Early Evening, Day Three - Part 3

[New map: you're currently standing "on" the entrance to this level.]

[Another quick update for today, as I have to unpack and repack for leaving this evening. For the sake of expediency, I will assume that the person who has the best ranged attack will try to fire the arrow-plus-rope.]

Musashidan fires an arrow from the wooden bow; it sails across the room and... it hits, embedding itself into the wall.

The party then ties the rope taut (say, by grabbing a loose stone from the first floor and weighing it down the hole).

[The Archivist casts Change Miscellaneous Object at a cost of 10 MP]

The rope begins to stiffen and harden, its surface smoothing from plaited cord to smooth hard metal as it becomes a pole; one end attached to an arrow, the other hanging down the hole in the floor.

The two most nimble characters, William and Musashidan, flip a coin... and upon winning, or losing, the coin toss, he climbs along the pole towards the doorway. When his feet touch the other side, the plates halt in mid-motion, as though someone had just switched off the music they had been listening to. If it had been the luggage carousel at the airport, you would now be worried about getting your bags.

Fortunately, it's not and and the party isn't here for national flights; the party can now safely cross the floor.

[Just as some general housekeeping notices:

1. If you wish to have a summary of game events, let me know by next week, so I know how far back I need to go. I'll work on it after that.

2. If anyone's wishing to quit the game, it'd be really handy if you let me know. With the number of people "playing" being as high as it is, doing the calculations and updating things takes a fair amount of time; if I can shrink this down a bit, that'd save time and make things easier for me and better for the other players.

3. I hope people have a good Thanksgiving. I promise not to attack the party with a horde of Haunted Sweet Potatoes... or do I?]

Early Evening, Day Three - Part 2

The party manages to pull everyone and everything up with them.

They discover themselves in the middle of a room, with a large amount of spinning plates on the floor, that rotate and swirl around. The rope hangs down the hole in the center of this room, where there is a small stationary ledge (which is now very crowded with the number of people in the party).

A door lies to the north.

[The room is about 3 x 3 "squares" in width (using the old maps for reference). The plates are spinning around in such a way that anyone wishing to cross over will have to be very quick on their feet, or get spun around and suffer damage. The pattern of movement is in concentric rings leading to the edge, with each floor plate spinning separately in a random pattern.]

Early Evening, Day Three

[Short update today because I only have (maximum) one hour of internet today.]

The party is standing below a rope which has been determined leads up to the upper level of a dungeon.

[Points to note: in case there's any confusion, all the players still have their hands, and nobody can fly.]

Everyone can climb it except for Gauronne, Reginald, and Archie.

TFDC IM RP Session Has Finished!

If you're wondering, it's on now. Come along if and when you can.

My AIM account is automatawriter, IM me and I'll invite you into the RP.

EDIT: ... and we're done again. Here's the transcript for those that missed it: here.

The next one will happen near the end of January or early February.

Live TFDC Session Saturday 14 November

The times are as follows (slightly amended):

CET 9 PM - 5 AM
GMT 8 PM - 4 AM
EST 3 PM - 11 PM
MST 1 PM - 9 PM
PST 12 PM - 8 PM
NZDT 9 AM - 5 PM (NB: Sunday)

Hope to see you there.

Morning+, Day Three

[To make up for the fact that the next week or so is going to have a somewhat bizarre update schedule, this update is going to be extra long; which will give us a nice little set-up for the "live" RP session being held this Saturday (I will be posting the time for this tomorrow after I've done a bit of time zone calculation for your benefit).]

Part 1 - Chapel
The party walks down the corridor, following the map back to the "chapel". The large cold corpse of an ogre lays outside in the alleyway, and the party tiptoe around this to go back into the bare, stone-walled room with the cross-based floorplan and the faux golden candle holders on the walls..

With a few matches, lighters, and casts of Light and Fire Bolt, the party members move from wick to wick, lighting the candles in their auric holders. Each lit candle causes the gold coloring to flicker and glimmer.

William and Musashidan, being the fastest in the party, run back to see if lighting the candles has had any effect on the magically darkened area that lies to the east of their current position. When they arrive there, they discover that, despite the idea being a clever one, it hasn't proven to be effective in the goal to provide light to the darkened area.

Upon reading from his sonilumigraph stone's record of the notes from the others about the events regarding the issue - having been hit unconscious means that his own memories of that time are... sketchy - Gauronne is able to piece together a theory: it seems likely that the original candle flames were some kind of magic illusion, which transformed the ogre-guarded cell into a priest-maintained underground chapel. When he cast Siphon, the illusion-providing light was destroyed, and thus the ogre attacked.

Since the candles seem to have had no effect on the magical darkness, the party continue onwards...

Part 2 - Puzzle Panel
Arriving at the wooden panel with the empty sockets, the party inserts the small silver shield into the cavity relating to the sun. Grag scuttles out of reach, not wanting to be near the silver. The shield slides into place. And then, without warning...

Nothing happens. No satisfying click of correct placement. No chorus of angels. No warm glow surrounding the party members.

Just a silver shield in a cavity in a wall. If a shield could be smug, this one would be: it's sitting in a nice comfortable cavity having a strange assortment of creatures looking at it. If it could talk, it would probably be mocking you: it's a small silver shield, so it probably has a superiority complex; "I mean, those wooden and iron shields are just so... ugh... common... *mumble*gold*mutter*lumen*grumble*shield enhancement drugs*cough*"

Checking back to see if this has illuminated the dark area, the party are somewhat disappointed. It appears that not even DOOM music will illuminate this area!

[NB: the silver shield is still in the wall, so if anyone wants to get it back again, just let me know. Also let me know if anyone wanted to cast "Probe" at the root; it was suggested, but nobody said they'd try it.]

Part 3 - The Magic Wall, or "Button, Button"
You arrive in front of the magic wall with the grating that supposedly functions as some kind of magic door.

First, you try the brute force method, which means exhausting all possible cases of... um... bashing down the door. However, this doesn't prove to effective, despite the particular enthusiasm of Grar.

Trying a more subtle approach, Mephis flies up through the grating, and over to the other side, after one of the party members lobs a light source over.

As the little yellow bird wriggles its way through the bars, it begins to shine and glow, as if it were made of gold. As it drops to the floor, the brightness becomes almost too glaring. And then, with a poofing sound, Mephis - normal, human Mephis - is standing on the other side. After taking a little time to get used to his old body - after all, it has been a while - he presses the button, and the grated wall begins to crack and break away from the rest of the wall, creating a proper doorway. The wall, grating and all, then slides down into the ground, opening up to allow the adventurers a chance to go into whatever lies beyond.

[If anyone wants to cause a temporal anomaly and alter their actions to one of the events, they can do so, just let me know.]

[Also, here's an awesome little treat for us. A big heap of thanks to Blueballs for this; any character inaccuracy is due to me not describing things properly in 1-2 sentences, and if you have a problem with it, I will transform you into Rhett Butler*.]

[From top left: Garg (with Mephis sitting on his head), The Archivist, Sarah, Gauronne, Musashidan, Leremy and Kit. I didn't have a physical description for Ferron, Reginald and James to give him; Blueballs has offered to do them too, so if you could either add to your reply, PM or IM me a quick sentence or two describing the physical description of your character.]

[*Unfortunately people might not get the reference, so here's the appropriate line of dialogue as explanation: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." - Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), Gone With The Wind.]

Update Staggering Notification

No, this doesn't mean that I'm going to be transforming this update into a deer.

I've found out that I'm going to be without internet access for most of the week after next (November 22-29). Therefore, the updates will happen on the following days over the next couple of weeks:

Wednesday 11 November (may be Tuesday, depending on where you are in the world).
Saturday 14 November (IM "live" session)
Wednesday 18 November
Sunday 22 November
Thursday 26 November
Tuesday 1 December and then back to the regular update schedule.

Early Morning, Day Three - Part 2 (Summary)

[NOTICE #2: The "live" RP is being held on Saturday next week, in case you missed that below.]

[NOTICE: Currently, I'm considering holding another IM-based RP next week. It's tentative at the moment, since it'll be on the day before I leave to go away, and I understandably have a lot to do, but it might be the last chance for a while and I want to give the new players an opportunity to experience this (and it might be a good way to get through all this first-floor stuff before moving on up). If I can get an idea about who's going to be available, I can judge to see if it would be worthwhile. As a reminder, it's held on AIM (since the majority of players seem to have already had accounts set-up on this service, though I'm happy to try something else if it's even less of a hassle) on Saturday/Sunday at 4PM to 11PM EDT (which I will convert to your time zones in the next update if asked).]

After the introduction of The Archivist, and Grrag... Grarghr... Rargra... the wererat, the party begins to reassemble its gear into their backpacks in preparation of departure.

[Just to summarize things as they are, as there have been a lot of new players joining and the game has been going on for a while now. Since I can only really guess where people are now, I figure now might be a good time for a summary and status update.]

Character Status

Mephis has been transformed into a canary. Currently, his gear is being "carried" by other members of the party (we're assuming it is William who is carrying it for the moment).
Male 23; CHANGES: 10-10-10-10-10-10-10; HP 20, MP 20, RP 5, XP 960 [1].

Sarah has been transformed into an anthropomorphic ferret. [IIRC, Sarah is also looking to be "cured" of her current condition, at the player's request.]
Female 22; CHANGES: 13-16-0-12-12-10-10; HP 20, MP 16, RP 6, XP 1025 [2].

William is still human, and has been so the entire game.
Male 24; CHANGES: 12-10-0-15-10-10-13; HP 23, MP 10, RP 6, XP 960 [1].

Gauronne is literally sheepish; having been turned by a transforming slime into an anthropomophic ram.
Male 70; CHANGES: 7-20-32-3-2-5-5; HP 10, MP 52, RP 2, XP 1085 [2].

Kit began the game somewhat unusually, having somehow obtained a cat's ears and tail.
Male 19; CHANGES: 10-10-10-10-10-10-10; HP 20, MP 20, RP 5, XP 920 [1].

Leremy, like his acquaintance Mephis, has become transformed - though less drastically - into an avian; he has been altered somewhat into an anthropomorphic sparrow. [Until noblelyon can get back access, I'll try to do the best I can by taking over for him.]
Male 18; CHANGES: 10-5-32-13-5-10-2; HP 12, MP 37, RP 4, XP 910 [1].

James is also human, and has remained so since the beginning of the game.
Male 20; CHANGES: 12-15-4-12-10-9-8; HP 17, MP 19, RP 5, XP 560 [1].

Musashidan has had a rather more... canine time of things; after having been introduced to the party in the form of a futuristic suited husky and cured, he has just recently been cured of the wolf form of lycanthropy.
Male 2 (yeah, I'm going to need this again); CHANGES: 25-8-0-15-0-15-5; HP 30, MP 8, RP 6, XP 635 [1].

Reginald is a reasonably new addition to the party, so is still human.
Male 24; CHANGES: 16-6-4-6-20-12-6; HP 18, MP 10, RP 7, XP 0 [1].

Ferron is another new person so is quite human.
Male 23; CHANGES: 10-15-0-12-1-11-21; HP 20, MP 20, RP 5, XP 0 [1].

The Archivist (Archie) is also quite new, so is still human. His companion, Grrarghgrllfrg (Garg to his... friends?), is less so, being a wererat.
Male 21; CHANGES: 5-15-25-5-10-5-5; HP 10, MP 40, RP 3, XP 0 [1].

Current Map

There are two unexplored areas of the map. The first lies in the darkened area beyond 11, and lying south of the party's current position; the other lies in the large square area surrounded by references 1, 2, 3, 12, 9, and lying north of the party's current position.

The Unexplored, Unexplained or Unnatural

2: Magic "Door"

The party continues to the north. Eighteen metres (48 feet) down the corridor, just before the passage makes a left-hand turn, Gauronne's perusal of the walls spots a small barred opening half a metre (one and a half feet) in height, and about a metre (three feet) across, near the top of the wall.

Furthermore, it is apparent to Leremy and Gauronne, and to a lesser extent the remainder of the party, that there is something particularly magical about this wall, as it is almost shining with magical energy.

The magic of the wall doesn't seem to want to relinquish the secrets of the area beyond very easily; though Gauronne is able to get one small glimmer before the force of the wall repels his efforts: there is some kind of button on the other side of the wall that would seem to open the wall like a door.

5: Arcana "Don't turn on the light!"

Along the way, Gauronne and Leremy notice some Arcana writing. It is rather basic, but the message is rather cryptic: "Don't Turn On The Light!" has been written with a feeling of earnestness.

6: Portal Exit

Journeying along the slightly slimy corridor, they pass by what looks to be a sealed doorway. The Arcana carved into the doorway's stone arch frame denote this as an "exit only" portal gate; an entrance portal - such as a trap, or entrance to a prison, or perhaps an emergency exit - is set up in one or more places and directed, via the runes, to the "address" of this exit portal. Anyone or anything passing through it will immediately appear in this chamber.

10: "The Chapel"

As the party continues down the left hand corridor, you see a thick wooden door frame going into what is set out to be some kind of small underground chapel, with a few walled-off sections that appear to be crypts. Sweeping the doorway with a large, old-fashioned broom is a plump, jovial-faced priest in a brown cloak. He is currently whistling hymns to himself. The chapel glimmers strangely with the candlelight from the wall's gold-looking candlesticks.

...

Meanwhile, the investigation of the "chapel" proves interesting. It seems as though the entire "chapel" was in fact an illusion. Although the walls are as described, none of the furnishings that the party saw earlier are actually there, aside from the candles in the faux golden candlesticks; all of these appear to be out.

11: Darkened Area

The party continues along the corridor, stopping in front of a passage into which light just seems to stop. You can't see anything in there: walls, treasure, monsters, anything. It's as though all light were being absorbed.

This darkness, obviously magical in nature, seems to be the result of runes carved into the stone; it appears as though the only way to illuminate the area is to turn on some kind of light source somewhere inside this section of the dungeon. Any other light sources, magical or otherwise, will be absorbed by the darkness spell, in order to fuel itself.

12: Puzzle Panel

In a small alcove, where a large root has broken through the wall, the party discover a strange panel in the wall. This panel has an elaborate painted image on it [note: the word "elaborate" is used rather loosely in this case]. There appear to be some rather odd pieces missing from the image, and slots carved into the wall behind them to fit different pieces..


[There are six "missing pieces" in the image. There are numerous things which may fit into each spot, though only one correct set. The general type of object that fits into each slot is:
(1) A staff.
(2) A small shield.
(3) A large shield.
(4) A sword.
(5) A sphere or a ball.
(6) A book.

Gauronne learns that the panel appears to function as a safe; likely behind it there is some great treasure or other. The panel is obviously enchanted: there's no possible way that an axe can cut through it, for example; it has also been insulated from all intrusive magical attacks. The chamber behind is lined with a magical "skin" that prevents magicians from probing its contents.

From his own knowledge, he can tell that the items that fit into the slots are not only very particular in their design, but will be of high quality: nobody goes to the effort to store valuables in this manner only to find out that a piece has degraded with time, or accidental or deliberate damage.

[After talking with Blueballs, I realized I might need to explain: unless otherwise stated (by any you when designing equipment, or by me) all small shields are round, and all large shields are kite.]

After Archie has his meal, the party decide it's time to move.

Early Morning, Day Three

[Re: Introductions: Probably not necessary, though I won't stop you from doing so if you want.]

The party settles down to rest, everyone eating and drinking and relaxing.

Before heading in for the night, with some mediation between Gauronne and Leremy, Musashidan is healed of his lycanthropy: his limbs slowly revert back to their usual human shape, the gray fur sucking back into his body, revealing his normal pinkish flesh. Even his tail shrinks back into him; although the rip in his pants where it burst out is still there.

[Note: if any of the players object to this, let me know and it'll be altered faster than Season Nine of Dallas*.]

[For "tonight" I'll assume guard duty goes in alphabetical order: Ferron, Gauronne, James, Kit, Leremy, Musashidan, Reginald, Sarah and William.]

[Also, we have a new player and character joining us today: The Archivist will be played by Blueballs.]

During William's turn, he notices a commotion to the west; from out of the darkness, a wererat approaches. William goes to draw his sword, but before the wererat pounces it seems to slow and stand there in a daze. His eyes glaze over as his hairy shoulders slump, his long pink tail waving back and forth on the ground.

A tall, skinny guy with a scruffy, unkempt, disheveled look and most prominently dressed in an over-sized blue cloak that glitters in the party's light approaches with a very large book, which dwarfs his chest, clutched tightly to him as he dashes forwards to catch up to the wererat. The wererat appears to be obeying his commands for the moment, very slightly mimicking the young man's actions.

[The Male Wererat is currently being Commanded by The Archivist.]

[*If this is too obscure a pop culture reference for you, go to the Wikipedia page for Dallas (TV show), and search for "dream".]