Author Topic: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)  (Read 26931 times)

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2012, 04:45:28 PM »
As she slips silently out of the conference room, the Margravine scans the area around the foot of the bridge quickly, which was the site reported by the Alarm, and gets a welter of conflicting impressions that she puts on the link immediately to keep everyone updated as commanded by Arkesh:

To normal sight, she sees no one there at all.

To tremorsense, she senses a heavy, big-booted figure who slaps his thigh, then suddenly…

To normal sight a tall, irregularly pulsating hemisphere, or foreshortened globe, of dense fog springs into view and stands at the foot of the bridge, blocking much of the view to the slave pens area, about 80 to 90 feet in diameter, curving up to shroud the ornately carved ceiling some 50 feet above. Its broadest diameter is about 10 feet above the ground.

The fog is completely opaque to all vision, and so the Margravine extends her Dream senses out, straining to catch any helpful glimpse and… ((nice roll!! you will get amazing detail)) a scene comes into view. In her mind’s eye she sees six creatures around the foot of the bridge, positioned in a tight vertical column like a precision tactical team. All are hovering except one.

The topmost two are circling rapidly, watching in all directions: A deep blue, beautiful horned Tiefling female, well over eight feet of muscled grace, with feathery black wings, and with four arms holding weapons including a spiked chain simmering with raw power, a sword, and nunchaku. A stolid, intense bearded human, cloaked and cowled, drawing a longbow strung with a strand of Rainbow, shimmering with Light of all Colors, a blazing Blue bolt ready to fire. As the Margravine slips deeper into Dream for more Lucidity of detail about her subjects, their faces come into focus.



There is also something else about the man that is troublesome. Some appear in her Dreams in ways that are harder to deflect, with a great weight of Story behind them that impels their very nature, sometimes despite what she might wish. Lord Bane was such a one, when she covertly studied him through Lucid Dreaming. This human has that same impelling weight of Story, harder for her to deflect, as if he too stepped out of Legend like Lord Bane.

Below them, are three more figures facing outward in a defensive circle that is also slowly rotating as their gazes sweep the area in front of them: A strange red-skinned being, more or less human looking but shimmering with heat, is weaving an intricate pattern with a wickedly curved, double-bladed scimitar as if to unleash Magic through it. The next creature in rotation presents a very strange dream image, at once filled with Darkness and radiating Light; these are so strong they overwhelm and nearly wash out whatever visual impression she could expect from Dream. His brilliantly polished golden plate mail is hard to pick out against the Light, its intense golden shine seems to illuminate his cloak from beneath. His massive sword is motionless, ready. His unwinking glare is strange, unnerving, the only strong focal point in his surreality. The third figure is unmistakeable, a Pixie pirate with an enormous, outsize sword. Indeed the Captain Vir out of Legend, he too carries the weight of Story. His dream image is so bright, with flecks of light streaming from him in clouds, that he is hard to see clearly and even the huge sword is obscure in the brightness.



Only one figure is not hovering, and he is easily the most solid in the Margravine’s dream sight, in fact he looks too real for a dream image. She sees a Dwarf, even taller and broader than usual for his kind, and to Lucid Dreaming he is radiating Holy Emerald all around him, the brilliant green wash overpowering all colors around him, including what she thinks might be red-orange hair, or some other light color. His armor and axe are solid emerald as well. All over the lower part of his beard, he has sticks tucked into the braids, and more in the hair braids down his back. As she watches, he is releasing Magic, with a method that seems far too similar to Thrash for comfort. Then he chews a piece of candy, and turns his attention to the bridge, pressing a handful of some grayish white clay-like material into each corner just below where the bridge meets the walkway on this side.



Looking at the Dwarf on the bridge, a change in the river below catches the Margravine’s eye. Froth begins to coat the river, a foam of bubbles that starts as pinkish, and quickly turns red, with streaks of green as well, as if the river has turned to blood. Mostly submerged chunks of flesh bob heavily on their way downstream.

The swirls of damp breezes coming off the river have taken on a faint metallic charnel smell, and the sound of the rushing river, though still echoing, has been muted by the red foam.

The pit of the Margravine’s stomach thrills like a storm just before the first thunderclap.



Stooth hisses on the link: "That human, the second image the Margravine showed us, he’s the one I spotted lurking around topside asking questions. Even the Illithids couldn’t focus on him long enough to know what he was doing.

The last one, that Dwarf: He is the Hand of Dumathoin, the one who went into MetroMagic in Sigil. His name is Ror Fatefist. The Deity has sent His own personal player here, for His own reasons. I told you this was getting more complicated by the minute. How that Elven witch managed to attract favorable Dwarven Pantheon attention… Dumathoin’s reasons may have little to do with Star Feather, but even a temporary alliance is a very bad turn of events.”


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Offline Harald

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #21 on: April 16, 2012, 05:14:01 PM »
Morbleu ! she thought audibly through the telepathic channel. Ennemy leading team spotted. I don't think I will be able to stop them alone. What is your position ? I am waiting your green light to engage.

"-Lady-Captain, we detect 20 hostile vessels against us,  and Erasmus Haarlock's Spear of Destiny ! What are your orders ?
-RAMMING SPEED !

final result : 6 slaughts vessels, 4 imperial frigates, 2 imperial cruisers destroyed. Haarlock sent into the warp. 0 losses. Flawless Victory.

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #22 on: April 16, 2012, 06:50:09 PM »
Gleron/Gabriel relays <We're right behind you, dear.> as he steps out as well, sweeping his many senses across the area indicated by his ally.

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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #23 on: April 16, 2012, 07:47:36 PM »
((Yes, Gabriel only senses them with MJ, no Mindsight or else.

And, initiative!  They haven't seemed to notice you yet, so let's say it's a surprise round.))
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Offline Harald

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2012, 07:38:03 AM »
Message received. Target acquired.
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Moïra flought just above the ennemy group, and then... A lot of things happened.
With a though, she activated the artefact Arkesh gave her. Still invisible, the Margravine was now surrounded by the familiar yet deadly landscape of the Dreamheart. She took a small breath of the acrid, ozone-laden air, and started to think.
For in a place made of dreams, a well-trained mind is the sharpest weapon of all.
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She aimed the pixie pirate with her rifle, and opened fire, while her mind was wrestling control of the dream stuff surrounding her. Among the invaders, the air cracks and splits, opening into a yawning area of roiling blue-green
energy resembling a great mouth. And the Margravine was firing, unleashing a hail of bullets at close range on Vir in a blink, before flying away, ready to straf again on them.
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"-Lady-Captain, we detect 20 hostile vessels against us,  and Erasmus Haarlock's Spear of Destiny ! What are your orders ?
-RAMMING SPEED !

final result : 6 slaughts vessels, 4 imperial frigates, 2 imperial cruisers destroyed. Haarlock sent into the warp. 0 losses. Flawless Victory.

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #25 on: April 17, 2012, 09:45:19 AM »
As the Margravine is preparing to engage the enemy, Arkesh sends a message over the link.

<This is extremely strange... all three of the groups in the Warrens seem to have the same membership as the people you saw, Margravine.  What is going on here?>
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Offline Tshern

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #26 on: April 17, 2012, 06:02:32 PM »
As the group prepares to leave the room, Bane closes his eyes for a second, concentrating his mind on the dark side and unleashing its power upon his team. His battle meditation had won him several battles, but he knew he could also extend its power to other combatant in the group.

"This should help you. Gleron, eject me when the fight starts," Bane said with the slightest, but markedly sinister grin adorning his rough features. It was easy to tell that not many people who had seen this face had walked away from him...

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« Last Edit: April 17, 2012, 06:06:44 PM by Tshern »
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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #27 on: April 18, 2012, 09:06:41 AM »
As the Margravine flies to engage the enemy, suddenly deep guttural screaming begins in the long building to the south, the barracks where the Great One stocks his Umber Hulk troops. There is a cacophony of dozens of very large creatures in panic, and the clatter of a stampede of heavy feet and the splintering of a very solid stone door bursting outward, with bellows of desperation at the doorway, as a dozen pairs of feet rush out onto the street. Several of you are in position to see the remnants of the Umber Hulk garrison pouring out of the barracks, bellowing in panic, but they all are suddenly cut off, and go down as they run along the street, scythed in a wave like toppling wheat, regular Umber Hulk troops and Truly Horrid Umber Hulk officers alike. There are heavy thuds as their massive bodies hit the stone floor. Then there is silence from the barracks and the street, and the muffled sound of the red river plunging along its banks washes away the echoes of their deaths too.

At exactly the same time, Gabriel senses the largest surge of Negative Energy he's ever felt.  It runs along the stone floor and rushes into his perception, then recedes as quickly as it came.  ((Going along with it are 37 negative-energy HD... but the surge itself was larger than that.))

Then an agitated Arkesh comes on the link: <The Spider Mother curse them! I've just gotten a glimpse... they are running inside the walls! Don't trust any surface!>

Then the Margravine fires her shots, all of which fail to find their mark.  As she swoops in with the Arch activated, the enemies suddenly are within the bubble, and she can see them all again.  It's clear why she missed the pixie -- he seems to have shrunk down to Fine size between then and now.  The enemies seem dismayed and upset to be affected by the Maw, and then as she passes them by and they exit the bubble, some of them seem to be shifting form into large winged humanoids with serpentine tails.  It's also clear they got a good look at the Margravine -- her invisibility dropped as soon as the dwarf was inside the radius of the Bubble, and returned once he exited.

For everyone else, as the Margravine flies into and through the fog cloud, it suddenly disappears for the briefest instant and you can see a shimmering sphere in her position, and then the moment passes and the fog returns.

((Actions for Bane, Gabriel, and anyone else who wants to act in the surprise round?  You need to figure out whether or not the Bag thing is happening, too.))
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Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #28 on: April 18, 2012, 06:44:57 PM »
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Gabriel nods his head in gratitude at Lord Bane, and then casts a defensive spell on himself before exiting the building.

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« Last Edit: April 18, 2012, 06:58:57 PM by phaedrusxy »
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #29 on: April 18, 2012, 06:49:45 PM »
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The troll grins back and says "And here is something for you, Lord Bane, so that the enemies may not hinder your approach. I've seen how devastating your attacks can be, if you're allowed to approach within striking range."[/b]

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As Lord Bane exits the conference room, he can immediately sense an intense assemblage of the Force within the fog cloud.  When he concentrates on it (read: manifests Touchsight), the intruders immediately resolve and he can sense them normally.
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #30 on: April 19, 2012, 07:32:44 AM »
A shockwave slaps through the rock and the air, jarring everyone's teeth and shaking them to their bones, immediately followed by a rolling crash of sound. The floor of the complex jumps and sounds of sizzling shrapnel and huge blocks of tumbling rock rumble and echo across the entire slave pens area, coming from somewhere to the east, immediately followed by a second wave of heavy crashes of tumbling blocks of stone. A dust cloud is billowing into the air at the east end of the cavern.

Arkesh says urgently over the link, <The floor just jumped, all over the warrens. If the ceiling in here is as unstable as it looks, it may all come down. Did you feel that? Where did it come from?>
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Offline Tshern

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #31 on: April 19, 2012, 07:59:17 AM »
Inside Bane's mind Bane felt frustrated for not seeing his enemies, although he knew better than most how important stealth and cunning in combat can be. No point in revealing one's presence unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately for him, the spell cast by Arkesh was his only protection against detection, while the attackers were yet to reveal themselves properly.

However, the Dark Lord was far from helpless. He sent his consciousness rushing to all directions by reaching out with the Force, determined to locate his doomed adversaries and soon he was rewarded with some pleasing results.

"Some of them are hiding within the fog cloud. It would seem our planned defense positions are worthless," he informed his group telepathically.

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« Last Edit: April 19, 2012, 11:29:41 AM by Tshern »
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #32 on: April 19, 2012, 08:05:33 AM »
((The descriptions are as determined by the Margravine, in one of my posts above.))
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Offline Tshern

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #33 on: April 19, 2012, 08:09:24 AM »
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Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #34 on: April 19, 2012, 10:46:54 AM »
Via the relay, Gabriel replies to Arkesh (for everyone to hear) <It seems to be coming from the east of us, maybe the slave pens. Earlier, I felt a massive surge of negative energy, accompanied by some monstrous undead beast which seemed to be under the floor. The umber hulks here all died because of it, somehow. I don't know if it is related to the destruction in the slave pens.>
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #35 on: April 19, 2012, 08:54:34 PM »
Arkesh replies on the link, her tone doubtful, <I guess it could have been an undead beast... it's just not Star Feather's style, according to the information I have. On top of everything else, she has a strong aura of Radiance — that's why she glows, like Old Reliable witnessed.  Elven parents, but born in the Planes... she kills undead just by standing there.  So it's an unlikely alliance, though with her, I suppose anything's possible.

Elves allied with dwarves, Radiance allied with undeath.  As my Spider Queen said before I agreed to this job, 'She turns everything upside down and no one knows where they stand. It's her one endearing quality.'>


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Offline Tshern

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #36 on: April 20, 2012, 07:56:50 AM »
Feeling the presence of the monsters, Bane could feel the dark side powers surging within him, making his orbalisks to feed him with painful toxins. In a few seconds Bane's blood felt as if it was on fire, but he knew he would have to control his feelings and make sure he will not run directly to an ambush.

A heavy sigh escaped Bane's mouth as he tapped the Force and prepared himself for an attack. Directing his eyes straight towards the unseen enemy, he pulled and ignited his lightsaber and sent a message to the group "I am going in at the next possible opportunity. Any objections?"

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« Last Edit: April 20, 2012, 07:58:36 AM by Tshern »
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #37 on: April 24, 2012, 09:08:10 AM »
The party is jounced around by shockwave after shockwave, though not as strongly for those in the air. First, from the north, beyond the bridge on the far side of the slave pens area, a rumbling blast echoes across the cavern and dust billows out of the entrances to the warrens. Immediately another blast, not as loud, rumbles across the cavern from the northeast end, followed by another billowing dust cloud.

These are followed by three more, much fainter ones, to the north and east.

Soon after, Arkesh grimly says on the link. <Five more big explosions in five widely separated areas, all in places where the alarms triggered. I wonder what they're using to do it. There wasn't much magical residue, so the explosions were mostly from something else. It smells alchemical, more surprises.

The ceilings in here moved and shifted but nothing big came down in the old areas. A few places in Thrash's new tunnels partially collapsed but they're still passable.

I sent Umber Hulks to scout the damage from their explosions in the warrens. They've cut off the warrens from other parts of the complex by dropping the ceiling of the corridors for about ten feet to plug them floor to ceiling and wall to wall. It's very thorough. They probably did the same in the other locations. Good thing we have teleports set up to move around, but don't plan on walking anywhere. If it keeps some of them bottled up in the warrens where I can finish them off, so much the better.

After you finish the ones near the conference room, you could take out what they've got in the auction area. You were going to check that area next anyway. There are now three separate areas of alarms over there, probably three assault teams that may be grouping together. How convenient for you. But that's a lot of them, and one of them, I'm pretty sure it was the winged Tiefling female, just cut one of my Umber Hulk officers to shreds in a few seconds from behind by herself. So don't take them for granted, hit them hard to take them all out at once.

By the way, what happened to her where you are? I saw what you sent on the link. It looked like she turned into a Marilith and then vanished — where did she go? She couldn't have teleported within the Forbiddance unless she had a setup like we do, and with the Alarms I don't think that's possible.

I don't like this... I thought I caught a flash of Divinity in play for an instant there in what you sent me.

Here's a map on the link with the six explosions and the places I think are blocked. The two corridors east and west at the south end of the warrens are definite, I sent Umber Hulk scouts there. The two to the north, in those corridors on the east end of the auction area, are educated guesses from where the alarms triggered and where you saw fog clouds.

The fifth one, really the first one, was somewhere northeast of you at the far end of the slave pens but there was no alarm there, so I marked that corridor because it's the only exit. It was earlier, so maybe they set the explosion and split up from there to the other places.  The sixth one was an explosion in the EE storage areas but the exact location is unknown, and I don't really care at this point. By the time we send someone they may have moved on from there too. We can mop up in there later if we need to.  I'm working with Thrash up here (lucky me), but let me know if you need assistance.>


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Initiative
39Margravine
33Bane
31Stooth
17Gabriel

((enemy initiatives unknown))
« Last Edit: April 24, 2012, 09:31:01 AM by sirpercival »
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Offline Tshern

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #38 on: April 24, 2012, 09:23:34 AM »
"I do not have teleportation capabilities, so I would prefer to take out the group of snake-like humanoids next to our location. Not sure of their defensive capabilities, but we need to kill them at some point regardless. I am ready to proceed at a moment's notice," Bane messages to the group.

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Re: Part II: Rock, Hard Place, and You (a love triangle)
« Reply #39 on: April 24, 2012, 09:31:20 AM »
((Northeast, my mistake.  Fixed.))
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