The first few rays of dawn peaked over the horizon as the taxi rolled to a stop in front of an open stone doorway fashioned into the side of the cliff.
Otherwise talkative, the jovial fat black cab driver had grown silent as his passengers had fallen asleep on their long voyage. He had been given an envelope - with instructions to pick up four people and rather obscure directions to follow - by his boss, who had been stressed enough to break into his native Chinese a couple of times during their brief meeting. There was a lot of money riding on this fare: given the distance he'd have to travel, he had hoped so; but it was a *lot* more, even for that long a ride. However, once he got a good look at the destination, fear prickled through him and he realized he should have refused.
The square, gray stone portal pressed into the side of the out-of-the-way cliff was well-known in the community: many people had gone in for various reasons - fame, fortune, the desire to do good or become a hero - and had never been seen again.
Then again, a lot of people had been disappearing lately...
The taxi driver shuddered, his massive bulk quivering. He was starting to feel a prickling sensation over his body, and he was getting hot...
He felt something climb up from somewhere inside, and slowly take control of his body. His mind started wandering, until eventually the magic curse on the money had taken effect.
The body of the taxi driver jammed harshly on the breaks, rattling the sleeping quartet awake. A dark hand then roughly grabs the key out of the ignition and forces it into the man's mouth. A loud gulping noise later, and the car key is swallowed.
"We're HEEEEEEEEEEARGH!", he screams, eyes completely white, before somehow tearing through his seat belt, still buckled about him, and leaping through the front window, causing small shards of bloodied glass to spray outwards like a hailstorm. A few pieces fly backwards into the car, thankfully avoiding causing any of the four remaining people in the car any major damage.
As the adventurers fully awaken, the body that was once the taxi driver begins to quiver and shake. Large tusks begin to sprout from the lower jaw, while its hands begin to reshape, the fingers merging into two fat digits while the nails darken and ooze around the ends, forming cloven hooves.
What a way to start a quest!
(Players Note: You do NOT have any of your equipment apart from your clothes with you for this encounter, but the taxi driver is going through a rather painful transformation and has just caused his body tremendous damage by jumping out of the taxi, so you can probably deal with him reasonably easily. Your stuff is locked up in the trunk/boot of the taxi.)
(Mephis here by the way. heya. :3)
ReplyDeleteHaving been rather abruptly awakened, watches in confusion and mixed waryness, still groggy from the some-what long trip, only to blink and waken fully as the driver, in a possible fit of insanity jump through the front window, and begin his transformation. He tries to make for the door, but is blocked in (Sitting in the middleish right?) and whap/smack the peron sitting next to him's shoulder, to get him (or her) to hurry up and open the door.
I become aweaked and feel confused, look next to me and see Mephis hurrying me up, but im soo foggy and don't understand well why, i open the door and go out, leaving he go out too, when i see the driver, i scream in horror seeing his transformation, run to him to try to help him in any form but i'm really nervous.
ReplyDelete[OOC: Quentin Long, aka Cubist, here. It might be appropriate for us to provide descriptions of our characters, yes? My character's name is Gauronne. He's about 5'10", 130 lbs (yeah, he's slim), and he's close to 80 years old. Looks it, too; at least he's a healthy 80... Full head of white hair -- "widow's peak" receding hairline -- and blue-gray eyes. Speaks with precise diction and good grammar; his mannerisms and body language suggest strongly (and correctly) that he's a college professor. Not a lot of street smarts, not a notably physical person.
ReplyDeleteOh, and it looks like Blogger accepts HTML tags -- yay!
Gauronne certainly wasn't expecting anything like this! He will apply his keen analytical mind to figure out what sort of magick the poor taxi driver is being zapped by, and how to undo this enchantment with the least unpleasantness for the victim or other people.
[Rulebook/Purchase List Alterations]
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing some things with Mephis, I shall be adding in a new "set" of spells later on.
I have also rejigged the spreadsheet (although it's blank at the moment and some of the functions haven't been put in yet). However, as a result, you may enchant any item (that you can wear/wield anyway, otherwise it doesn't really make sense) with an attribute boost or effect resistance.
This will mean changes to both the rulebook and price list, which I will be doing when I get home. They should definitely be available in the next 24 hours, so if you wish you can make changes to any purchases you've done.
(OOC: William is 5'11", 170, with Dirty Blonde hair. Currently he is wearing shorts and a tshirt as his armor he uses for shows and such is in the trunk(that or SCA member).
ReplyDeleteWilliam got up with a start as the guy screamed and stumbled out of the car. "What the heck?" he yelled as he watched what was happening to the driver in horror.
(Sarah is 21 yars old student of psichology in the university, have long dark brown hair, white skin and green eyes, she normally wears a little glasses and the university uniform.
ReplyDeleteDon't look very storng, but she is really beautyfull, a lot of people in the university know about her, she is one of the prettiest girls in the university, but she is always in the bibliary)
sarah go to the taxi and take the keys and go to the trunk, try to open it to take his medical kits
[Alterations Update]
ReplyDeleteFrom a rather interesting discussion with Cubist, and the previous comments from Mephis, I'm going to be adding in a fair amount of new spells as well as making a few alterations to the original rules.
This is going to delay the update, unfortunately, but I believe it will be very worthwhile. It is also going to delay the processing of the equipment lists and of adding data to the character sheets.
I'll try to get as much done as I can during my lunch hours over the next couple of days to try to get it done for this weekend.
After managing to get out of the cramped car, he quickly takes a stretch and hurries along behind Sarah, ready to grab his own equipment, while keeping an eye on the driver.
ReplyDelete