, from the glazed eyes to the disarranged, wine-stained clothing. He's sporting a new face as well, for good measure. Of course, since he's still the same height, it's debatable how much good the disguise will do.

(5-foot step back, followed by the old scroll of disguise self trick.)

[Idran1701]

_

Stepping back from the bubbers, Asp reads from his scroll. The magic takes effect quickly, adding a foot to his apparent height, at least (even if it's only an illusionary shell). The bacchae stop short, blinking in confusion at the sudden effect; if nothing else, he's bought himself a little time before they resume their attack.

[Kelne]

Asp does his best to imitate the confusion of the pair, casting about in search of the evil tax collector. Naturally, such casting about takes him in a direction which meanders away from them. It's worth a shot at any rate.

[Idran1701]

xxxx

Although Asp does his best, the two bacchae don't seem quite inebriated enough to entirely buy his act. They continue to stare at him, thankfully not approaching, at least; though still confused, that's quickly fading as the wine-spawned anger begins once more filling their minds.

[Kelne]

Oh, well. On to plan... D? It must be plan D by now. Calling upon one of his more frequently used spells, Asp summons a celestial monkey. "Could you please distract them?" he asks politely before taking to his heels once more.

(Summon monster I, utilising one of those handy school abilities.)

[Idran1701]

Xaos

Asp calls out, summoning a celestial monkey from the forests of Arborea. Appearing in a flash, it appraises the situation before hearing Asp's request. With a brief pause, it leaps at the two, bounding back and forth between them and fully occupying their attention, giving Asp ample opportunity to bound off himself, leaving the bacchae in his wake. Though they notice his absense before long, by that point he's so far ahead that he can easily reach the city once more before they catch up.

He meets Rosalyn and Wendell on the way back, and it's only a few more minutes before the three reach the glassworker's shop, the glassworker himself quickly passing out on the grass outside his home. Haz'kiah looks over the two with gratitude. "Know that I greatly appreciate what you have done, both of you. We're lucky the bacchae didn't cause more harm here, I suppose - larger mobs have destroyed entire villages as they passed through - but even if this was but a small event, I am certain Wendell will be as grateful as I when he awakes.

"I cannot provide much of a reward, but I will cover the costs of the item you wished to commission in whole. I hope this will be enough?"

[Seethe]

"That sounds good to me," Rosalyn answered Haz'Kiah. "Glad to be of help."

Though she was honestly glad to be rid of Wendell's drunken advances, but she kept that to herself. It wasn't his fault, after all, but that scar would still remain on her mind for the rest of her forseeable life.

[Kelne]

"Absolutely," Asp said, "Let us know if you need anything else done; it was a great experience."

[Besyanteo]

(Sorry, missed the last GMing for these two somehow.)

Lorraine ate very slowly, savoring everything that she had been served. It was slightly unusual, but it was something other than dried trail rations. It could be made of dog and myconid and she'd still at least try it. However, the silence couldn't reign forever, and she was curious...

"So, what brought you to Limbo, Shawn?"

[Shinigori V2]

"Oh....You know. Exploring, mostly. Someone had a job here, and recruited a bunch of us...That original group we had broke up a bit though." Shawn said, a little sadly.

[Idran1701]

Ssssszssssss

Nodding with gratitude, Haz'kiah says, "Again, I thank you. If you want to stay here in town while we work, there is lodging available, though I am sure you have a room in the Floating City still as well. I can show you the key for the return portal if you'd rather spend your time there."

---

Floating City - Travelers' Respite

The two Planewalkers talk over their meal, a stir-fry mostly made up of locally-grown crops and the meat of anarchic pigs raised and imported from Xaos. Despite their natures, the vegetables and pork look surprisingly consistent. This is largely balanced by the presence of one of Limbo's few native growths, however; shiftspice, a strange herb whose flavor shifts in small degrees as the meal goes on. The changes are almost imperceptible from bite to bite, but a person enjoying it with a meal might start with a salty tinge only to end with oregano. And though the flavor can never be predicted, it never detracts from the overall meal.

[Seethe]

"If we have a few days of down-time now, I suppose I should get back to the city," was Rosalyn's answer. "There is another matter I don't need to neglect."

Namely, now seemed to her like a good time to start her training in the art of shaping, there being nothing else she could think of to occupy her attention for the time being.

"If it isn't a problem, I mean."

[Idran1701]

Where?

"No problem at all. One of us will contact you when we're done."

---

Floating City

Days pass, with Rosalyn beginning her training as well. Though she doesn't work with Shawn in her training, it involves much the same sort of teachings as hers had. After two days of work, she begins to get a better handle on the method, though shaping unconsciously seems to still be beyond her.

She and Asp both encounter Lorraine as well. Spending time safely in the city's done wonders for her, and by a day of rest, she's entirely recovered from her ordeal. Indeed, there seems to be much here to occupy her interest, both here and in the library in the nearby Outlands that she manages to uncover.

While the party waits for their commission to be completed, the festival of Zerthimon comes to an end. The slim number of visitors and travelers begin to trickle out, and within three days they could almost believe they're the only ones in the city not githzerai. The city seems to close itself up slightly, and though they aren't kicked out, they can sense a slight undercurrent of discomfort from most of the city's people. The Anarch's Guild is a sole exception to that, as their time here seems to have endeared them to that group, but outside there, they can easily notice the confused looks given to them as they walk the streets, and slightly less easily notice the cloaked figures that seem to flit from shadow to shadow behind them, always watching them as they go about their business.

The container is soon completed, however, and delivered to their inn by Haz'kiah. A strange piece, it's a mixture of both glass- and metalwork, comprised of two separate pieces that show no signs on their own of being able to fit together, yet when interlinked prove to be entirely watertight. Made from local Limbo materials, they swear it will be able to stand up to the corrosive nature of chaos matter and prevent as much leakage of the stuff as they could manage to achieve. It still needs to be tested, of course, but should it work, they're ready to transport it over to Elysium. Once they can find a way to get there, of course.

For completing the first half of their task, the party gains 1000 XP; 250 for Lorraine since she came in later.

[Kelne]

Asp was rather disappointed at the change in the city. It had been a vibrant, fascinating place, full of interesting people, and now it was all gloomy. Clearly these people should really lighten up more often. Unfortunately, it was no good telling them that. Asp had done his best to amuse himself, sitting in on shaping lessons or staring out into Limbo, but he was beginning to get bored.

Thankfully, before he got around to proving the old adage that a bored kender is a dangerous kender, the barrel was completed. Asp found it to be an utterly fascinating object, and couldn't wait to test it out on the chaos matter.

Although, he should really check something while he has the chance... "Haz'kiah, do you think it would be possible to set up regular shipments if this works? The people we're doing this for wanted to get a steady supply of chaos matter if they could."

[Idran1701]

Floating City

"If they're willing to pay fairly for our work, then certainly. Work of this quality is worth a good deal, not to mention the rarity of the materials. If we were to continue this, we would need at least...75 gold for each new container, I believe would be fair. Of course, they are reusable, so it would be a question of how many they need at a time. But I am sure these are details you can work out when you meet with these people."

[Idran1701]

Floating City

Seeking out the shortest route they can find, Shawn asks around the Anarch's Guild while the rest of the party do their part to try and dig up a good lead. It isn't long before they hear word of a nearby portal Ecstasy, the gate-town for Elysium. Of course, portals in Limbo are quite transitory affairs, so they leave quickly, before it ends up falling apart before they can even take advantage of it. It's only a day's travel from the city, short enough that with all luck, they should reach it long before it crumbles away.

Shawn succeeds on a Diplomacy check to dig up information on a portal to quicken their journey, with Asp and Rosalyn succeeding on their Aid Another checks to improve Shawn's result. 150 XP to all for passing the check.

---

Limbo

Heading out from the city, the four walk the formed path, being as careful as they can to keep going straight out. The plane churns around them as they walk, but the shaped environment keeps them safe in a bubble of air.

The party walks on for for some time, with Shawn handling most of the path duties if necessary but letting any others that wish to do so take over. Close to 8 hours of walking pass, with both Aaron and Nora apparently happy to be in at least a semblance of a natural environment on this plane. On the edge of their hearing, though, they begin to notice something strange in the area. It sounds like someone talking, but from a large distance, too far to make out any words. They can't spy the source just yet, but it's a bit too faint to make out even what direction it might be coming from.

Edit: Just realized I forgot to check; for the spellcasters, if you want to change your memorized spells for the day, let me know. Otherwise I'll be working with the spell list you've got on your sheets.

[Seethe]

Rosalyn didn't have any idea where this sound they were hearing was coming from. However, just as standard procedure, she got her bow ready. All it sounded like was someone talking, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

[Kelne]

So far the trip through a plane of raw chaos had been rather uneventful. The advent of the voice promised to change this however, and Asp started looking about in search of it, his pace flagging slightly.

[Idran1701]

Limbo

Asp doesn't have much luck, looking all around but not able to pinpoint the sound. Rosalyn, however, soon figures out why, looking overhead. Floating about 100 feet overhead and approaching quickly is some sort of flesh-colored mass; an undulating, nearly spherical shape about 2 feet around. As it draws closer, the voice grows more noticeable, though it doesn't seem to truly be saying anything. Nothing but a madman's gibber comes from it, with words, sounds, and noises chained together with no sense of meaning behind it. Soon it's close enough to make out features - the surface of the thing seems covered with dozens of eyes and mouths of all types, scattered randomly about the thing with no rhyme or reason. By the time they can react, it's not quite 50 feet above, giving the party time to prepare for whatever this...creature(?) is.

Asp fails his Perception check, Rosalyn passes hers.

[Shinigori V2]

Something about the creature really, really put Shawn off. This could be evident, maybe, from the fact that she wills a rather large piano to materialize above it.

Or maybe it's intentional.

[Seethe]

Rosalyn wasn't too fond of the creature either. It seemed to be dangerous,and was moving towards the group, so she was fairly certain that it was a threat. Acting before her range could go to waste, she raised her bow and took a shot at the monster.

[Besyanteo]

Lorraine looked at it in confusion for a moment, before recognizing the thing. A Gibbering Mouther. On the heels of that recognition a dozen rumors as to what the things did to other things it encountered. She leaped back a few paces, trying to decide what spell would work best right now. When Shawn formed the Piano, one came to mind. It would be dangerous, but it'd probably work. She might have thought of a dozen other good reasons, but there wasn't much time left for thinking if she was going to do this.

She leapt into the air, and using the somewhat broken laws of physics native to the plane, she just kept on going up. She did her best to guage the distance between herself and the Mouther AND stay out of the way of the falling Piano. It was a lot to keep track of, and somewhere along the way the bubble of air she'd meant to keep with her as she flew popped. She yelped, but kept going. She was committed to this now, and needed to get it done and get back as fast as possible. Luckily, her flesh seemed to be staying in it's proper form for the moment, though she could feel the raw, unadultered chaos bubbling and brushing against her. She thrust a hand at the abomination, open palmed, and the chaos around her arm seemed to distort briefly...

And then Lorraine yelled in surprise and horror.

(STUFF has been talked over with the DM.)

[Idran1701]

Limbo

Shawn's the first to react, pulling together the chaos matter above the creature's head into her best quick approximation of a piano. It's not exact, and the inner workings are beyond her at that distance, but it's big, heavy, and piano-shaped. It begins to fall just as Rosalyn and Lorraine spring into action, Rosalyn letting loose an arrow while Lorraine jumps into the chaos overhead to get a better shot at a blast. The arrow merely bounces off its thick hide, floating in the chaos nearby Lorraine as the energies leave her hand. Instead of the expected cone of concussive force, however, paper streamers and confetti shoot from her fingertips and bombard the creature, along with the loud buzz of a celebratory noisemaker.

The confusion from this doesn't last long, though, as the piano slams into the thing, driving it towards the ground. It's barely able to get out of the way, as it's partially smashed into the stone pathway between the still-landbound travelers, the piano all but exploding into harmless shards. Ichor oozes onto the land from the Mouther's crushed mass, half of its body pulverized into uselessness. The rest of it still holds firm. It swivels its dozens of eyes around to focus on them, its hundreds of teeth dripping with saliva. Raising its voice, it fills the air with the maddening voices of hundreds upon hundreds of asylums, driving the noises into the heads of all but Lorraine.

Battle Mat

Round 0:

Rosalyn shoots her bow, but misses. Lorraine attempts to cast Force Push, but Limbo decides nuh uh. Shawn's piano smashes the Mouther into the ground for 12 points of damage.

Round 1:

The Mouther gibbers.
Asp:

Spoiler:

You manage to fight the effect, as does your cat.

Lorraine:

Spoiler:

You're out of range of the effect, but you can feel it through your link with Aaron. He seems to have fought off the effect, though, thankfully enough.

Rosalyn:

Spoiler:

You can feel something in your mind slip. You're under a confusion effect, and must attack the nearest being this round. Feel free to RP the temporary insanity.

Shawn:

Spoiler:

You manage to fight off the effect of the gibbering.

Initiative

Gibbering Mouther: 21
Rosalyn: 17
Asp: 12
Shawn: 11
Lorraine: 8

[Seethe]

That noise! It was just too much! Rosalyn shuddered as it filled her head, ruining every coherent thought she tried to think. Nothing made any sense to her now. All she knew was that she wanted this noise to stop. She had to make it stop.

But to do that, she had to kill... something. She forgot what. She didn't have time to remember, though. She just had to get this noise out of her head. And so, her now broken reasoning led her to conclude that she should just start... with whatever happened to be closest.

[Idran1701]

Limbo

With a glazed look in her eyes, as if she's not all there, Rosalyn draws another arrow and swings around, looking for the closest individual. Settling on Asp, she knocks and lets fly her projectile. It shoots straight for his bag, and the cat within, but Nora manages to leap free and onto the ground just in time, as the arrow lodges on something within. Digging her claws into the ground, she hisses at the archer as her hackles rise, and Asp can feel she most certainly is not pleased with Rosalyn right now.

Rosalyn aims for the closest target; randomly chosen, as Asp, the Mouther, and Aaron are equidistant. She shoots, and her arrow misses Nora. Nora is still in the same square as Asp, but if this changes she will be marked.

Battle Mat

Initiative

Gibbering Mouther: 21
Rosalyn: 17
Asp: 12
Shawn: 11
Lorraine: 8

[Kelne]

"Hey!" Asp says, "That was so not called for." Resolving to give his teammate a stern talking to about benefits of cooperation, Asp nevertheless sticks to attacking the monster for the time being. After all, it probably wants to kill and eat everybody. With that in mind, he gathers up a small sliver of energy and hurls it at the thing.

Nora, meanwhile, puts Asp between herself and danger.

(Acid dart away!)

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn sighed, looking almost bored at Rosalyn. Why was it that some people just couldn't stand a little bit of noise?

She squinted a bit, and tried to will walls to appear around her, so that she'd be in time-out. At least until she came to her senses.

If not longer.

[Idran1701]

Limbo

While Nora moves to a more-protected spot at Asp's feet, the kender channels his skills of conjuration, pulling a sliver of acid from some unknown realm and shooting it at the Mouther's hide. It grazes a flailing tendril, deflecting off into the chaos before dispersing into nothingness. Meanwhile, spying the danger from their for-now-deranged companion, Shawn pulls the ground up around her, enclosing her on all four sides in a small box of dirt. It's not impenetrable, but it should do for at least the short term.

Asp shoots an acid dart at the Mouther, but misses. Shawn succeeds on her Control check to form walls around Rosalyn.

Battle Mat

Initiative

Gibbering Mouther: 21
Rosalyn: 17
Asp: 12
Shawn: 11
Lorraine: 8

[Besyanteo]

Well. That was unexpected. Still, she didn't have time to gawk any more: She couldn't withstand the chaos forever, and she was starting to feel panicky just being in it. Worse, Aaron's thoughts and feelings told her than things had just gone to shit back on the ground. She dove back down, already trying to weave another spell as she went: It wouldn't ensure her safety from the creature, but it would make the Mouther's life more painful if it did try to grab her.

(Babau Slime!)