[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.
The archivist strokes his chin as the party updates him on their enocunters so far.
ReplyDelete"Hmm...so you say after the chapel became 'real' everything vanished but the candles? Which were out."
Garg looks at him, then begins to stroke his chin, adopting the same cross-legged stance. At the same time, they both raise one hand and grin.
"Perhaps if we light the candles, the darkness will fade? You did learn about the room there, after all, and the ogre seemed to know about illusions. They could easily be related."
Garg nods sagely, pretending to be part of the conversation. Archie shrugs.
"And if that doesn't work, we should go put your shield there into the mural."
Garg growls, and wiggles his tail.
"Then hit magic wall with big stick."
Archie nods, patting him on the head.
"A potent application of brute force is always an excellent last resort."
Reginald listens to the recounting of events to date with suppressed enthusiasm. He thinks to himself, half mumbling his thoughts under his breath,A wall with precisely shaped objects? A room full of only burnt out candles, and a guarded illusion? What ever these things are, tests or traps, the solution will not be lightly veiled.
ReplyDeleteArchie pipes up after his meal to assess the situation and the possible next moves, and Garg plants himself next to him. Reginald watches the two with amusement as they move in near unison. How quaint and entertaining! he muses. After Archie finishes, Reginald replies.
"If this chapel was an illusion, and guarded, and full of nothing but candles, I say it must bare importance in some form. While this Vlad fellow sounds like the type play sadistic trick on unwitting entrants, I sincerely doubt a mind as corrupt as his would wish to waste servants on guarding nothing special," after thinking a short moment, he adds with a smirk, "unless he wished to profit off of someone else's Midas-hands rubbing off on his property."
"At any rate, it's a good start, so I say we head their first... The prospect of the shield in the wall, though? If it works, I applaud your intuition. Unfortunately, I doubt it will, however, as the number of holes present in the wall suggest a variety of things filling them at once for a final purpose. A long pole for instance makes up a ray of the sun in depressed relief, and what looks very much like a sword and shield make up the tree. If the sun symbolizes light elsewhere then I must wonder: what of the tree, or of the distant orb or castle?"
Reginald halts momentarily to make sure he makes eye contact with the Archivist, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to grill you for information you don't have. I'm merely positing critical thought."
Looking around at his companions, Reginald rests curious eyes upon Gauronne.
"You sir, the sheepish man - forgive the pun - with the wicked horns... Gauronne, was it? You are a magic user, are you not? On the aforementioned topic of trees, did you think to probe the area about the wall? Not the wall itself, but perchance that root that was mentioned? For I haven't seen any roots anywhere else, and, if your maps are correct, there is a tree root coming out a wall where there is no tree on the other side. A large root at that."
Reginald eyes his companions, well, sheepishly, himself and concludes, "I don't mean to be worrywart, but, given their propensity to yield nought but ill-fortune laden results, I would rather avoid potential traps when possible."
Having sad his piece on the matter, Reginald makes one final check on his equipment to ready himself and notices the canary in the corner, chuckling to himself as the lyrics to the song "Canary in a Coal Mine" come to mind. He whispers to himself, almost inaudibly, "Don't worry, you may be small now, but your size may well be useful yet." He smiles inwardly and awaits the input of the remainder of the group.
[OCC: I would be good for this weekend (tomorrow and Sunday) or next Saturday, as apparently I have the days off then :P
ReplyDeleteBut what day in particular where you hoping to hold this session?]
James looks back and forth between Archie and Gary as they do their little presentation. He smiles and breaks off a piece of his sandwich and hands it to Gary "you okay with peanut butter Gary?"
He sits back up and stretches, patting his stomach in satisfaction of his meal. He stops for a moment to think about the elevated barred door that they had passed. "umm... that barred door thing that was way up high, you guys think Mephis could make his way into the room on the other side and open it up?" he looks over at Gauronne for a moment "cause you said there was a button on the other side... could that open it up?"
"This sounds like a worthwhile option" Will replied. "Although we may also want to just attempt to toss a torch of some sort into the passageway before hand."
ReplyDelete