RAIXEL'S SUPER SECRET INTRODUCTION GAME

[beowuuf]

Please please please don't read this thread unless you really want spoiled about who Raixel is going to play ahead of time

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I will do it, or I will die.


The diminuative champion was spun around by the voices, the voices only she could hear. The tortured earth and the maddened wind shrieked and raved around her. She could hear the anger and confusion of the bones of Anaias, yelling 'MON YA MON YA MON YA'. And yet as she turned around to see the wall that had formed defiantly to block her way, it crumbled to her gaze. 'MON OH, MON OH, MON OH' came the beckoning call of the revealed corridor. However, the voice of it was insane, and its cheerfulness too great.

The walls were opporessive and grey, and were the opposite of everything right thinking people enjoyed in nature in the world outside. And the air was not a friend, the air was a bully pressing into her face and trying to push her down, trying to knock her around when it was allowed to play.

She had lost her friends and allies, for this place shifted too much. The tales of the dungeons of Anaias had warned of their twisted nature. However, those dungeons her father and brother had been forced to navigate had still been held in check by the presence of Librasulus at the door, beckoning more and more champions to their deaths.

This time though, this time Lord Chaos ruled here alone. His insane device and insane mind were unfettered here, deeper in the mountain than anyone could have guessed. And so floors opened up without warning and rooms shifted. Creatures that had died out, or lieved a world away, or should never have been raced about the corridors crying out for vengence against nothing and everything.

It was as if the whole mountain sensed the prescence of the material that should not be, the corbum. And it was as if the Mountain had finally been driven insane by the prescence of the High Lord that should not exist, Lord Chaos.

The diminuative champion was spun around one last time by the voices. It was clear that each revealed corridor was mocking her. For each corridor spoke of one of the four alignments of Men. As a sorcerer, she was not part of the mundane world, and instead flowed through the natural world on the currents of magic. Or that is how it felt. And yet, the runes of alignment were so faint sometimes, or so overpowering. Existing in man, she had to struggle to understand the ways of the fighter and rogue. Those who tried to steal from the world instead of joining with it, or those who tried to use the world to fight without being able to call upon its most powerful gifts. Really, the ways of the prist and the wizard should be understandable too. And yet the wizard tried to think about mana and runes, instead of feelign them. And the priest looked to the external world instead of inside themselves. And so she always felt she was coming to their paths from the other side, unable to understand their journey to the same power, just as they could not comprehend hers.

The Junction of the Ways

The champion and her allies had been twisted and forced back to this place again and again. Now she was alone here, being mocked for her unique gifts somehow as the ways vied for her attention.

"Haha! Your blood, the blood of your family, and the blood of many innocents will be shed here!"

The voice was high pitched and irrational. However, it was a real voice and pulled her attention downwards. She was not tall, and yet the figure that had emerged at her side, mocking her, barely came up to her waist.

"Behold my power! MON OH KATH RA!"

A tiny discharge of static twinged her hand painfully. Even that was not really enough to distract from the figure before her. Shaking a spiked fist, with fire and shadows wreathed around its body, stood a black cloaked figure. It wore an oversized helm on its head, red eyes gleaming from behind it. However, red eyes that - behind the flames - seemed very human.

"Bow! Bow before my might!" squeaked the figure, shaking its fist again. It was, aside from the size and voice and inability to produce threatening magic, a perfect representation of Lord Chaos.


I know we haven't finalised the sorcerer mechanically, but I still think the above is a good definition of the strengths and limits of a sorcerer narratively in the description of the Junction of the Ways. Feel free to sculpt that idea if you have a better one. Oh yes, and welcome to the dungeon. I warned you it was going to be weird. It's also a little bit angry, and seems to contain mini-Lord Chaos. Feel free to interact with him, feel free to try and figure out some of the background things (like corbums, etc) with some skill checks, or feel free to just choose a corridor charge madly into it headfirst to avoid the madness, looking for your allies.

Oh, and feel free to refer to your character name now, I think my post provides enough spoiler space.

Good luck!

[raixel]

OOC - What are my posessions?


Petal blinked in weary confusion at the tiny figure before her.
"What now?" she thought, exhausted. "This imbalanced cursed place mocks me!"

She lept into the air, her wings buzzing like the sound of a hundred dragonflies. Hovering near the ceiling of the dungeon, she looked down at the tiny Chaos.

"What do you want, foul creature?" she growled. "You are not Chaos, and unless you can tell me where my allies have gone, I want nothing to do with you!"
She peered down each junction before looking back at the dimunitive firgure, trying to make some sense of the chaos unfolding before her.

Perception to find out exactly WHAT this Chaos Mini-Me really is (1d20 +4=7)

Her vision wavered from exhaustion as she tried to see into the creature's oddly large helm. Where were her friends? She couldn't deal with this alone. She racked her brain trying to think of anything that might help Knowledge(arcana) (1d20+4=7). Could she feel the mana in this twisted place well enough to cast a spell? She was afraid of the results, but if the tiny Chaos made any agressive move towards her, she might just have to. For now, maybe she could get it to talk to her. For she didn't believe this little thing was a true manifestation of Chaos. Probably just a function of how disbalanced this place really was.
She had heard mention of a material called Corbum, and she wondered if she had studied it at some point. (1d20+4=15)(knowledge arcana) , and if she had, could thatr knowledge help her here? For now though, getting back to her allies was enough.
She flitted to the mouth of each passageway, while keeping an eye on the movements of the tiny being beneath her. The mana in this place was opressive. She tried to steady her mind against its insane ravings. MON YA MON YA MON OH MONYAOHMON... She found her center and focused. The path of the Ninja was out, as well as the path of the Warrior, for she was neither of these. But neither was she a Wizard or a Priest. Perhaps there was a way to go down both of them? Or neither? She tried the walls and the ceilings around the junctions, looking for any hidden buttons or caches that might open up another way. (1d20+4=19)
As she searched, she looked over her shoulder at the little being who was standing there, shaking its tiny fist and looking for all the world like a 3 year old dressed up as a monster on Spirit's Hollow Night, going from door to door for sweets.
"So, got any bright ideas?", she asked tiredly, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

[beowuuf]

For now, no possessions exacpt the clothes mentioned in the backstory I'm afraid!


"I want your submission! I demand your submission!" screamed the tiny Lord Chaos in a squeaking voice when asked who he was. As Petal berated him, his mood suddenly changed, and he fell to his knees, thumping the ground. "You will submit!" he wailed, petulantly. Small fiery tears dripped from his eyes, and set the edges of his cloak briefly alight.

Petla looked the miserable creature over, but could tell very little. It looked and sounded exactly like a shrunken Lord Chaos. It was hard to tell too many details because of the perpetual cloud of smoke and fire that blazed off into nothingness. And, of course, it was hard to even look upon the creature. It was a mockery of everything she stood for. She had come her to defeat the terrible evil that has taken the lives of friends and family, and had threatened the world twice now. This seemingly exact copy couldn't be anything other than a slight against that. Some twisted joke at her expense.

There was not much she could glean, either, from her knowledge. Too much of her magic came from knowing and feeling the world intuitively, not from ineffective learning. As such, a twisted landscape such as this which overwhelmed her senses could tell her very little. And she had hear no real tales of the magic of the dungeon - tales of the fighters others had fought beside and seen were always more important.

The only thing Petal could really think of, was that despite the obvious magical nature of what was around her, it felt and acted like it truly existed. Could it therefore be possibly that this Chaos creature before her was, in some way, also a representation of Chaos? Not s true manifestation of Chaos, but maybe enough of an echo. An echo Lord Chaos did not realise could be used as he used it to mock her?

As Petal looked around, she realised that the walls were no longer crumbling so quickly. It took only a moment longer to spot that the walls were only crumbling when 'Lord Chaos' was looking across in her direction. From a better height, Petal could see the subtle outline of a huge pressure plate, almost the size of this enclosed space. She had met these before - sometimes the mechanical fixtures of Lord Chaos had some small sentience, and could tell the direction or possessions of the party.

As she caught Chaos's gaze, and threw the question at him, Lord Chaos reacted with arrogance. "Choose a way! It is the only method to amuse me!" he shook his fist again. "Amuse me, and I will let you get close to your heart's desire before I crush you!" Lord Chaos's pipping high pitched laugh echoed a little. The small High Lord then picked up a tiny stone, clumsily in his gaulntleted hand, and threw it at Petal as if to drive her on. Currently, she was hovering beside the way of Ku - the warrior.


There we go, sorry I didn't get to update this morning, was running late in the end. I'll answer your PMs, update the main thread I guess

[raixel]

Petal landed next to the little Chaos as he alternately shook his fist and thumped the ground. "There, there little one" she cooed soothingly. "I understand, it must suck to be so tiny."
Damned Lord Chaos, she thought. If he's going to mock me, I shall mock him back. Well at least this tiny form of him.
Looking at the little being she tried to pat him on the head, but settled for patting the air a foot above his flaming head so she wouldnt burn her hand.
"I understand, no one takes you seriously.. Here then.."
And completely mockingly, she stretches her arms out and bends over at the waist as if bowing to the petulant Chaos, even tough bent over she is still level with his head. "That better?"

She scoops up the stone Chaos threw at her off the ground, and takes off hovering over the tiny Chaos again, preparing to wing the rock off the little monster's helm. Ranged attack w/a rock (1d20 +8=26)

I didnt roll damage, as she isnt trying to initiate combat, unless Chaos does. Mostly just RP to try and annoy the little thing!

[beowuuf]

Lord Chaos proudly stood, and then suddenly burst out laughing. "It's funny because you are tiny too!" he said, and doubled up with laughter. His tears kept coming, forming little hissing pools on his cloak until he finally keeled over, rolling on the ground.

His eyes came up angry as she mocked him for not being taken seriously. "Everyone takes me seriously in the end," he said with a menacing hiss, his eyes glowing wide. He stands prouder again as she bows, nodding and waving a regal hand as if acknolwedging her supplication.

Petla's next actions take the pint-sized High Lord by surprise, and he takes a step back as the rock collides with his helm, creating a resonant 'thunk' noise. The rock falls back into Chaos's hand, and the High Lord crushes it after a few false starts and grunts.

"Everyone takes me seriously, in the end," he hisses again, flicking the pile of dust onto the floor. There is a small 'zap' sound, and Chaos disappears.

"Stay there and die trapped then!" yells out Chaos from the other side of a rapidly reassembling wall. In a fraction of a moment, Petal is trapped in a solid grey box of stone.


Heh, you scored a hit to "Chaos's" ego, but perhaps - for the moment - at the cost of being able to attempt opening two ways at once. Once Petal touches down, the walls will open again in the direction she is facing, so she can still choose a path. The mini-Chaos disappeared, appropriately enough, through the Dain pathway wall.

[raixel]

Damn, and I was having so much fun feckin with him too

Petal giggles as the tiny figure zaps away, then panics as the walls reform around her. Being a creature of nature and free spaces, she really doesnt like being boxed in.
She flies to each wall and examines them, looking for a way out.

Still panicking, she touches down in the direction that the mini-chaos went to better think on how to get out, and jumps as the walls reform to open the Dain pathway. She peers down it, looking for any signs of movement, or that damnable tiny High Lord(perception) (1d20+4=19)
"Well, I guess this is it. I do remeber part of the Dain path from my Test of Harmony. Hopefully as a sorceror, there will be enough mana-resonance that I can get through. And maybe one of my companions is in here as well..." and so saying, she flits off down the pathway.

[beowuuf]

Leave you wanting for more, you might find he's going to be a constant irritation. Or your most trusted ally! Whoooo knows!


The noise of the crumbling wall blocks, for a moment, the sounds of anything else. Only once that has calmed down can Petal hear some faint 'zap, zap' noises. Was that her diminuative tormentor still teleporting itself? Or something else? The wall behind her closes again behind her. Somehow, the light from there follows her - Petal realises she seems to possess a decent light spell cast around her.

The corridor she finds herself is equally boring compared to all the rest of these corridors. They have no marks, nor belmishes, nor greenery, not difference. However, Petal is not fooled. The walls are magical, and are actually in constant flux, whirling in colours and each mote spinning in chaotic directions. However, it is the ultimate irony of Chaos. In being everything at once, it becomes nothing at all. All colours together blend to a drab grey. All movement in circles lead to a dull and stable wall going nowhere. Ultimate stagnation from infinitie entropy.

However, one thing that is not dull is the smell of the air. The sulphuric scent of Chaos's movement cannot disguise some other musk. Something cloying.

Meanwhile, ahead of Petal the corridor soon bends. Not long after that, there seems to be a raised grating, but a grating with a push button door on the doorpost beside it. Petaal's low light vision allows her to get the most from her personal light. Beyond the grating, the corridor seems to split into a crossroads.


Can you tell where you are, yet?

[raixel]

I have my suspicions

Petal pushes the buttion, then braces herself for what might be beyond the grate.
She sniffs the cloying smell, wondering if she can identify it (perception, id assume) (1d20+4=11)

[beowuuf]

Oh, the door was already open, but pressign the button will confirm the grate closes shut. I'm carryign the perception roll for this little area, hence detectign the scent in the first place. A raw intelligence roll might give Petal some hints, as she doens't have the proper knowledge(nature) or knowledge (dungeoneering) skills. I'll be nice and let you re-roll the roll instead of use the preception roll as an intelligence roll


Petal got closer to the grate, and could spot that beyond this open grate, the corridor ended at another closed grate not too far beyond the t-junction. And perhaps because of the similarity to the junction of the ways, Petal also spotted that - at the crossroads - tere seemed to be the faint edges of another huge pressure pad.

EW EW EW EW she could almost hear it say as she concentrated on it.

[raixel]

Dur, missed the *raised* grating. Ok, then, screw that last perception roll, it never happened. (unless you want to be mean, and lower my percept. from 19 to 11 ) I'm also assuming that its ok for me to list a few actions, (ie doing knowledge arcana on the pad, looking down corridors) w/o having to wait for an update, as long as i dont move from the current room or attack anything

As Petal inches her way down the corridor satying close to the ceiling, she peers intently around her, trying to rack her brain for any stories she had heard of mazes like this. straight int. (ouch, mebe I shoulda stuck w/the 11)(1d20=2) She knew nothing of this twisted place, and all the stories of her people wouldn't help her here. The only thing she could rely on is herself, and whatever help mana would provide. As she enters the intersection, she looks down both corridors for any movement. When she is directly above the pressure pad, she stops and listens to the pulse of its mana 'EW EW EW' it murmured to her. "EW?" she thought to herself.(knowledge arcana) She closed her eyes and listened intently to the feeling, trying to divine its secrets(1d20+4=16). Deciding to stay off of it until she knows what it does, Petal flies over to the closed grate and peers through, trying to see anything that might help her in this Chaos-driven place.

[beowuuf]

Heh, I don't want to be mean... yet... The carry on from your perception will end roughly here though, as beyond these three other corridors should be something much different. And yes, please feel free to stack a few minor actions or even some contingencies as you did at the start. It's been cool to be able to do a few updates in a row tonight, but I'm sure you spotted my 'usual' posting ability over the previous day!!


Sadly, there had been no tales of the new twisted labyrinth of Chaos, a chilling prospect in itself. Hoevering over the pad does not seem to trigger anything, the vague sense from the pad is that it is still in waiting.

The corridor reminds Petal too much of the junction of the ways. Once more, four corridors lined up. Once more a pad. And, of course, arriving at the crossroads she can see two similar open gratings left and right.

Listening to the grating, she can feels the edges of the intention. It is definitely awaiting creatures. However, Petal realises there is an odd 'flavour' to that expectation. It is, perhaps, both waiting for a creature to trigger it, and also awaiting to trigger, call to or reveal creatures in turn.

Continuing on to the only closed grating in the path 'onwards', Petal looks into the gloom beyond. It could be a trick of the mind that she again thinks she can hear the faint 'zap' of something. Less a trick of the mind, surely there is a scuffle or flick of a rock somewhere in the gloom. And then, a few moments later, Petal swears that in the distance, she can see a faint glow high up from the floor. A diffuse point of light, slowly getting larger as it gets closer. AS it does, the sound of scuffling perhaps becomes greater too.


And there I will end it for the evening, as I head to bed You can perhaps guess what is lying in wait in the gloom. Well, partially at least... good luck!

[raixel]

Yeah. I have to say that although I enjoyed the speed of posting today, I normally might be able to get 3 in at the most (esp since you are running on sucha different time than me) Did you mean to say 'pad' or 'grating' in the above text where the EW mana is coming from?

Petal swiftly flies up to the grating, careful not to set feet upon the pad that is still waiting, its mana murmuring "EW EW EW". She glances down at it.
"EW, the mana of the beast, and of sculpting form" she muses quietly, to no one in particular, unless perhaps mini-chaos was hovering out of sight nearby. "It appears to me that if I set foot on this platform, it is very possible that some kind of thing will be alerted to my presence and teleported here. Perhaps it might be benificial, but I don't want to trisk it right now. Not until I feel comfortable wih my mana." As she said this, it almost for a second that the mana in the place redoubled its chaotic song...EWYAMONYAOHMONEWMONEWYA!
Petal shivered as she instictivly shut out the discordant rythym pounding through her head.
"If i ever feel comfortable with the mana in this place, that is..."

She searches (1d20+4=13) the frame of the grating and the surrounding walls for a button, lever, or catch to open it. Failing that, she gathers her magic about her and plants both feet firmly on the pressure pad, ready to take off at a moments notice if anything seems amiss

[beowuuf]

It is, indeed, the dimly sentient pad. And oops, I just realised I forgot something vital in my descriptions that's triggered your search...

The closed doors all had the small wooden push button aswell, the most likely triggering mechanism. It was an odd meshing of the stone and wood, not natural at all like an elf of pixie might construct such things. And yet it seemed more clever and elegant than humans would usually use.

The grate itself seemed to have a recess into the floor. Something struck Petal as odd about it, but there was no real way to tell what that was with the grate currently down.

Beyond the grating, the glow had stopped getting larger. The shuffling, for the moment, also stopped. The glow was an odd shifting orange thing in the dark. Petal could also see something else just below it, two symettrical round shapes just below that, reflecting the glow.


Yeah, sorry about that, each grating has a push button!

[raixel]

Ok, good to clarify the door thing. Because in DM of course not all doors have an obvious button... In that case, Petal doesn't touch the pressure pad.

Petal peers carefully at the glow, trying to make out anything she can spot in it, or the symetrical objects underneath it. (1d20+4=15)
Unless she sees anything immediately dangerous, she's going to press the button
Hovering carefully above the pressure plate, she could feel its mana reaching out to her, whispering of its power. It wanted her to touch it. It was telling her its life goal would be fufilled if she stood on it.

She ignored it.

She stills her mind and thinks back to her studies for her Test of Harmony, the test all pixies who were interested in the higher Paths had to take for the right to call themselves true practitioners of their chosen Art. Part of her studies was learning that some mana could be seductive. It was easy to get lost within the flow, carried along like a leaf floating downstream.

Especially the chaos-twisted mana of this hell-hole she was trapped in now.
She remembers cautionary tales her mentor told her of sorcerers who enjoy tapping into the mana of desecrated places, places touched by the power of the darker High Lords. Places where the sorcerers who give into the darkness become reflections of the warped and broken mana around them, twisted in both body and soul. She shivers as she thinks about this. To be trapped in a mana-stream is bad enough, but its something that only the most naive and untrained sorcerers ever have to worry about. But to willingly give oneself over to the darker forces is anthema to everything she believes in.

"I will not give into the darkness!" she swears to herself. "I will bring the mana of Nature back to this place, so that the power is in balance once again!

She clasps her hands to her chest and bows her head "Father, Thorne. I promise that this evil Lord Chaos will be destroyed. You will have your revenge, and nothing here will stop me," she whispers, before pressing the button on the side of the door.

Steeling herself for anything, she flies carefully thru the opening grate, ready to cast a fireball im assuming she can cast at least a LO level fireball, if she can't then she will fly back out of the grate if she is attacked at a moment's notice if something should leap to the attack.

[beowuuf]

Feel free to ask me to retcon this if the initial realisation would lead Petal to not open the door. If we want to try out my sorcerer spell suggestion first, then Petal can cast has 3 UM level equivalent and 5 LO level equivalent 'form' spells (like poison dart, poison cloud, fireball, personal shield, etc. And can extend the range indefinitely using 0-level effects (or equivalent), add one 0-level effect to a spell, or one 1d3 damage die.


Petal moves around a little, trying to think why the shapes are so chilling. It only takes a moment to realise what they very well could be. Eyes. Large, black eyes reflecting some glow above. And by where they are placed, the creature is apparently not small of head, nor short of height.

Petal cautiously opens the grate, readying a powerful spell should it be needed. As the grate jerks upwards into the roof, and as the the black eyes come closer, the pixie realises the spell may well, indeed be needed.

A yellow conjoined legged creature - an Oitu - comes into view from the gloom. Luckily, the thing is still far off, due to Petal's vision. The large creature blocks the corridor, although its spindly and compressed legs could be bypassed.

Amazingly, this is not the most important part of the discovery. Firstly, Petal is sure she can see the miniature Chaos behidn the Oitu, darting about and seemingly picking rocks from the ground. There is a small 'thump' that Petal can hera now she knows to listen for it - as if Chaos is driving the beast forward.

However, the creature does not seem to Chaos's actions. Not because it is eager to approach her, but because it already seems to be a driver. There is a small creature, tiny infact, strapped to the top of the head. It seems to possess a torch, and it has set it like an unweildy lance.

The creature is, undoubtedly, a small representation of Petal herself.

In a way, this tiny petal clone seems to be properly proportioned when compared to the mini-Chaos. It is a strange mental trick that it suddenly makes the Oitu all the greater in size.


"I told you you would join me!" cackles a voice from down the corridor, the voice of Chaos .

With a screech, the Oitu the begins to charge forward.


I promise this will be the last of the complet weirdness. O.O This is going to be a pretty straight mix of semi-recogniseable CSB sections, compbined with Lord Chaos personalising Petal's torture and testing. Which of course means if you can beat his tricks, you manage to keep battering his ego even more!

As to the Oitu - it's hard to get a perfect match, but just liek the Giant Scoprions in the main game, you can assume a roughly equivalent power compared to the DM game. So yeah, if you wouldn't face an Oitu with a middling powered single champion, it might be an idea to look for ways to not get into a straight fight with an Oitu.

I've left the range vague, because if you want to release a spell, you can pretty much decide your own range up to about 80 feet away (which would be your sight distance, although you'd blow alot of level 0 and level 1 slots to do it, and still lose power).

[raixel]

Ugh, I was busy all day and only just got home. Would Petal know what an Oitu is? IE are they a natural creature, or twisted by Chaos?

Petal quickly flies up to the ceiling of the dungeon I'm assuming this gives her enough clearance to stay out of the Oitu's reach and looks down upon the Oitu, and the blasted tiny Chaos running around like a madman behind it.
"Hm...Maybe I can use that pad to my advantage now" she thinks to herself.
Quickly darting thru the door, she flies and hovers over the still-murmuring pressure pad, trying to make herself look like a tempting target.
'I hope this works..."

[beowuuf]

I figured in little stories, etc that Oitus are natural creatures. Plus Petal has been in the dungeon long enough to get to know them anyway, I would imagine. Some of the critters in Chaos's dungeon are creatures he either twisted other creatures to reselmble, or ones he simply teleported to the dungeon. Others are figments of his imagination. I reckon the greater Oitus are Chaos twists on the original, but I didn't sic them on you here!

And no, Petal can never fly above people out of damger in a corridor I'm nto that foolish! Unless otherwise stated, the celing height is 10 foot, and the corridor is 10 foot (hmm, sorry, I guess I never made that clear it was the norm. So even a normal creature occupying a 5 foot space would still be able to threaten her. Thoguh she does have the advantage of having a way to get passed that others don't. You high dexterity would help with the 'tumble' check (acrobatics) to get passed without an AoO. The Oitu actually occupied a 10 foot block, so the whole corridor (ish) is filled, but I still reckon she has space to fly over. Certainly Petal can fight the Oitu from above - it might cause some inconvenience to the rider if the Oitu rears up to attack, and also gives a line of sight to Chaos


The Oitu certainly regards Petal as she hovers close, but does not seem too interested one way or the other, halting its charge as its target shifts .

"Get her, you stupid brute! I COMMAND IT!" says mini-Chaos, picking another stone from the groudn to throw at the Oitu, and then flashing a flare at its back for good measure. The faux-Petal, now Petal is closer, does indeed seem like a near perfect immitation. However, there is something strange. Faux-Petal's wings seem to be missing or hidden, as this pixie has a slightly heavier robe on that covers her back. Secondaly, what looked like a torch is actually a large wand, the glow caused by magic super-heating the end of it. The fake Petal readjusts the wand, moving from using it as a mini-lance, to holding it like a staff. She even adopts the pose of DAIN, crooking her arm just so.

"I wonder if breaking you will be seven year's bad luck to me?" comes the tiny voice of Faux-Petal. The Oitu shudders for a moment, and Faux-Petal quickly sits down, readjusting herself.

None of them react fast enough to Petal's retreat, and there are twin cries urgign the Oitu to move again. As the Oitu builds up speed again, Petal can hear the pad below her. EW EW EW EW EW EW. Is the pad excited that Petal is closer, that the Oitu is coming closer, or is there some other, horrible option?

The Oitu is visible quite quickly, its black eyes shining. It begins to approach the door...


So, you know what you're doing, right? I'm eager to see what you are about to do, and why! Oitu will charge under the door, so you can assume that if you need to in your next post.

[raixel]

Petal tenses, hovering over the pad. She swears she can see herself reflected in the Oitu's liquid black eyes if she looks hard enough.
She can still hear the curses and yelling of mini-chaos exhorting the Oitu to go attack her, crush her, maim her.
Even though this situation seems dire, she can't help but laugh at the child-like Chaos, running back and forth, huge helmet bobbing like one of giant-head-on-a-spring dolls the woodsingers used to make for children back in her village.
Then, in what seems like a heartbeat, the tiny clone kicks its heels into the oitu's sides, and the oitu charges forward, the lancelike stinger jutting from its mandibles held forward ready to spike Petal unless she gets out of the way.
Petal flies up as high as she can once the oitu lands on the pressure pad, then zooms back down, aiming squarely for her clone. Disarm attack roll (1d20+3=11). She attempts to latch on to the wand the mockery is carrying and wrench it from its tiny hand.

[beowuuf]

You didn't nominate the Oitu or the fake Petal for your dodge bonus, but it didn't matter. The Oitu would match it anyway, and the fake petal rolled poorly for AoO and disarm resist. This was very good, since the disarm attampt had so many +/-4s flying aroudn that a close call would havedone my head in! You are unarmed, so you get a -4, technically the fake petal could have been bracing the wand in two hands, so a +4 bonus to it, you are using a 'light' weapon so you get to finesse for +4 dexterity to your roll, is the wand counted as a weapon or not, so potential -4to be argued there, fake petal is actually tiny, so you get a +4.... My head hurts. Luckily, it missed you and you outmatched its roll by a factor we don't have to argue these things


The Oitu, as it gets close to Petal, is struck again to urge it to attack. The thing, without breaking stride, easily rises on its doubled over legs and almost leapt at Petal. While she avoids being swallowed by the jaws, she is still grazed by a claw from its front tiny grasping arms, and worse yet the sheer spring of it smashed her painfully into the ceiling. The Oitu gives a surpisingly high pitched 'squeak', though whether in frustration or pleasure is unknown.

Lose 15 hit points. You're a tough sorcerer though, you can take it...for now... Yeah, I put you in a bad place. I have every faith for you to get out of it though

The Faux-Petal laughs and laughs, although Lord Chaos seems to throw down a rock as if disappointed in Petal's performance. However, Faux-Petal shril celebration is short lived, as from her position Petal can grab the wand with ease. There is a brief scuffle, but her diminuitive counterpart is simply too surprised and Petal ends up with the wand in hand.

You can try a knowledge(arcana) roll to feel out what it is. Though as a player, you can probably suspect its general power set, and how useful that might be right now...

The Oitu does not seem to care that Petal is now above it, and with Faux-Petal temporarily distracted in her anger, the thing meanders forwards to the floor pad.

EW EW EW EW EW EW

There is a faint click, and then a loud rumble from the left and right hand corridors, as if the doorways have been opened. More worryingly, there is then a familiar sound. Three more sets of scuffling, shuffling sounds are heard. Three more very familiar tiny voices urging something on. Three more sets of squeaking.

More Oitus???

Lord Chaos, amazingly, does not laugh nor gloat. "You were supposed to be on the other side," he says petulantly, a booted foot appearing to kick a stone across the floor. He then, perhaps, realises that Petal is indeed on the other side of the Oity, and there is nothing between Petal and freedom except the small High Lord.


Anyway, so yeah, this is the area where you have the four way junction, and when you step on the floor pad, you get surrounded by open doors and Oitus generated. Petal can probably flee 'safely' from the Oitu, since it seems to not be interested in attackign Petal, so won't do an AoO, and the Faux-Petal is now disarmed and can't threaten your square.

Of course, you need to figure out how to stop things from chasing you...

[raixel]

I was right then! I was trying not to metagame. Fortunately since Petal can 'read' mana (perhaps that should be an ability of a Sorcerer, using a knowledge arcana roll to read the rune signature of stuff) I didn't have to as no one in their right mind is going step on a pad going EW EW EW in Chaos' dungeon. The thing I gambled on, (and lost apparently) was that the other Oitus showing up would be agro to anything that called them in. Oh, well. I got a nice shiny wand outta the bargain. Now lets see if I can get outta here in one piece...

As the Oitu steps on the pad, the song of the pad's mana is trebled in strength, nearly drowining out Petal's thoughts. Even though Petal is not a religious pixie, she can't help but say a prayer to Titania, the female High Lord of all good Fae. Let me know if that doesn't work in your concept of the world, and i'll remove it.
"Dear Lady of the Summer, please don't let something bad happen..." she prays fervently. But it appears Titania isn't listening, as there is a rumble from the side passageways and a familiar scuffling sound. Three yellowish chitinous heads with liquid black eyes appear in the mouths of three passageways, as more oitus come charging in the room, tiny Petals urging them on.

Petal looks back through the open gate at Mini-Chaos standing there petulantly and makes a quick decision. She flies under the open grating and spins around, hoping there is a button to press to shut the oitus in the corridor. If there isn't, she's going to fly over Chaos' head, taking any AoO from him, and put him between the oitus and her.

She quickly examines(KnowlArc) (1d20+4=21) the wand, listening to mana stored within it, and then points it down the corridor at Chaos and the oitus.
"So how's it going?" she says flippantly to the tiny Lord. if the grate isn't shut, she will slowly back down the corridor while talking, ready to cast a fireball (or use the wand) if an Oitu looks like its going to charge in. She's not pointing the wand at Chaos, tho. Otherwise she'll stay and talk to him.
She swallows her anger at looking at the (although tiny) face of he who is responsible for ruining her life, as she realizes if she can get him on her side he could be a great ally against the real Chaos.
"You created this dungeon, did you? Pretty good work if i do say so myself. It's got everything a good dungeon needs, traps, monsters, gratings, secret passages. I bet you killed a lot of adventurers down here, didn't you? You are quite brilliant!" Diplomacy (1d20+4=18) she says appreciatively, managing to hide the anger and hate threatening to bubble out of her heart.

[beowuuf]

Don't worry about metagaming too much, hopefully I can twist familiar areas, and Petal is supposed to have been around this place before (like any CSB veteran, going round in circles!) I think we'll keep the rune sigiatures of of things as your narrative text . Perhaps I'll allow Wisdom bonuses to be used instead of intelligence bonuses for knowledge and appraise rolls to perceive magical items. And awww, it's always good to gamble. You never know what will happen. Dungeon critters attackign each other...not this time. Or...not yet? And I have no issue with your High Lord for the Fae.


The grating closes with a SLAM as Petal flies through. Petal quickly takes stock of the wand. Although it has had a wizard-like magical spell of light inflicted on it, the wand itself does not feel of that domain. The wand seems to have a passive, calming quality radiating from it. She can almost feel the gratitude and relief of the wand as the tip stops glowing. Top and tail of the wand is a small, burned circle near each tip. The wand itself seems to be made of a single piece of Straw-wood, slightly more brittle than a willow and darker, but still with the same reputation for flexibility and strength. Surely loving magic rounded it to a perfect smoothness and straightness though.


Hmm, I reckon it's a decent enough roll to intuitde the basic function - which is liek a standard wand. I think you'd need another good knolwedge roll when actually using it to figure out how to make it work exactly. Working out the exact functions of magical items is still the domain of an appraise roll, but knowledge(arcana) rolls can get you a decent way. Just ask money!


"Ha, a closed door never stopped me!" says a smug small voice of the now wandless Faux-Petal behind the grating, the pixie and her mount getting closer.
"Hurry up and use your magic then, I want to hit things!" comes an equally Petal-like, and equally higher pitched voice from apparently on of the Petal clones. Though the tone seems more agressive.
"I can have that door open in a jiffy, why are we bothering with her magic?" asks another equally pitched voice, with an equally different tone fro mthe first two.
"Where's Lord Chaos? Is her hurt? I can't see, you are all in the way!" comes a more distant Petal voice.

While the carnaval assembled behind the grating, LOrd Chaos stirs at Petal's question. "Why can't you just die!" he quips back, "that is how it goes! You will die, you all die in the end!"

Lord Chaos actually crosses his arms and turns his back on Petal, but her soothing words - delivered while watching that the grating doens't begin to open - makes his overlarge helmed head woible around. He regards her over a shoulder.

"Well, I do try my best," says Lord Chaos proudly. "After all, I must find champions worthy of me. You cannot be truely respected, and admired, without worthy champions to beat! Ah, the amount of beasts, and barbartians, and merceneries I have had to put up with. Ah, it is so good to get someone who appreciates my genius."

Lord Chaos turns around, puffed up with his own important, eyes glowing at the praise. He then looks slyly at Petal. "Hmm, perhaps I misjudged you. Peraps you are worthy." There is a moment when his eyes glow dim, and in a terribly old, sad voice he says, "none of you are ever worthy, in the end...."

However, Chaos then manages to snap out of it. "Oh yes, perhaps you can learn quickly! Hah, Yes, you've seen traps, and monsters, and gratings. I do not suppose, however, you ever saw a secret passage though, did you? Hah! You will need to learn, for you are on the Way of Dain."

The little High Lord points smuggly down the corridor, to where it turns right. "I imagien you would have turn right, without even looking to the wall infront. Do you wish to see how cunning my secret passages are? Go ahead, fly at that wall, fly straight! Prove your worth!"

Meanwhile, apparently one of the faux-pixies had managed to exert themselves - with a clunking sound, the grating behind Petal began to raise.


Hehe, befriending the mini-Chaos? Now there's an idea Such a good idea, nicely against her feelings. I'm gunna say +2 bonus for that, to make sure you get the DC20 pass. It technically should be a bluff though, since you don't mean it, and you aren't trying to haggle with him, just get him on side Still, good opening gambit. This might be the start of a beautiful friendship, with a couple more skill checks and some more exclellent moments like that.

Anyway, weird clones behind you, weird clone infront of you - whatcha gunna do now?

[raixel]

Hm, I always thought dipl was used to get a NPC to like you more, bluff was used to trick your way past a guard, ect. Like a 1 shot thing, but if you want someone to like you over the long term you have to use dipl. If you want I can use bluff and get the +8 instead of the +4 on the roll. I dont mind

Petal listens to Chaos' speech, keeping her face completely neutral. As he speaks she casts her eyes to the 'secret passage' he's talking about. She stares hard at it, trying to exert her will upon it and see for sure if it really is a secret passage KnowlArc?? (1d20+4=19) as she could imagine that the pea-sized High Lord would get great enjoyment in watching her splat against a solid wall.

Just then, the sqabbling of the Petal-copies mutes and the gate begins to move upward with a ratcheting clunk. Petal turns back to the gate and waits until the gate has opened enough to admit an Oitu. I'm assuming the Oitus are going to charge under the gate at her. If not, i'll redo. As an Oitu charges forward, Petal times it just right and jams her hand onto the button to close the gate right on the oitu's (and tiny Petal's) head. Without waiting to see what happens, she turns back toward the direction of the secret passage and zips off toward it like a shot. Unless the above roll tells her it is a secret passage for sure, she will stop and try to put her hand through it. If that doesnt work she will Search (1d20+4=23) the wall for a button. In any case, she will ither duck through it or take off to the right

Before she leaves, she turns to the itty-bitty Lord watching her with great interest.
"Well, its been real," she says cheerfully. "But I'm afraid I must leave now. I look forward to experiencing more of your wonderfully killer dungeon!" Not sure if the original roll is still in effect, or if I need to roll bluff or dip. If that Search roll ends up going unused, can i just plug that in? Pretty please? . She smiles and waves at him before taking off into the unknown.
Once she isout of his sight she shivers in reaction. Talking to him makes her feel like she gargled swamp-water. Putting on a pleasant face for the one who destroyed your life takes alot out of a pixie. Even if he appears to be Lord Chaos as a child. Was Lord Chaos ever a child? What was he like when he was young?
She realizes exhaustion is taking its toll on her mind, and snaps herself out of her musings.
"Steady, girl." she admonishes herself. "There'll be plenty of time for this later. For now I gotta get outta here."
Listening carefully for any sounds of persuit, she turns to the wand and probes it with her will, trying to find out how to activate it. Appraise(StraightINT) (1d20=18) WOO! IC loves me today!

[beowuuf]

Ah, sorry, didn't make myself clear. Diplomacy is indeed how you turn NPCs along the hostile->friendly scale, but you were basically lying and buttering him up, rather than offer any solid reason for him not to just bask in your addoration and kill you anyway. Which is fine by me, because obviously the idea if you want to go this route to 'turn' Chaos would be that it would take two or three such separate successful encounters (skill checks or good RP/circumstances), with him admiring you, for him to perhaps be less antagonistic and even wish to tag along and aid you in the lesser challenges to how how you do in the bigger ones. So I don't mind counting it as a success either way


Sadly much of the walls in this place had no real life of their own, dull imitations of the haphazard building of humans and dwarves. Petal knew that any tricky walls tended to be even more 'dull' due to their unreal nature. However, she would need to get closer to see if the wall indicated was too symetrical, or lacking in even incidental markings.

The Oitu that emerged distracted Petal from her thoughts. She slammed the button, and with a satisfying 'clunk' it began to decent. There was a horrific shriek, and for a moment Petal saw her tiny clone be struck on the head, and driven down onto the Oitu's body. Luckily, the faux-Petal dissolved into a whiff of black smoke, although Petal actually felt dizzy as the false thing disappeared. (You take 5 non-lethal damage.

The Oitu screeched as the door hit it, and tried to take a bite of Petal as she ran away. The thing, without the tiny pixie nor Chaos to drive it on, retreated backwards instead of lunging forwards in pursuit. For the moment, the grating stayed shut as three similar voices started arguing in high pitched fervour.


Apparently IC does love you, the AoO / attack from the Oitu missed. Still, there was always a hidden damage mechanic to balance the pixie riders being the 'weakness' of the Oitus.


Petal leaves the mini-Chaos still lost in a mixture of blusses and eager arrogance. He even waves at her as she goes, and picks up a stone to throw at the grate, demanding the other pixies be silent.

The wall, now that it is pointed out, just looks a little wrong. The other walls do have a few scuff marks from Oitus, the tiny beginnings of dirt between floor and wall. However, the wall and floor of the 'secret' wall do not seem to have any common marks, and the wall itself - despite looking over it - seems to be as new as the day it was summoned.


Sorry, you can only intuite so much - I'm going ot need that search roll for the wall. Still, your arcana roll gives you a +2 on this search, which means you get a spectacular 25. So yeah, instant spotting of the wall being fake, might...if I'm nice...give you a +2 bonus on spotting similar walls in future, and bets of all you don't waste any time before your potential persuers come forward. Or before mini-Chaos decides to change his mind!


The entrance into the wall is strange. There is no sensation of passing it, and worse yet, looking back while still 'in' the wall makes it seem as if nothing is there. To Petal, she seems just as explosed as she would be back out in the corridor. Only experience and intuition tells her that she is - for the moment - out of sight.

Mini-Chaos is apparently riding the upswing of Petals words, and seems to be crowing to the faux-pixies about his plans and importance. There is an extra level of disgust, for his current mood and words are eerily similar to the real Chaos's words not that long ago.

Still, if distractions were needed at this time, there were two good ones. The first was recognising alot of the function of the wand. Its simple shape and lack of rune markings meant it was probably connected closer to nature. As such, usually such wants only required a concentration on the effect to activate - makign the wand a part of oneself, as if extending a finger or raqising a foot. This wand's basic function was probably balance. Calm from anger, and health from sickness.

You'd still need a knowledge (religeon) roll to use the wand in combat, but the DC would be lower. It will be the 'brandish/calm' style option. There's also a healing component to it too. Using up a 0-level spell slot, you can then lose higher level slots to gain 1hp per spell. Each use is one 0-level spell slot, but you can then gain as much hp as you think you can afford to lose. So out of combat, you could realistically regain 13hp every five minutes. Though if an encouter was sprung on you, you'd have no mana You cannot heal ability score damage, nor poison, etc with this, and of course you can only heal yourself.


The second good distraction was realising this corridor did continue. In fact, it turned left almost immediately, heading off striaght into the darkness. The sound of Chaos's arrogant voice was still reaching Petal, and worse there was the sound of some bustle and muffled clunks from the door. It was, perhaps, time to go.


I guess I need to get up earlier to catch the morning update, ran out of time this morning!

[raixel]

Petal focuses on the wand, trying to get it to activate as she flies off down the corridor Do I get the sorcerer bonus to activate the wand? If so add 4 to the roll. KnowRelig (1d20+4=22) If I understand the way it works, I use 1 0lv to burn 2 2nd lv spells and 4 1st lv spells to heal a total of 6 damage. Or is it per spell level Ie 2nd= 2HP?.

As the corridor bends to the left, she stops and peers off ahead of her, trying to see what lies in the distance. If nothing appears harmful, she will move off down the corridor
After examining the path ahead of her she turns and focuses her senses down the way she came, listening for any signs of pursuit. Perception (1d20+4=10).

Her head feels muzzy, and the mana around her feels sluggish and distant. She knows she is nearing the limits of her energy. If she doesnt find a safe place to rest soon, she fears she will collapse from exhaustion. When had she eaten the last of her rations? It seemed like days ago. If she had a flask, she could perhaps call water into it. But she has nothing but this wand stolen from a murderous simalcrum. At least it can heal her body, if not her spirit.

[beowuuf]

Any arcana/religeon rolls that are being used for raw magic get the charisma bonus. You understand the way it works the first way around - so the more you heal, the more vulnerable you get for not much more benefit. It balances nicely with the priest self-heal spell, where you do get slightly more bang for your buck! Anyway, restore 6hp and you also get to remove that 5 non-lethal damage.


Petal feels the beneficial magic of the wand attune itself to her, and a warmth flows. It feels as if something is sucked from inside her, and distributed to her outsides and to her head. It is a little strange.

Behind her, she can only vaguely hear what is occuring,. The occasional 'clunk', and the occasional squeaky voice. Perhaps the trick wall muffles sound as it, perhaps, muffles light. Or more likely the debate is simply too far away and being conducted by voices too small to be easily heard. There is a strange moment where Shuffling sounds come nearer, but then the sound fades. Petal can swear she heards small, high pitched laugher from where she came.

Still, there seems to be a very low level of light comign from somewhere the bend, and way along the corridor. And Petal can swear she can hear the faint sound of dripping water. Petal moves off, and all too soon the long corridor comes to a halt at a strong, sturdy iron door. There is, this time, no obvious release mechanism. There does seem to be a keyhole though on one of the posts.

However, before Petal could get closer to search for one, there is a second feature here. Just before the door, there is an archway that leads into a small rocky chamber. Safely hidden in the gloom of the corridor, Petal can partially see inside. The glow is coming from the floor - it appears that soft light from the wall (small glowing stones pushed into the rocks in various placed on the walls) was being amplified by water spread out all along the floor. The depth of the water seems to be only a foot at most. For no obvious reason, the water was not escaping the room - it was not even coming up as far as the archway. The room itself has a ceiling twenty feet high, craggy and undulating.

In the centre of the room, there seems to a small island, dry and round. Something was embedded into the centre of it - it looked like a black sword hilt was sticing out. Dangling high above the island, there seemed to be a key on a chain, dangling by a tiny chain from a masonary hook.

Looking to the very far side of this odd room there was a lowered recess, ten feet high, with some form of altar carved into the rocky wall.


Wow, what is it with you guys and exhaustion? I don't think any player can go through an encounter before wanting to find a corner to sleep in! Still, metally draining, and we've barely begun! Again, time for another familiar yet not area

[beowuuf]

[raixel]

Ehh, the exhaustiom was just flavor text. I'd assume she's been bangin around in this dungeon for a lot longer than we've been actually playing

Petal stares into the room, fascinated by the glowing lights. It reminded her of her village's Solstice festival, where the pixies used their natural abilites to call dancing lights to make colored light shows. (Sorry, couldnt help it. It was just the 4th after all) She sits and watches the lights for a moment, remembering happier times.

Before she enters the room, she scoops up a small rock from the dungeon floor and pitches it into the water.
If no water elementals or other dangerous things erupt from the floor and stay there, she will enter
Watching for any reaction from the odd water, she cautiously enters the room, making sure she stays well away from the floor.Tapping into her innate sorcerous power, she closes her eyes and feels the song of mana in this room. After doing that, she flies over to the altar-ilke recess and examines it carefully. Not sure of the roll here. All my Percept and Knowledge rolls are 1d20+4 tho, so i'm gonna do a percept and knowledge(whatever is most appropriate) Perception and Knowledge(Arc/Relig) (1d20+4=16, 1d20+4=14).

After giving the altar a once-over, Petal flies over to the odd key on a chain and sword combo and examines it as well. Perception and Knowledge(Arc?) (1d20+4=5, 1d20+4=20).
It seems like she could fly up, take the top of the chain off of the hook it was attached to, reel it in, and fly out of the room easily.
But what was the strange sword? It seemed like something set there to tempt greedy adventurers into touching it. She could really use a weapon, tho.
"Of course," she thinks to herself, "that is exactly why Chaos put it there."
She decides she isnt going to try anything until she can put all the pieces together. in other words, i'm gonna wait for the results of my actions/rolls before actually touching anything

[beowuuf]

Heh, no problem, that's very true, just Ameena's whole secret journey made me exhausted cause Ameena was exhausted, and I still recall LB wanting to strip armour and sleep for either hours after two encounters! I'm a little sensative to it now!


The rock lands on the water, rather in in, and only slowly sinks into it. However, there is no actual reaction. The ripple from its collision barely expands , and soon disappears. While the floor may look like water, it obviously isn't. The room has no real song she can determine, it feels dormant - which ties in with what she fears about the 'water'.

However, there is the expectation of raw element...as if this room has many elements attached to it. And yet, none - aside from the false water - seem visible. The water is by no means flat, it does occasionally undulate, but there seems to be no reason nor rhymne for its movements. No 'water' even splashes onto the small island though. The rock walls appear normal walls - they actuaklly have craggy forms and dips. No obvious fakeness anywhere.

The altar is a plain stone altar recessed into the wall, and after a moment's searching, a faded 'VI@ sign can be seen. This is a VI altar. Its powers are wholy in the domain of the High Lords, and have always felt unnatural to Petal. Supposedly the dead can be reborn from one, but what sort of life can be gained by petitioning a being as twisted as Chaos? Surely his trade is death and the twisting of life.

Still, the altar, too, just seems oddly out of place. It looks too empty - as if something should be in it. Petal has vague memories of similar tricks by Chaos. Where an empty alcove is filled only after Chaos is sufficiently pleased with his victim's progress.

Petal cannot really see anything much to do with the sword, for is is lodged very deeply into the ground. Similarly, the key twists on whatever air currents exist in this room, making it hard for her to concentrate on seeing anything specifically to do with it (Also, of course, meaning I'm giving you nothing about the hook its attached to).

Still, the hilt of the sword is visible, and the material of the hilt is strange. Some black metal that does not like to reflexct the light around it. The sword screams magic just from Petals experience alone, and to her senses it feels like a silent 'DES' is whispering to her from it.

Again, only whispering - eveything in this room is so dormant, so expectant.

Petal looks to the dangling key up high, and the sword pushed down so low. It feels so obvious that both are being separated. The key dangling tauntingly, and the sword so far below. Something must be waiting to trigger, something that surely will trigger the moment either is touched. Or perhaps it is really a test of greed - take the sword instead of the key, and risk the consequences. Or perhaps the key opens nothing - take the key, and damn yourself.

For no reason, the term 'fight of flight' comes to Petal's mind.


That should be enough to be going on with. Choose and perish! Umm, I mean, choose and it will all end in a picnic...

[raixel]

Only a good DM can make me reread the post over and over and over, trying to figure out what to do w/o getting myself screwed. Hell, ive been playing DnD for almost 20 years, an dthis dungeon has my interest like few ive ever seen
Petal hovers in the room, turning in place cautiously, examining the sword and key. She is frozen with indecison, unsure of how to proceed. She knows she has to choose, but what?

The DES mana whispering off the sword intrigues her, as DES can be a useful element when proper;y harnessed. Improperly harnessed, however, it can cause grevious injury. The question is if the DES is directed at someone who may disturb the sword, or is an actual property of the sword. She remebers that DES is one of the main ocmponents to a spell that damages beings not fully in this world. That could be useful. On the other hand, if that energy was directed at her, the full power of desolation and the void could damage her severly.

Deciding to play it safe, she flies up to where the key's chain attaches to the ceiling and triess to pull it off from there. If that doesn't work, she flies to the key itself and grasps it, trying to get it off of its chain.

She keeps a lookout as she tries to remove the key. If anythng attacks, she will fire off a fireball at it, and dive for the hilt of the sword. Sweat beads on her forehead as she reaches for the key and chain, all her senses straining to catch any hint of movement from the pool of water or cavern walls around her.

[beowuuf]

Thank you! And only an evil one would laugh at your statement, knowing this was a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't situation!'

The moment Petal touches the key's chain, is breaks, and the key and small chain fall into her hand. The hook above lurches upwards, as if the delicate weight of the key was enough to keep it pulled down.

Down below, in the blink of an eye, the sword hilt and even the island disappear, sinking into the water on the floor as if tugged away by something underground. The water swirls in to fill the gap, and then the water all around lifts itself up a few feet foot higher.

The mass of it now writhes as if being blown by fierce winds, yet there is no wind - the water is moving under its own volition. Petal is surrounded by water elementals, a whole mass of them. Water, and yet not water, composed of the liquids of the elemental plane that just about intrudes into this plane. Only the touch of the void of DES could damage them - probably the very sword Chaos was tempting her with!

Still, Petal hopefully has the key to the door. Nothing has appeared in the alcove on the other side as an alternative. The dormant elementals, however, provide a nasty blockade back ot the portal and the corridor beyond. Fight, or flight?


Technically, you have gone for the fastest route, and gained the key but lost the chance at a sword too. Since you would have had to earn the sword aswell, then... maybe this is for the best.

Anyway, I'm not going to be nasty and insist the ready action of the fireball gets unleashed. Up to you now - fight of flight!