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Post by wingilbear on Aug 19, 2020 12:07:11 GMT
I will head back to my compatriot, It seems this longer safer path would not work for them. I will relay my findings and wait for scout.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 20, 2020 1:47:13 GMT
You're both sat, huddled in the cramped tunnel, trying to get as much light out of Blerble's lamp as possible. The blackness of the not-rock around you makes it difficult to judge just how tight of a space this is, since you can't see shadows or anything to show where the light is falling. The not-stone seems to ripple every so often, a trembling that comes and goes in an eyeblink.
Minutes (hours?) later, Scout comes scuttling back. She has several lights lit up on her tiny display, and they can only mean one thing: whatever down there, it's big, and it's bad.
What do you do?
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 20, 2020 2:45:52 GMT
<<Cell Block Zero is a strange place indeed. The walls are lined with silver cages, buzzing with bizarre and otherworldly magic. Locked within each cage are slumbering forms, no two alike, perfectly preserved in the moment between heartbeats. The room is lit by a blackened brazier full of off-orange coals, smokeless and soundless and requiring no fuel (as far as anyone can tell). The middle of the room is dominated by a massive iron table, covered in stacks of blank paper, torn journals, and writing utensils. In the far corner stands a large steel box with a glass front. The sides are painted in thick stripes of brown and green, and the whole structure has a certain surliness to it. Behind the glass are dozens of hooks, holding daggers, axes, helmets, potions and scrolls, and there's a slot to put coins in on one side. There are four exits to the room, to the North (perhaps a river can be heard?), South (the smell of mud and rot), East (cold stone) and West (the clatter of metal on metal, faintly).
A cage opens, and out climbs... you! Who are you? What was the last thing you remember before seeing this strange room? And most importantly... what do you do?>>
The exit from the cage rings with false freedom. To escape a cage, but to enter a strange room - no, this is not a hopeful scene. Egg Transmute isn't sure what his face should show for such an occasion. He is used to showing a sort of whisper-thin smile to make the mages satisfied, to think that Egg is content, but there is nobody to display such a smile to, here. The cage is all wrong, not like the filthy iron cages of Egg's last memory, rocking back and forth on a boat to yet another Academy, for yet another experiment.
Is this the result of him dozing off? Has he been moved to a facility without his knowledge?
Egg crawls along the walls and rattles the bars of silver cages.
"If the Crackling Abyss has any love of me at all, one of you will wake," he says in the voice of a raven-caller, harsh and feathery.
As he rattles the silver cages, Egg will look around for signs of other passage. He will look for evidence that he is in an Academy in the papers and books. He will smell the air for hints of food or sustenance. He will wipe the tears from his eyes without noticing that they are there.
He will dream of freedom.
OOC: My character has a blank for History: ____ fought by my side in the War...who do I fill this with?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 20, 2020 6:44:31 GMT
wingilbear Would you like to try and go up through the shaft, or rather back off and take a different path? (( jojiro Hi! The Academies and experimentation remind me of Twig.))
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 20, 2020 12:41:19 GMT
wingilbear The Academies and experimentation remind me of Twig.
OOC: You got it in one!
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Post by Spwack on Aug 21, 2020 1:38:16 GMT
jojiro here's what happens: You blink twice, and you're no longer in Cell Block Zero. You stand amidst a pool of some kind of silvery liquid, looking down. Something moves, you're gone again, standing atop a rickety rail above an impossibly deep abyss. Something moves, you're gone again. You lie, trapped, you could be buried upside for all you know, a worm holding a soft and steady lamp, accompanied by a red slime, finds you, and says: well, what do you say wingilbear? ((Yes I decided to "spawn" you in at this location rather than in CB0, hope you don't mind))
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 21, 2020 2:55:18 GMT
Let’s head back and find someplace safer to explore. I nod to the new figure pretending to not be surprised.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 21, 2020 6:34:53 GMT
@spwack Can I wiggle my way back? I don't think I would be able to turn around in this tiny tunnel.
We could try to climb up that ravine, then.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 21, 2020 8:47:09 GMT
Jaxudyzad would have a little trouble getting out, but since there is a T-junction here and you have time, you can do a "three-point-turn" and crawl out just fine.
Climbing the ravine is d4 damage and a Strength check to get up safely.
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 21, 2020 11:20:16 GMT
[vd1tWVgN1d4] [1d20+1]1d4·1d20+1
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 21, 2020 11:20:54 GMT
I am now at 1 hp
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 21, 2020 13:08:19 GMT
Strength: m9dZoSV01d20+2
Damage: 1d4
We can probably rest at the top.1d20+2·1d4
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 21, 2020 13:12:15 GMT
It's starting to seem we might have a problem here...
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 21, 2020 14:34:40 GMT
As we went from the crawl way to the ravine, I also turned to Egg: "Well met, new friend. I haven't noticed when you joined us, were you hiding in that dreadful crawl space? I must say I'm mightily pleased we're out of there. Anyway, we haven't yet been introduced - my name is Jaxudyzad, very nice meeting you! Say, would you remember how you came to be here in the dungeon? My memory from before waking up in the Cell Block Zero is quite fuzzy, truth be told, maybe you did fare better?"
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 21, 2020 16:49:39 GMT
Egg squirms in place, unable to move but tilting his head and squinting at the encroaching light. He emits a squawk at the worm and red slime as they turn to leave.
"I'm Egg! My name, I mean. This, this isn't nice at all though, as far as meetings go! I'm stuck, you see. I cannot move, and I know not how I got into this mess. Please, help me out before I'm transported by infernal powers to some more wretched state. I've talents, I've utility, please don't leave me here!!!"
As I say all this, I would like to take in the appearance of the slime and worm - what limbs do they have to hold a lantern, how tired or injured do they look, and do they bear any clothing or insignia that might clue me in to where I am?
OOC: Yeah teleportation is fine, same question as before though: My character has a blank for History: ____ fought by my side in the War...who do I fill this with?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 22, 2020 3:08:16 GMT
Whatever quivering you had in your various bones at all of the sudden teleportation, it seems to have settled down now.
With a shove and a pull, Blerbles (the worm) and Jaxudyzad (the person) pull you out of the tunnel, with Lil Red (the slime) lubricating your passage. It's not a comfortable ride, but you're out of the bizarre tunnel and back into the bottom of a wide ravine.
For those that are climbing, you've made it about halfway up the steep rockface, and realise that it's only going to get harder and more dangerous from here. You can see at least one jump that you'll have to make before you can keep going up on this side. Do you want to climb down (no check required) or press ahead?
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 22, 2020 16:07:31 GMT
The worm is an adventurer (blerble) but has no limbs and thus carries the lantern in their mouth. The lantern appears to be electric in a way some sort of tech for sure. There is a floating white glove hand with rings on each finger that seems to attend to the worm as well. I am wearing a shoddy red cloak seemingly mouth made and it has unusual bulges within of hidden items. I am indeed quite tired. I think we shall pause a moment and take stock. “This Climb seems to be more trouble than it is worth.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 22, 2020 19:00:28 GMT
Jaxudyzad is a victorian-ish gentleman, now regrettably hatless. Very close to the attached image, except he grew his hair longer to conceal the many scars on his head from the time he was the involuntary subject of experimentation in the dungeons of the porcelain king.
"Indeed. I don't feel particularly good about this climb, and there are still other paths to take."
I say we climb down and move to the glass-floored room, rest there to regain health, then go south and south-east to the T-junction near Flights of Fancy. I think the tunnel leading east from that junction is still unexplored, so we can continue that way.
(( jojiro Your history is supposed to suggest a way to connect to other PCs or give some quick and easy backstory to your character. You can finish the sentence with anyone you'd like, either another PC or some NPC. For example, Jaxudyzad tried to kill the porcelain king.)) Attachments:
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Post by Spwack on Aug 23, 2020 1:55:26 GMT
((Oh yes I should add that to he FAQ as well. You can also leave history open for as long as you like until you feel like you've got an interesting answer for it))
Scrambling back to the face of the ravine, then along the tunnel, then sitting atop the glass roof of the strange structure so far below. You can see little glimmers of light down there, far, far below.
Encounter check while you catch your breath and dust off your aching hands: GNDbyw021d6
The moving lights down there are pretty, but an odd gust blows through the chamber and you catch the faintest sign of a strange smell... you can stay here and find out what it is ((a glint)), or move on. What do you do?1d6
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 23, 2020 4:17:52 GMT
Egg makes his basic introductions to the group.
He's a halfling named Egg (true) from a humble village in the woods (false). He's lost and grateful for the help (true) and extremely scared of this place (false).
The lies come naturally to him - they're not malicious so much as defense mechanisms at this point, a way of establishing a comfortable distance through melding of fact and fiction.
...
Later, as the group arrives atop the glass roof, Egg asks what he's been thinking for a while. "What is this place?"
He moves as he talks, slowly dismantling his scythe. He's not sure why it exists, but it is an unwieldy weapon and a ready source of wood. After unscrewing the handlebars and dislodging the blade, Egg has a curvy but functional variant of the 10' pole.
He will test the two wooden handlebars as "climbing pitons" despite their 100% wood structure, seeing if they can lodge into notches in this glass roof and serve as easier, less hand-ache-generating handholds for climbing down. He will NOT climb down the glass roof, he is merely checking to see if this methodology bears fruit.
Egg also pulls at his clothes self-consciously.
"I know this isn't the time for it, but do either of you have a hat? I feel...exposed without one, sometimes."
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 23, 2020 4:55:35 GMT
We may wish to move on to safer areas or stay and investigate the glint which has a high chance of nastiness but also a chance at treasure
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 23, 2020 7:08:12 GMT
"I too have unfortunately displaced my hat as I was whisked here and the dungeon has proven quite lacking in sources of proper headwear so far." This isn't a bad place to wait for the encounter, IMHO. If we don't want to confront it, we have several routes to retreat. And potential treasure sounds good.
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 23, 2020 14:26:31 GMT
We check the glint spwack
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Post by Spwack on Aug 24, 2020 1:45:51 GMT
Lets see what happens: 9w2mTRNM1d61d6
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Post by Spwack on Aug 24, 2020 1:47:46 GMT
@red_kangaroo Jaxudyzad, the first you notice of it is a slight pressure on your left knee and right elbow. What do you do?
The rest of you, how are you arrayed? Where are you looking?
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 24, 2020 2:44:08 GMT
I am keeping an eye on one of the entrances. Using tremorsense to try to locate movement. keeping low.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 24, 2020 8:13:35 GMT
"Anyone noticed a weird... pressure?" I whisper to my companions.
I will have my javelins ready. Is there a direction to that pressure? If so, I will turn the way from where it comes.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 24, 2020 10:40:16 GMT
wingilbear, do you do anything in particular when you try and get a better "look" using tremorsense? Perhaps press yourself against the ground? At any rate, you feel something trembling nearby, perhaps with anticipation. But that doesn't make any sense, it would have to be on top of you to feel something so faint... @red_kangaroo, there's sound like a half-dozen whips cracking, and you suddenly have black fleshy loops wrapped around your arm and leg! They are already pulling you up towards the ceiling! A drop of something lands on your exposed flesh and burns like acid! Teeth glimmer. Tendrils curl. What do you do?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 24, 2020 12:59:14 GMT
I throw one end of the nightingale chain to Blerble and Egg, and hold onto the other end for dear life. I also try to reach for the monster's mind and crush it with mine:
XYt8Gu3Gd4d4
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 25, 2020 0:08:53 GMT
Egg is looking wherever the others aren't, I suppose? I'm not actually clear on the space we're in, except for the fact that we're on a roof of some sort, looking at a glint of some sort, having emerged from a tunnel.
I'll grab onto the nightingale chain and pull it taut with one arm and hurl salt at the exposed tendrils with the other, hoping that the salt will cause some response, as it might on the skin of a slug.
In terms of the "odd smell" from before, over the course of the time since this encounter, was I able to recognize it?
If yes, I convey that to party members in a shout as the struggle starts and continues. If not, I would like to try to discern more about the smell - if it's coming from the tentacle-creature for instance, or if it's coming from the tunnel behind us.
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