DM themed play-by-post D&D game : STORY THREAD

[oh_brother]

"Ameena. Ameena!" Westian shouted out in shock. The fear in her face was obvious, but its cause was not. They were safer now than they had been for some time, yet she seemed more frightened than ever. He took a few lumbering steps after her but stopped when it was clear he could not keep up. "Ameena, what is wrong with you? We need to stick together! Ameena!"

He stopped and offered a brief prayer to his High Lord. "Lord Larethian, protector of the weak, sooth the fears of this creature."

I decided that is was not metagaming to use the prayer even though Westian was not aware she was under the influence of a spell. I checked back and I did the same when she was terrified after the soldiers fight (page 21 or so of this thread), so I think he would do the same here.

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had foolishly thought that his gauntlet was finished. It obviously was not.

With the trolin backing away from him with sheer terror in his eyes, for the briefest of moments the half-orc thought he could sprint away without a problem. But wait, within a split second he noticed that his eyes were focussed not on him but... Even in his more ill state he moved aside fast enough to avoid the huge club. The thought occurred to actually talk his way out but his falchion took the words out of his mouth. He loathed to be surrounded by the trolin but felt he had no choice.

"This is between us!" he shouted, angry at both himself for his weakness of assuming this had all finished. And angry at the trolin leader who had proven once more that Haynuus was right to despise these creatures. He attacked the leader (1d20+10=15, 2d4+6=8, 1d20+5=12, 2d4+6=12) and hoped that his words were listened to.

[beowuuf]

As Ameena tried to run, she realised that quite closeby the water had already swept the whole floor, and was slowly moving towards her. Occasional tendrils of water would appear,. She could not retreat too far backwards! Turning around, the full horror of the Aurek figure was revealed - Westian and Haynuus's faces and occasionally arms tried to push their way out of the jet black armour. It stretched elastically and obscenely, and was then snapped back to a solid state, glistening oddly and disquieteningly.

Ameena was becoming trapped. THe single wall wit the crack was already blocked, and the walls here were about the same all over, And of course, now sloped into a difficult to navigate roof if she went too high. And the water was moving closely towards her.

The best climbing place was still back at the crack. And so far, the water behind the armoured Aurek had not come too far forward. Could she climb passed him on back to the crack? OR manage to dart passed him? Or, of course, if he was so confident in his abilities, could she perhaps strike first?


@OB: Actually, in order for Ameena to also do a perception roll, I'm not going to let her run far, plus I had mentioned in her midn the water was starting to flow to block her path backwards. The second failed will save just makes that worse That means Westian could actually run and manage a 60 foot movemenet to her attempted 80 foot if he runs straight at her. Or he can hold back and use the prayer. Also, you didn't say how much you wished to put into it (I believe you have only lost one effect recently, so you still have four to play around with, I will let you cast them together as one prayer. You can even drop 1st, 2nd and 3rd level slots, though each only grats an additional +1).

@Ameena. Westian triggers a will save. However, becausew of the previous fail, a success here will not let her fully shake the fears. IT will just stop Westian deforming and looking so odd, and also let the water retreat. This alone might let her suspect something isn't right, but she will still see the basic odd things until she gets a second success I'm afraid. Also, choose where Ameena goes - will she keep runnign through apparent shallow water on the stone floor? Will she attempt to clim up the wall closeby, or attempt to dive around Westian? Or would she, if trapped, actually attack? I'll leave it up to OB's conscience whether he would have his guard down, and therefore if she did attack, whether he could get snuck attacked!


While the surreal nightmare was playing out for both Westian and Ameena in different ways down below, for Haynuus it seemed to be reality as usual. His powerful blows were sadly deflected on instinct by the powerful Trolin leader. However, not all was well for the leader. Not at all. He'd obviously expected to end the half-orc's life with one blow, and instead the half-orc had made a fool of him with his quick movements. Worse yet, the lader seemed to recognise that even surprised, Haynuus had swiftly countered.

There was a simple look of fear in the Trolin leader's eyes as he felt the power of the backhand swing Haynuus had made. The leader seemed to realise he had made a mistake, engaging a powerful and skillful opponent while he himself was wounded. And then, Haynuus uttered a fatal set of words. "This is between us!" The Trolin leader's eyes went wide. Any call for assistance, as disguised as it would have been, had just been cut off. The leader had just been challenged. And the leader already looked weak compared to the Trolin.

"Stupid snark-grag!" said the male crossbow wielder, scrambling his arrow. However, the femal growled at her companions, and already had a half-cocked crossbow levelled in the trolin's direction. "Let orc fight," she said, with apparent relish.

The Trolin leader's second seemed hesistant, torn. "Does this snark-grag deserve honour?" the other Trolin asked.

The Trolin leader snarled. "Leave him to me!" he said, but there was a catch in his throat, and an odd gleam in the Trolin's eye. The leader swung his club in unusual ways, using it with great skill. He feinted and then swung it with skill instead of brutality, smashing the side of Haynuus's head. However, the leader instantly stepped back instead of pressing his advantage. He apparently respected or feared the half-orc too much to let himself go in battle this time.


Ian, you take 13 damage! Still, you kinda said the right things, so if Haynuus can beat the leader he might not have too much more trouble. Maybe. Who knows with trecherous Trolins, right! Just to note, if you wanted to do non-lethal damage, you can take a -4 penalty. Also, remember you have your power attack, just liek the leader.

[Ameena]

OOC - I'll roll the prayer-triggered Will Save now, but obviously I won't know whether it's a success or not till you let me know. If it's a pass, it can have a delayed effect until my next IC or something - maybe Lord Larethian is having a coffee break or something . Anyway, Will Save = 13 (10+3).
And I had sort of half-forgotten about the whole walls-caving-in/water-flooding part of the hallucination due to concentrating mainly on the "omg my friends are all gone" part of it .

BIC - Ameena doesn't get far before she sees that she's running straight toward the water, which has now encroached onto the ground in front of her and so blocks her path. She briefly wonders exactly how much it would hurt if she stepped in it, but it never enters her mind to actually risk letting it get her as an alternative to having her soul sucked out - murafu just aren't the suicidal type.
Meanwhile, the armoured spirit-stealer is yelling at her. It seems he's trying to convince her to go back to him - well, she's no fool. She'll hardly just obey him. She is, however, forced to at least turn round since she knows she can't really get as far as she's expected, which thereby messes up her rather crude plan somewhat.
She feels a shiver of shock as she sees the spirits of her friends straining to break free of the armour - she doesn't recall seeing anyone's spirit before, but somehow she had always pictured is as just being some sort of glowing light, the essence of a person contained within the more recognisable shape of a body. But no, there are the faces of her friends, recognisable as the half-elf and half-orc she knew until so recently. She wonders how the soldier managed to steal Haynuus's spirit, but supposes that it might have been on its way to...wherever spirits go when they're freed, and simply snatched it out of the air.
But she's not dead yet - her soul is still within its body. Not that that's much use, considering there's very little for her to do. But what she doesn't particularly want to do is make this creature any stronger. She recalls that she and her friends were supposed to be doing something quite important, but it seems that they've failed, once again.
But what can she do? The water now lies behind her, shallowly, and to her right, much deeper - too wide to jump and too dangerous to touch. The ceiling of the cave is descending, the space becoming smaller. Her friends...her friends are dead. She is alone. And there's a spirit-eating human soldier yelling at her to let him get her. And she's alone.
Her body still charged with fear, she darts over to the nearby wall, putting it behind her as she turns back to face the soldier. She's alone, with no real way out - all she can do is attempt to stop herself from being taken.
She stands upright, drawing her knife, and holds it ready, staring unblinkingly up at the soldier and waiting for him to come within range. It's all she can do - try not to die. Cornered as she is, she finds herself in one of the very few situations in which a murafu will voluntarily attack another living creature.

OOC - Ready action - lash out at Westian with the knife if he gets too close (ie within range...so pretty damn close ). Attack roll = 20 (12+8), damage = 1. But I'm not really expecting it to come to that - if it was Haynuus, maybe, but I don't think Westian is the type to attempt any kind of physical reassurance in this kind of situation, verbose fellow that he is .

[ian_scho]

OOC - Connection to the web sucks big time at the moment. Spain must have started their holidays, even the internet packets are going slower.

Haynuus took the blow, and decided he could take a few more as well. However, the meat head of a trolin opposite him looked hurt but not like he was about to stop his assault. He could have tried to slap him with the flat of his blade but he wasn't confident that even that would be enough to stop the leader in his tracks. He elected for now to continue his attacks until opponent pleaded for mercy. Not likely, perhaps.

The trolins were as accustomed to fighting each other as the normal humanoid sized foes. But what Haynuus chose was to go low, for the legs (1d20+10=21, 2d4+6=11, 1d20+5=14, 2d4+6=12) and at the same time shift his positions back into the mouth of the crack.

[beowuuf]

If you get the chance with all the dropping packets, roll be an sense motive check.

[oh_brother]

Westian advanced forward slowly. Seeing Ameena draw her knife he knew that something was seriously wrong - the murafu was not the type to start random fights with her friends. He glanced around behind him, wondering if her actions were perhaps directed towards someone else, someone behind Westian that he had not noticed, but it was just the two of them.

As he edged forward he put his sword away, and held up his empty hands to show that he meant no harm. "Ameena, you are tired. You are not thinking straight. If you want to stop to take a rest that is okay. We have been through a lot, I know that. And with all we have done the mind gets tired...confused...sometimes. All of that is normal.”

He approached closer, stopping when he was about three feet from her. With that he sat down on the ground, to show that she was his main priority, and for now nothing else was intruding. “Why don’t we talk about it for awhile, hmm? The important thing is not to do anything rash, just take our time and we can get through this. You do not have to talk if you do not want to, but I am here to listen if you need it.”

OOC: I will use an extra 2 level-0 slots for the prayer.

[ian_scho]

OOC - sense motive check (1d20+2=7) Meh!

[beowuuf]

Ameena can take another will save with a +2 bonus

[Ameena]

OOC - Groovy . Will Save = 18 (15+3+2). Hope that's enough to have some decent effect at last .

[beowuuf]

Haynuus continued his battle with the Trolin leader. The half-orc's low sweep was unexpected, and the Trolin leader barely caught the blow. The force of it, however, carried on and both falchopn and club were driven hard into the Trolin's leg. The leader did not fall over, but his leg was obviously crushed. The Trolin's face reflected pain and terror and both of those came bubbling back as a berzerker rage.

The shift did not allow Haynuus's powerful upsing to connect, and Haynuus's tactical mopvement was not enough to stop the jagged club from smashing painfully into the half-orc's face.

The Trolin leader almost fell over forwards after such a swing, but it was clear the leader was going ot fight to the death - apparently losing to Haynuus was worse.

"Trechery!" yelled the female crossbow wielder, pointing her weapon in Haynuus's direction, However, Haynuus could already feel it was the sneaky lethagic Trolin behind him that was being insulted. The sneak had taken advantage of Haynuus's distaction and closeness to shift forward himself. Either he hated half-orcs more than he feared reprisals, or he was lookign to ingraciate himself to his leader.

Either way, the sneaky Trolin's weapon just missed a blow to Haynuus's vital organs, but still painfully knocked the wind from the half-orc's body.


Youch Hate to punish you for tactical moves, but I'd already had in mind what the sneak would do if he had the chance. And the Trolin leader just got lucky. Well, not too lucky - Haynuus needs to get himself some good armour! Anyway, that's an evil 25 hit points from an almost maxed out 4 point power attack by a two handed weapon wielding 18 strength having SOB who knows hwo to wield his club. Luckily, although the sneak rolled well (and is flanking) for his attack, the dice came out badly for him. Still, that's another 7 hit poitns damage ontop of that. I'm losing track - how's Haynuus looking after that 32 hit point reaming?


Westian took it slow and steady, not seeing anything amiss that would cause the murafu to be acting so strangely. Although it was abundantly clear that she was acting very, very strangely to the point of gripping a weapon against her companion.

Meanwhile, Ameena's world was gettign stranger and stranger, her vision tunneling. However, the Aurek/Westian voice took on more shades of Westian, even as the landcape distorted in stranger shapes, and the tortured faces of her friends became more agonised.

The strange figure infront of her dropped its weapon, said consiliatory things, and adopted an odd posture. Some rage welled up inside her, trying to force her to drive a weapon into her foe now its guard was down, to allow her to escape. However the odd rage, and the odd words in her own voice yelling at her to do it, were distinctly unlike a murafu.


Hmm, not quite the roll I needed for how deep Ameena is in, but also good RP from Westian. The villain's tried the anger tactic once already, trying to use Westian's righteous wrath as a way in. I figure he'd try to use the same idea against Ameena, not knowing her race are far from aggressive. So Ameena, the decent will save means she will sort of perceive the landscape as about as nightmarish as it was before (so only a few thigns off), but more importantly she can feel that there's something external trying to 'give' her aggression that is not in her nature, rather than her feeling cornered and angry.

Not enough for her to break the visions, but enough to maybe think something strange is going on. I'll let you RP the next little bit without dice, and see if you guys nail down the cracks this unseen force it trying to work into, or if a hook gets exposed for use against either of you. Dangerous psychological times, though I think Westiasn might be doing enough to break it. We shall see

[Ameena]

Ameena winces and shakes her head slightly. What is this strange thing she's feeling? It's completely unfamiliar to her - a sort of...surging feeling, inside her, almost like fear, yet a different type of fear. Maybe it isn't fear at all - it's not really an urge to run away...more the opposite, in fact. She feels as though she wants to...no, as though something is making her want to attack the soldier...person...creature in front of her. Whoever it is - she isn't entirely sure now, somehow. The voice just sounds...wrong.
She stares at the...person, not entirely taking in the things he's saying - it's as though he wants her to drop her guard, let him get closer. But isn't that what she wants? No...he wants to take her soul...doesn't he? Yes, he must do - he has Westian and Haynuus already - she can see their trapped spirits, straining to break free.
But something inside her, this strange feeling, somehow different from her usual instincts, almost like a voice, telling her she should attack this creature, strike him down as he exposes his vulnerabilities.
But maybe that's what he wants. Maybe he's only pretending to display his weakness, to convince her to approach so he can strike. Maybe in talking to her, he's making her feel this strange not-fear feeling - but why would he want her to attack him? Maybe he just wants her to get close enough - he might know that he can't catch her. But there's nowhere for her to go - the room is shrinking, the watery substance is spreading all over the floor. She's trapped, and alone, and surely he knows that, whoever he is.
Whatever's going on, something in her head is noticeably objecting to the way she feels at this moment - it just feels wrong, somehow, this urge to strike, this thing that feels like an odd version of fear. She can't remember ever feeling this way - the nearest memory she has for comparison is the sudden sort of internal rush she gets when seeing a friend in danger. But that's not quite like this - it's more like an urgent sort of fear, the knowledge that she must do something to help or risk losing that friend to whatever the danger is. This, she decides, isn't fear at all, but something else. Something completely unknown. But unknown simply to her, or to the Murafu themselves?
Surely, she decides, no murafu has ever felt like this - she'd have heard about it, as all murafu spread word of these things, and so all young murafu learn of them as they grow. So she's feeling something that the Murafu don't know about, maybe something the Murafu can't feel. But why? And where's it coming from?
Her gaze hasn't shifted from the humanish creature in front of her, even as all this passes through her mind. There's no-one else here. For all she knows, they're the only living creatures in this whole underground place, judging from the rapid degradation of their immediate surroundings - this may well be happening elsewhere as well. Though why this creature would then continue to hunt her when escape seems the better idea, she has no clue.
"S...stop it...whatever you're doing...stop it!" she cries out in fear, eyes wide, paw tightly gripping the handle of her knife.
She starts to wonder, however briefly, if it might not just be a better idea to just give in - she might be killed and trapped forever, but at least her spirit wouldn't be alone...

[beowuuf]

That's cool. You guys RP it out, I trust you. If Westian can get into the position to touch Ameena and say a prayer, the illusion is broken. Or if Ameena herself believes Westian is the one infront of her, the illusion will also be broken. Once Ameena is out of the illusion, she will recognise it as an external illusion (like a dream) and will know everythins is ok, etc.

[Ameena]

OOC - Hehe okay...there's them getting close enough to touch that will probably be the problem . Is Westy wearing big scary plate gauntlets, or are his hands bare? Actually, this may not be so difficult if she caves in enough that she just scrunches up into a ball and waits for (what she believes is) the inevitable...something she's not too far off doing, though I suppose it depends how Big Scary Soul-Eating Armour-Wearer responds next .

[beowuuf]

Remmeber Westian's already let Ameena's dreams be saner. The armour doesn't look horrible anymore, it's back to everything being off and weird not nightmarish, and the water surrounding Ameena.

[Ameena]

OOC - Yeah, I meant does he have plate gloves on at all, as in if he tries to touch her is it gonna be these big uncomfortable metal gauntlets or just his rather less cumbersome bare hands...because, you know, even if she wasn't totally freaked out right now she might find it a bit intimidating if someone with big metal hands tried to get hold of her .

[oh_brother]

As she spoke Westian looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and confusion. "I am not doing anything, Ameena. I am just sitting here."

He studied her as she stood in front of him. One of two possible things was occurring. Either the stress and the trauma of the battle had affected her, and pushed her already delicate mental balance over the edge. Or something external was causing this. Some toxin that caused her to see visions or become paranoid? If so, why had Westian not been affected? Some spell effect? Again, why was he not affected?

He decided to go on the assumption that it was battle-stress. Apparently this was quite a common condition - people who fought in battle whose minds could not cope with what they had done or the things they had seen.

With a soothing voice he continued. "You know we have only done what we had to do, Ameena. We were attacked, and we defended ourselves. Those creatures wanted to kill us. And the undead...I know they are scary, but they can be defeated. The power of the High Lords is far greater than the magic that animates them. If we stay together we have nothing to worry about" he lied. "You will feel better in a while, you will see. You just need to rest your mind for a minute. And then we will go and find Haynuus, and the three of us will be together again."

OOC: Yes, Westian is wearing gauntlets!

[ian_scho]

Haynuus was on deaths door and ready for his holidays with the attacks from both sides by the monsters. He thought his only chance of survival was to not, in fact, kill! With the flat of his blade he continued his assault on the leader (1d20+6=14, 2d4+6=9, 1d20+1=4, 2d4+6=8) shouting "Coward!" in an attempt to either bluff the leader into admitting a weakness (Haynuus knew that he hadn't requested help) or intimidate his attacker from behind.

[beowuuf]

Haynuus moved his sword in an unfamiliar way, trying to only knock the Trolin out. It was not usually a technique that worked on maniac goblins, or ferocious animals, and Haynuus found it didn't work on Trolin leaders in a life or death struggle either. The Trolin leader's fear and anger at the other Trolin's intervention altered as he seemed to sense Haynuus's reluctance.

Still, Haynuus's call was taken up. Unfortunately it was by the Trolin's second. "Coward! Shoot him!" yelled the Trolin, charging forward. The two Trolin crossbow wielders took up the call, aiming and firing while the Trolin's second rushed forwards.

The Trolin sneak yelped as two bolts ricocheted off the cave wall beside him, and the sneak ran. Meanwhile, the Trolin leader's jubilant overhand club being thrown at Haynuus was blocked by the Trolin's second. And that seemed like luck, as the second was aiming it his leader's head!

"Snark-grag has more honour than you. SNARK-GRAG!" says the second, pushing his leader over and screaming in his face.

The leader is still barely holding himself together from his own injuries, and does not get up. "I not tell Goga to hel me!" snarls the leader.

"You not stop when he help you though, you use dishonour! Snark-grag get dishonoured and surrounded, and he use not-sharp-stupid-side!"

The Trolin leader rolls around to say something at Haynuus, and its the last thing he does, as his second then crushes his skull with an angry weapon blow.

"Go," says the second in passable common. The once-second is shaking. The male crossbow wielder twists his face in disgust at the whole situation, but shuts up. The female crossbow wielder makes a start forward, as if to say something, but also doesn't say anything.

"GO!" says the second again.


So there you go, complicated Trolin politics. The seocnd was tagged as honourable, what can I say. Nice honour, its cleaner than the female starting to fire at people and starting a group battle! Anyway, will you run, or will you stand your ground and reason?

[ian_scho]

...

It was a pause.

His life was in the balance over that pause.

He sheathed his falchion, bowed, and turned to walk away down the crack. How the fuck did I survive that he thought. He said nothing to the trolins.

He walked, trotted, bobbed and bounced down the difficult terrain steadily going downwards. He really wanted to drink his last potion bottle but maybe his friends were all chatting around a camp fire at the bottom by the beautiful and serene lake that he saw earlier. Oh, that would be nice.

Meanwhile...

[Ameena]

OOC - Okay, I just wanted to check regarding the gauntlet thing in case Westy tries to give her a hug or something, plus I like my narrative to be right regarding little details like that .
One little thing about Haynuus's troll encounter - wasn't the term they used before (that is, the original trio of trolls the group met right outside the starting room) "snark-grak", not "snark-grag"?

BIC - Ameena continues to stare at the humanish person in front of her. His words aren't making sense - she's seen him stab the walking corpse of Westian, and writhing souls within his armour...yet he's talking as though...well, as though he is Westian. She recalls that he did indeed look like Westian, right up till the point where the illusion dropped, she saw Westian's undead body, and the room started shrinking. Maybe he doesn't realise that she can see him - maybe he's been crafting some kind of...what's that word they use...a magic vision of something that isn't really there. An ill-vision? Something like that. Maybe he'd created an ill-vision to make her think Westian was still alive, and then for some reason that vision broke and now she can see what's what. Maybe it was Westian himself who somehow showed her the truth - he was always the one to perform the healing magic, to heal wounds and attempt to peaceably negate harmful magic just by talking to the mysterious Lord-person he mentioned so often. Maybe it was some kind of residual influence from his spirit, or something, which interrupted the ill-vision and caused Ameena to see what had really happened.
She can't be sure, however, that this soldier in front of her knows she's seen what he is - maybe so far he's only suspicious - either way, he might want to make sure, and destroy her now while he sees that he has the chance. Then again, since he's already taken Haynuus and Westian, he must know she's alone now. Yet he's talking as though he's trying to persuade her that nothing's wrong.
Well, really, he's talking rather like Westian might.
Of course, she reminds herself, that's because he wants her to think he's Westian.
So now what should she do?
She's so far gone in her fear now that she realises she doesn't entirely feel scared any more - it's gone beyond that, somehow. She has a feeling inside that makes it seem as though she's the only living creature in the whole of existence, with the exception of this human masquerading as her friend. No Westian. No Haynuus. No Falkor. No other murafu. None of the people she's ever known. No sun. No moon. No wind. No trees. Nothing like that. Just herself, this cave, that human.
Well, she decides, no murafu can live like that. She remembers the old murafu saying about friends - somehow, it just doesn't seem to fit any more. How can it, when she has no friends remaining, and no chance of finding any more? She might as well just see this through, to whatever the end might be.
She lowers her knife a little, wondering vaguely whether she'll instinctively try to use it if the huamn comes near. Then she looks directly at him with dull eyes.
"I can see you." she says, her tone quiet, almost lifeless. "The ill-vision broke. I've seen what you've done. Is it my turn now?"

[beowuuf]

There was a receiprocal pause, filled with uncertainty and potential violence.

"Stupid sna-" started the male crowwbow wielder.
"Leave orc alone," said the voice, but it was the Trolin's second, not the female crossbow wielder.
"Watch out for Goga" said the female wielder in Haynuus's direction, "take bolt to stick in his eye!" she then says after a pause.


Inside the crack, Haynuus finds a short passageway with an arched enclosed roof of rock overhead. There is no sight of the retreating Trolin, but what there is is a set of rubble and ruins as the crack leads to a secondary fault. There is a very uneven set of 'steps', and by the gentle smell of water, it seems they should lead back to the lower level - eventually.


Heh, well, you could have picked up a few Trolin NPCS perhaps. Or, of course, ended up dead. Seems a legitimate compromise to me to retreat. Of course... I wonder what the group will do once they recover, and more importantly realise there are people down below that Haynuus will talk to!

Anyway, I'll say Haynuus is a little time lapsed (dur to combat rounds) compared to where Ameena and Westian are. The lower part of the crack that is on the bottom level opens up to go back into the dungeon, and also has an open way to go back to the lake. Feel free to do something first, investigate the dungeon-direction a little first, or just go to meet the rest (and maybe even head off to save Aurek)!

Roll me any rolls is you are paranoid about anything. A climb check shouldn't be necessary for casually walking down the crack. Will need an athletics check if you want Haynuus to move faster.

[oh_brother]

"I can see you, too, Ameena," Westian replied, thinking that this was some traditional murafu greeting. Perhaps he was getting somewhere.

Then she confused him again by adding "I have seen what you have done". Westian thought for a moment. "I only did what I had to do, to keep us safe. Those creatures were wild, it was kill or be killed. And the undead, well I will make no apology for killing them. They are not true beings - they have no conciousness - they are only a mockery of life. Of the things that we hold dear. If a murafu's body was animated after death, and forced to do awful things, wouldn't you want the spell broken? And the body to return to the natural order, not some mockery of the good life they had lived before? Killing undead is not true killing, it is just ending the control an evil force has over an unwilling body."

Her final question, regarding whether it was her turn now, made it clear to Westian that she was not thinking straight. "Ameena, I would never hurt you, surely you know that? We have travelled side-by-side for some time now, and neither of us has done anything except look after the other. Nothing has changed, I am not here to hurt you. You just are not thinking straight." He edged slightly closer to her, his hands held up in an attempt to show he meant no harm.

[ian_scho]

Haynuus was weak and felt very vulnerable. It was not a nice feeling for him as he thrived on being the butch and the strong one. He was a alive however, and once more the trolins had nearly taken that away. He shivered and stumbled for a moment, taking a hand out to the cold rock wall to steady him. He felt ill, alone. He was shakey at the legs now, realising that once more he had survived an encounter with trolins. And even though he didn't realise it, he had slaughtered one of his personal demons becuase it actually felt good that he didn't have to kill the leader! They slaughtered each other at his very feet, he couldn't believe that. They were a doomed race, he was sure of that.

He continued down and it felt cold here, and he felt so tired. He saw the way into the carved dungeon walls, and then another to what he hopes was the open cavern ahead. He chose the latter. His friends needed him... No. He needed them now he admitted to himself. He rustled in his backpack and pulled out the full VI flask and held it close to his chest for comfort. Should this Goga guy turn up he'd probably have to quaff it immediately.

[beowuuf]

Cool, if you maybe give Westian and Ameena today to have uninterrupted discussion, and then Haynuus would emerge from the crack closeby and hear Westian/Ameena speaking.

Ameena, Haynuus would probably look like Haynuus at the lesser level of confusion.

[Ameena]

OOC - Okay, I was gonna ask about that - about what she'd see in the event that Haynuus turns up before she finally gets her head straight and finally breaks the illusion .

BIC - Ameena instinctively tenses up again, slightly, as the human noticeably moves a little closer. She knows all too well that there's nowhere for her to go, but it seems some part of her hasn't quite given up yet. Once again, his words confuse her somewhat, though she decides that it's just because he actually doesn't realise she's seen what he is.
"I meant that I saw what you did - that wasn't just some undead creature like I've already met here with my friends - that was my friend." she tells him in the same dull voice as before. "One of them. That was Westian - he died and something made his body get up again - when you destroyed that, the ill-vision broke. I think maybe he was trying to show me what was real. I saw his spirit, and Haynuus's, in your armour where you've trapped them. You didn't really fall into the water - I thought you did, but you didn't, and Westian didn't survive the fall down here. I don't know quite what happened to Haynuus, but I saw him fall too, just when the ill-vision broke, and I don't know how you've trapped his spirit, but I know that you have."
She lowers her gaze slightly, suddenly feeling almost overwhelmed by loneliness. After a moment, she looks back up at her tormentor.
"So, if it's my turn now, I don't quite know whether I'll try to fight you. Since we're the only ones left, I don't know whether I'd gain much by doing so. If you catch my spirit, I know that at least I won't be alone, because I'll be trapped with my friends, even if being stuck inside some black armour isn't very interesting. I would...prefer to just finish this, one way or the other..."
She trails off the sentence, then gives a small sigh and tenses slightly, watching the human's movements with a strange combination of wariness and acceptance.

[oh_brother]

This was clearly more than simple battle-stress, Ameena was delusional. Whether this was some psychosis or caused by an external force was not clear, but something had to be done.

Westian fully removed his helmet - perhaps the armour was confusing to her. "No Ameena, I am Westian. I have not died - you have been with me the whole time. Ever since I saw you again in Seeroc's room, we have been together the whole time. If I had died, you would have noticed it, no? Think Ameena, this does not make sense, something is making you imagine these things. They could not have happened. And Haynuus, we heard him just above us, his soul is very much attached to his body."

At least I hope so Westian thought, glancing around. In all the confusion he had forgotten about the half-orc, and it had gotten very quiet above them. He needed to get Ameena back to herself so they could make sure he was okay.

“Just relax Ameena, you are with a friend. He edged closer still. Slowly, gently, he put his hand forward, his other hand held up in a peaceful gesture. “Don’t worry,” he added soothingly “I won’t hurt you.”

He laid his hand on her head. “Lord Larethian, finder of those who are lost, friend of the sick, take pity on this creature and sooth her agitated mind.”

OOC: The last paragraph is conditional on the fact that Ameena lets him touch her, and does not stab him. Since he is doing everything to show that he is not planning any harm he will definitely not be prepared for any attack if Ameena gets nervous!

[beowuuf]

I'll let Ameena decide if it's acceptable, but all that if allowed to pass will break the effect of Ameena.

[beowuuf]

Haynuus moved towards the party, and a hopefully joyous reuinion. Perhaps they had already recovred Aurek?

However, in the darkness of the other direction of the crack, the sneaky trolin Goga shook with rage. Seeing the orc walking away, and perhaps sensing the weakness, the creature decided to make a bold - for it - move. Weapon held low, the Trolin moved forwards with detrmination.


Ok, the stealth roll to beat with a perception check is 13. If you do, Haynuus can quaff the potion as a readied action if you want. The Trolin, annoyingly, scored a natural 20 for the attack, so will do 9 damage. If Haynuus fails the perception check, the Trolin will get in sneak attack damage too - so another 2 points for 11. Ouch Haynuus still has his die hard ability, but still sounds like he might fall within hearing distance of his friends!

[ian_scho]

OOC - OK, this is nearly my last post for a week!
Perception check. (1d20+2=19)

Haynuus, heavily bloodied and dishevelled comes out into the large cavern to a joyous sight. Ameena and Westian are there! Chatting away just like those other humanoids do. With happiness and joy he shouts "I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm aahhhhrrrlllliiiivveee!" and falls to a knee. It was then he felt the swish of a heavy object coming his way, and continued the motion so he ducked even more.

He popped the top off and insta-quaffed the potion. Years of ale drinking, and not the best stuff either, with orcs and brigands had taught him the secrets of quaffing your drink in short time. He immediately retaliated with his own attack.

OOC - Don't know whether he can attack this round, but here's an attack roll (1d20+10=23, 2d4+6=10, 1d20+5=10, 2d4+6=13) for free!...