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

[ian_scho]

"Yes!" he replies to Petal. Then taps a temple really hard with his finger. "He makes you crazy, just like him. The goblins I used to work with..." (Actually, the goblins he used to whip and beat) "...would protect themselves from such magicks by beating their heads repeatedly against the floor. Not recommended." He shakes his head and stamps his feet with this last statement.

"Agreed Mister Deephold. Petal we should start moving, but can you tell us when the effects of chaos stops?" Haynuus was not aware as to what a sorcerer was, but understood that she was closer to understanding the nature of magic compared to Deephold. She reminded him of his old shaman friend somewhat. Someone who understood that there was a balance in the world, and that people always seemed to revere those who upset the balance most.

[raixel]

Petal nods at the half orc. "Yes. Tell you I will." She looks around at the surrounding area. "This area, less damaged it seems than the other. Suprised I am that corrupted it did the dragon. But, perhaps the magic nature that had the dragon more suceptible made it." The pixie trails off as she notices Naynuus' eyes starting to glaze over.

"Yes, well...tell you I will when safe area we are in." she finishes, as she prepares her things to follow the party.

[beowuuf]

"Best not to mention the elf further," said Deephold, trying to remind Haynuus of the insidious nature of the elf's powers.

Petal wondered on the fact of the dragon being caught, but of course it was likely that the Chaos-blasted area had infact spread much further than this originally. Perhaps the Dragon had actually concentrated and twisted some of that power towards it, reducing the length of the tainted land. Or, most worryingly, perhaps even the lightest affected area could bleed in to a creature quickly, trapping it. That was a sobering thought, and definitely meant they needed to leave as soon as possible.


The group followed the river as it twisted again to straighten up. The roof became a little higher, the land a little wider around on both sides of the river. The grass and rocks seemed natural, although without Ameena's keen nose Petal only had her vague sense to be going on with. One that was hard, at these low levels, to give a definitive yes or no at being finally out of harm's way.

Up ahead, there seemed to be a tall and strong tree. It was twisted, but by nature in the way it had adapted to this strange underground place. It had dug its roots in deep to the bank and thus was feeding off the river. There even seemed to be bright red fruit on it. As areas went, this large patch seemed unnaturally nice, but that did not mean it was not a good spot to rest and work out their next move.

[raixel]

After Deephold speaks, Petal feels a presence in the back of her head for a second. A tiny and imperious presence. But even before she can really acknoledge it, it fades away. She shakes her head slightly and looks around the area the party has come to.

"Believe I, that safe this area is, Although say I can not for certain. However, a good place to rest this seems. Pehaps too good, it is." she says as she flies over near the tree to examine it closer. Perception (1d20+5=13) Although the area appears safe, she circles the odd tree slowly, checking for any signs things are not as they seem. (bones ect) If all appears safe, she flies up to one of the fruit like structures and touches it, reading its mana to see if it has been affected by the area. Kmow arc (1d20+8=25)

[ian_scho]

Haynuus is happy to find somewhere to rest, but then Petal's last sentence prodded him into action. "I shall use my knowledge of nature to ascertain how dangerous this tree is." He proudly pronounces. And with that he casts of his back pack and falls onto his back underneath the tree. "Aahhh, now lets see." With that he adjusted his circlet and let it do all the talking (1d20+1=4). It all looked is if it came out of a Miss Marple scene, and in fact Haynuus was ready to drop off to sleep right away (with some cider, cucumber sandwiches and some nice juicy red fruit at his side).

[beowuuf]

Haynuus proudly and confidently stands up, looking at the tree. Any moment now, he knows that the circlet will rummage around in the large if cluttered chaos that is Haynuus's brain, and pick out the knowledge that Hyanuus has acquired that he never realised before he had acquired.

Anyy moment now.

Any moment.

Hmm.


Of course, Petal knew the reason Haynuus could not identify the tree's nature, even if she did not realise Haynuus's problem. The tree was definitely magical and not natural, she had heard rumurs of such things. They drew energy that was usally reserved for the energy of RA instead from the energy of VI along, drawing out its magic as well as its physical properties into itself. This tree was surely a pure version of the sadly twisted specimens they had walked passed.

She has even seen red fruit like this before, like a far rounder apple, that actually still contains the life essense of VI. Unlike normal trees which need to propigate, these trees are artifical - once the constructs of elves for underground forest during some of the dark times long ago. Instead the tree disposes of additional, and potentially harmful, magic in to the fruit. Usually the additional magic is still VI-based, and so such fruits possess amazing healing properties. However, it is possible for other forms to be bound in their forms. And of course, it is possible this is a mockery of such trees she has heard, a trick of Chaos.

Petal has no ability to tell one type from another visually, and she can spot nothing amiss around the tree itself. Daring to touch the fruit and open her midn to it, she feels nothing but the powerful and graceful song of Vi, mixed sweetly with naruraly wooden baratone of YA represented by the tree. She feels confident this tree is as it appears, marking the end to the twisted region that has plagued them.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" asks Deephold concerns, tightening the grip on his mace.

[ian_scho]

"It's a tree!" Haynuus opens his eyes and shouts.

[raixel]

GOD DAMMIT IAN!! *wipes coffee off monitor while hacking my ass off* Actually, I needed that. Havent had a good couple days.

Petal breaks the link with the mana and opens her eyes. "Appears it is, that this is a Sacred Tree of VI. A good sign this is, Grow these do not in twisted areas. See you, the mana infused with VI, not RA. Healing, the fruit is. But also sacred to Sylvanus, the High Lord who watches over forests. Take all of it, we should not. DIsturb the tree, we should not. The forest of my home, in a deep cave, two of these trees there are. Elves, watch over them they do. Of one growing wild, I have not heard. Interested the Elven followers of High Lord Sylvanus would be"

I used Sylvanus (Forgotten Realms N god of nature worshipped by druids and some elves) because in this world I 'm not quite sure exactly what Corellon Larethian's portfolio is, and he's already in use. So perhaps Sylvanus could be the High Lord of forests/trees? If this doesnt work, let me know and I'll alter it to like Titania or Larethian....

As the pixie speaks, she pulls out the parchment she wrote her findings about the dragon on and begins to draw a quick sketch of the area, to take to any interested party. After she is finished, she flies up to a fruit and reverantly cuts its stem with her dagger, making sure the cut is sharp and straight. After this is done, she brings the fruit to her forehead, closes her eyes, and whispers a prayer in something that sounds like her own language, but has less clicks and trills and more singing. She then flies the fruit down to Haynuus, who appears to her eyes to be far more injured than Deephold.

"Rest here we should, and heal. Also, some cloth or leather scraps have either of you? Some small craft at sewing I have, and about Deephold's feet I am worried. " she says.

Looking at the dwarf's wide feet to size him up for a pair of foot-coverings, Petal is startled to see what looks like hair growing from the base of Deephold's stubby toes. She flies down for a closer look, then glances at her own tiny pale bluish feet with purple nails. They are as different from the dwarf's feet as night and day. Her feet are very thin where the dwarf's are wide, and her toes are long and narrow and very mobile, probably because the ancestors of modern pixies used them to grip the trees they landed on. And they definately had no HAIR on them. But then, as Petal glances at Deephold again, she realizes the dwarf had a lot of hair nearly every place she could see, whereas pixies had none except for their heads. Even males had no hair on their face or bodies the way humans do. But Deephold was hairier than the hariest human Petal had ever seen.

"Deephold, to keep your toes warm is that for?" she asks innocently, while pointing to the hair. "Your people in a cold climate they did live?"

[ian_scho]

Haynuus chuckles to himself over Petal's observation about Deephold. "I have some tarpaulin we could cut. Not as good as whipped goblin skin[1] but we could make him feel right at home with some slippers?" He offered a section of the tarpaulin to the Petal, upon receiving a red fruit in return. He darted his eyes across to Deephold as a this okay? sort of look and offered a nervous "Thanks!" Carefully removing the skin he cut out a section only to shove his nose inside to detect for magic. Hmmm, tastes good. With his hands free for the briefest of seconds and a piece of magic fruit balancing on his nose he replies "Hey, anyone want to share some? It tastes nice!" After removing the fruit from his nose he then attacks the section of fruit in his other hand.


[1] To obtain the perfect pair of sandals you didn't just have to murder the goblin to get his skin off him but you had to whip him as well. In the haulage trains Haynuus worked on the cruellest of the slave drivers would whip the back of a goblin over the months so that the scar tissue would eventually form a criss-cross pattern and only then did you obtain that truly longer lasting sole required for your shoes. It was a cold hearted decision as the bearer of the whip would chose the oldest goblin in his team, possessing the toughest skin. You didn't get much money for the novelty footware which makes it all the more insidious an activity but unlike the more pricey troll boots there was no payback when the original skin owner's family found you wearing them.

[beowuuf]

I have this feelign that if we were playing this in person, by now Ian would be able to simply do a Haynuus-like gesture or expression that would have us doing spit-takes.

I like the multi-verse theory that I think was kinda in the D&D/AD&D world because of Moorcock, and also to explain what might happen if even a god tried to cross over between different worlds (read rule-sets of D&D and AD&D). So yeah, Corelloen Larethian and Lolth are the representations of their D&D counterparts, whether they are equivalents of being from another universe, are actually the same as watch over the worlds of Greyhawk, etc, or whether one os the ehco of another and took their names, I'll leave to the imagination of the players until it needs to be explicit

That's assuming the High Lords worshipped by the people around now are actually High Lords that exist and ascended. Perhaps there are no High Lords with those names in the ranks, and the echoes are only in the minds of people

Long story short - Sylvanius is fine as a references. I see High Lords as not gods (yet?), and hence they can clearly claim ownership of domains that others may lay claim to with other races.


The fruit had a hardness that spoke of being apple-like, but Petal for one knew the fruit would dissolve when bitten in to more like watery bread. Drawing the tree was a soothing activity, and the facimile was no less proud than the real object.

Deephold seemed a little impatient, however it was just as obvious once Petal called attention to his feet that Deephold was hobbling and the lack of boots was affecting him. "Dwarves are not unusually hairy," said deephold embarrassed, "however the mountains tend to force you to keep your boots on for long periods of time in unpleasant conditions." He makes a face. "You usually peel your socks off weeks later, and take hair and sometimes skin with it. Toughens up the skin, of course, but your hair always grows back thicker and thicker." Deephold shakes his head. "I'd never let another hear it from my old home, but I was glad to leave the mountains for the forests of the elves, and the churches of the humans."

Deephold shifted uncomfortably, perhaps from both the sharing of his personal information and also the itme it was taking, but seemed to keep his comments to himself realising Petal was being kind creating temporary footwear from him. Deephold shrugged at the nature of the fruit, but seemd happy enough to trust the pixie's instincts regarding it. He even smiled at Haynuus's antics, but understandably declined to eat any himself. Nervously at first, Deephold set about to generate some healing potions now they were free. A spasm crossed his face as he started to do it, and he saidly recalled Ameena's own wounds that - due to his lack of faith in LArethian - he had not attempted to heal when he had the chance.

"Larethian watch over her once more until we find her!"

Deephold finally exhausted himself trying to tend to Haynuus's various wounds, and the half-orc was surely sick of the taste of the Vi healing water.


Ok, the VI fruit heals 2d6 hit points and also - not that you probably need it - 1d3 ability points. Feel free to harvest as much as Petal's conscience allows, and let me know. There's probably around ten ripe fruit, though even if Petal relants you might start to find deminishing returns at the back end of the ten

Deephold is a powerhouse, and can heal 57 hit points before needing to rest.

[raixel]

Yeah, I dont see the High Lords as gods either (well maybe not most of them). If you were using the rules in Deities and Demigods, Id say they all had a divine rank of 0 or 1 (ie quasi-deities and demi-gods), with maybe the exception of Chaos, Librasulus and the Grey Lord. What threw me off was a dwarf worshipping Larethian. So I didnt know if you had changed it.

Petal smiles as Deephold explains his people's nature. "Well of course, hairy is not a dwarf, to another dwarf. But if had as much hair as a dwarf a pixie did, looking like a bat he would be!" she giggles. "But, for to be as unhairy as a pixie for a dwarf, look at him funny his people would! Perhaps think he was an oversized child."

The pixie takes the tarp material from Haynuus and flies it over to Deephold. "Deephold, if please you would to stand on this tarp?" she asks him. When he complies, she grabs her quill and ink pot and traces the dwarf's feet on a corner of the tarp, trying to save as much of the tarp as she can without damaging it. When they are traced, she takes the trap and carefully cuts the foot pattern out, thenlays the cut pattern on the tarp again and cuts another set so that the sole will be double thick. She saves the scraps from cutting for lacing and padding.

Using the knowledge of sewing her father taught her, she attempts to craft a pair of simple sandals for Deephold. They wouldnt be anything fancy or even good looking, basically being a sole made of doubled up and padded tarp with lacings holding it in place , but at least it would keep the dwarf's feet from injury. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2925252/]Craft (1d20=12)[/url ] "

"Here, wear these for now" she says as she hands the crafted sandles to Deephold. "Sorry better they are not, but at least help a bit they should."

Petal looks around again and glaces at the tree. "Take we could, a few more apples. But an offering for the tree, we should leave, if more than one we take." Deephold, if an empty flask you have taht borrow I could for a minute, craft I will a suitable offering."

[beowuuf]

I've made Larethian'his church very political and wide spread in the area, I think Westian likened it to the jesuits. Hence although an elven base, definitely accepting human/dwarfs and being very present in human lands. As you might see from his last statement, Deephold is an oddity who lives in the church.

Feel free to assume Deephold lets you borrow his flask btw!

[raixel]

Petal gratefully takes the flask and holds it in her hand at eye level. She focuses her power on it, drawing VI mana from the moisture in the air and surrounding water.

"LO VI" she whispers into the mouth of the flask, as an iridescent bubbling blue liquid appears to flow from her lips and into the flask. When the spell is complete, she takes the magic healing water and carefully sprinkles it around the base of the tree and on the bark, all the while singing in the same language similar to her own that she spoke in when cutting the fruit. After she is done she returns the flask to Deephold and says "There. Thanked the tree I have for its gift. To easily grow more fruit it will, with the VI mana. Now take a couple fruits we may. Go up and cut them I will."

After she speaks, the pixie flies up and carefully cuts 5 fruits from the tree, singing again in the same language all the while. When she is done, she flies back down to the party and distributes the fruit.

"Now, to stay here and rest do we, or go on?" she asks.

[ian_scho]

OOC - Cheers people I'll update the HPs on the character

Haynuus had just spent saying "thank you" over and over again in one of the most surreal moments of his life. VI Potions were handed over to him with a marvellous bubbling and a blue haze inside. Fantastic fruits were cut up and shared between them, which consisted of a thousand flavours and invigorating properties. "So who planted this here then?"

"Hey I like your shoes, Mister Deephold." and offers Petal a wink. Truth be told, she did a good job, although Haynuus wouldn't want to go mining in them.

He stored an extra fruit in his precious back pack, then he launched to his feet. "We're goblin ship-shape[+] and fit to go!"

[+] For humans, ship-shape means all tidy and sorted out. For goblins it means you're ready to go rutting and pillaging.

[beowuuf]

The makeshift footwear were clearly crafted with some degree of skill, but also reflected the base material and the short time that had been allowed to put them together. Deephold thanked Petal graciously for her gift, seeming quite taken with them. There was obviously some pain already from injuries on his bare feet, and he walked a little stiffy to start with. A combination of the injuries and breaking in his boots. Still, he tried his best to disguise it and smiled at Petal and Haynuus as he walked around.

Deephold thanks Petal for the return of the flask, clearly curious over the ritual of the tree. "I do not know what allows the tree to grow here, be it the Grey Lord or some random chance. Do you have any knowledge, noble pixie?" Deephold listens to the response, though he walks up to it himself, and with apparently no mana to give, simply bows down on one knee and touched the tree by the roots. He intones a low prayer to Larethian and some other name lost to overhearing. He takes a moment, and then gets back up. "Sadly, I have not the strength for the moment to offer the tree the comfort of YA. I hope it forgives our needs."

Deephold looks around, and then back to the group. "Are we fit enough to leave, then?" he asked obviously hopefully. The groups did, indeed, seem ready.


Just going to give you one last chance to do anythign you wish to before moving onwards, otherwise I'll do another update leaving the area. Let me know where the five fruits are being distributed. Will it be two each, with Haynuus already having eaten one? Haynuus as pack mule?

Also give me an idea of party order for getting underway. Deephold, with his new footwear and impatience, might try to push the lead unlless otherwise stated.

[ian_scho]

"We could always take a few seeds and spread the favour." Haynuus adds to Deephold completely oblivious as to how to make a magic tree grow. Someone tried to sell him some magic beans once, and they explained that they were really easy to grow. Alas, after 5 minutes of convincing Haynuus found that someone had stolen his purse during the conversation and the vendor was most frustrated.

OOC - Any seeds in the remains of the consumed fruit?

Haynuus stores one of the fruits, while offering Deephold the other. To Petal, on the other hand, he suggests that she carries the remaining two. Haynuus's orcish blood sometimes give him impulses to ravage the tree, stripping it of it's fruit and resources and so it only seemed correct that she benefit from her self-restraint.

Finally Haynuus says that he doesn't mind where he goes in the party order. Feeling a bit more bullish now, he can relax somewhat with some good travelling with companions.

[beowuuf]

Nope, the fruit is a waste product of absorbing mana, they trees don't actually naturally reproduce I'm sure Petal can explain, as that was the knowledge her arcana check bought you. You are actually eating magical tree poop.

[ian_scho]

OOC - Ah hah. So Haynuus' poop may well have magical properties as well, after eating magic poop.

Haynuus stands up and announces that the fruit has had some interesting effects on his stomach. Normally his diet of camp-fire-cooked small furry mammal skewered on a stick did not have any unsettling effects on his digestion but the healthy stuff, fruits and freshly steamed vegetables, did. Nevertheless he's ready to go!

[beowuuf]

The group - perhaps regretfully - moved off. If only to get away from any lingering odours of Haynuus's creation. The group walked in a haphazard order, Deephold still hobbled a little but seemed better for the new footwear, and seemed very eager to pull the group onwards to discover what was happening.

The echoes of the river started getting stranger, as up ahead it was clear that the wall was starting to get more brick-like again. The roof up ahead started sloping downwards, and it could be seen that the river took a sharp right turn in the face of a soldi wall of rock. The main bank theye were walking did not properly follow it around, becoming nothing more than a narrow dirt strip. Instead, the grass and occasional tree was slowly thinning, and there was even evidence of the pattern of paving stones.

The wall up ahead had a perfect rectangle cut into it where the bank would have continued forwards, showing ther start of the normal dungeon corridors the part was used to in the dungeons of the Grey Lord and Chaos.

Most importantly, there seemed to be figures emerging just from the mouth of there, apparently awaiting the group. The figures were about the same build. The figures were also quite familiar. AS the group came closer, they could see that at least two - and there seemed to be more hidden in the shadows for now - versions of Helm stood waiting for them.

[ian_scho]

"This does not bode well." mused Haynuus to the others. "Although, I wonder if the gnome knows that we gutted his grak grak?" He approached. Slowly.

Inside he was nervous for Helm. He did not know him for all that long but suspected that Ameena knew him for longer and better during her travels. He wanted to remind the other of the possible harm they could do to him, but then it was Deephold's horrified face that screamed the confirmation to the half-orc that Helm was indeed at peril.

[raixel]

Petal sees the figures and darts into the shadows, attempting to hide from them. From the lttle she could see, they appeared to look like the human who wsa named after a piece of armor. So, if her calculations were correct, they were in fcat the grak-graks. And according to her friends, this Sore-ik made the grak-graks, and also might have Ameena hostage.

Better to hide now and let Haynuus and Deephold speak. That way she might be able to suprise them with a cast spell if needed.

Stealth (hiding) (1d20+9=22)

[ian_scho]

A quick glance to the side is all Haynuus offers the pixie as he feels the air pushed across the back of his neck. If Ameena was here she'd probably have done the same!

"Mister Deephold... Parlay is what we need. Only then can we get Ameena and Helm back to safety." The word 'parlay' is not in the orcish vocabulary but Haynuus learnt it when in a bar. A halfling with a bloody nose negotiated with the half-orc that his purse had in fact fallen to the floor and not been cut and pilfered by the mischievous thief. Haynuus managed to acquire an extra jar of stout for not removing the little one's fingers. 'Parlay' worked in Haynuus's experience, but it's better to start off with a sharp object to the throat.

He decided to not hide, but wave his arms to gain the attention of the deceased versions of Helms. "Coooeeey!"

[beowuuf]

Petal, as had happened before, moved off in to the shadows. Sadly, there was no murafu doign the same thing on the other side. As before, Deephold and Haynuus took on the central role, standing their ground. Haynuus's words elicited a response, an almost genuine grin on the faces of the fake Helms.

Of course, many things were different from the last time grak-graks had tracked the down. This time, the Helm card was instantly used. This time, Ameena was also missing, a fact that was surely linked to the master of the creatures in front of them. And this time, Deephold was far more engaged than even last time.

"We know your master is behind the disappearance of our friend Ameena! Tell him to come show himself! We're tired of being led by your foul kind by the nose!"

The two grak-graks grinned, and stalked forwards. It was clear from the movement of shapes that there were more of them behind. That was another difference from last time.

And then there was a light, tinkling laughter. That and the source of it were the biggest change.

"Well, I do not know who you are, not really, but I recognised the voice of my good friend," came a small voice. Into the flickering torchlight came the familiar shape of Soorec. He was not alone. There were at least two more grak-graks behind him. And there was a cowering figure near him, the same as all the rest but very obviously not. It was the real Helm. He had hands on his neck, and looked ill and wretched. He was being forced to walk forwards by his likeness. The other grak-grak at the back was holding a furry shape that was obvious what it was. It was Ameena. She was not moving.

"Hello!" said Soorec, waving enthusiastically at Hyanuus. "It's good to see you with my own eyes! How have you been?" Soorec was all smiles, and for the moment was focused on Haynuus with friendly eyes.

Of course, how soon that might all change - including an explanation of the gnome's presence, his insistence of the party to come to him, the poor state of Helm, and the state of the murafu - was not something to be guessed easily with the changeable gnome.


Ok, leave it there - obviously, Haynuus is in the spotlight, Deephold will surely have his say, and for the moment it appears Petal is in a good position to scout, or surprise, or do something else.

And, of course, you will have a day's delay before you can find out if Ameena can slot effortlessly back in to the game again, or if we timed this to kill off the poor fuzzle

[raixel]

Petal summons her mana to her while staring hard at the sorcerer-gnome and his cronies. She hopes that he cant sense energy flows the way she can as she draws her power. She focuses on the OH mana first, willing the air around her to block her form from sight. With the rune EW, she shapes her spell to affect her enemies, and the darkness of SAR to blind them to her passage.

"UMOHEWSAR" she whispers under her breath, barely making the words pass her lips. As the spell takes hold, she feels a tingle along her body. Once she is sure she cant be seen, she moves silently down the passge to try and get behind the gnome. Stealth (moving) (1d20+5=16)

[ian_scho]

All thought of Petal was gone out of his mind as soon as he saw the gnome who was clearly out of his mind. "Ehm. It's good to see you too." he said somewhat pathetically. Now would have been a time to work out just what the gnome had said. It's good to see you with my own eyes to Haynuus meant that he could divine what was going on from each grak-grak. It was not good and he'd probably demand some apologising very soon. For now though he left the comment hang on a peg in the back of his mind to digest over later.

"Say you've got the team back to together again. Minus Westian, Falkor and Aurek of course. Oh happy times..." and with those missing members he would have had enough bodies to surely punch the gnome on the nose. "So, are Helm and Ameena... Okay?" He casts an eye over Soorec, Helm and Ameena to try to divine their state of health, and state of mind! 1d20+2=3

[Ameena]

Ameena feels very odd. As she trots alongside the river trying to smell and listen for anything that might be worth noting, in her usual fashion, she finds herself somewhat distracted by the movements of the green petal-dancer. Something about them seems...different. Maybe not wrong, but just...there's something rather odd going on. And then the little creature flits over to land on her, she feels the faintest tingle, and then...
She isn't sure where the blacnkess came from, but she gathers that this is the reason for her odd feeling. She isn't standing on her paws any more. She feels as though she's waking up from some kind of sleep, perhaps. And she feels as though something is...holding her. Above the ground. More than this she doesn't have the awareness to deduce right now.

OOC - Thought I'd just make it brief for the moment, as I'm not sure what Ameena would have felt/been aware of when she got teleported away. And I also don't know how the grak-grak is holding her - whether it's doing so "properly", ie supporting her weight in both hands, or whether it's being a bit less careful and is holding her up by the tail or something, in which case she'll be a whole lot less comfortable. Just wanted to post to start getting back into it, really .

[beowuuf]

As Petal moved, one of the grak-graks at the other side hissed, sniffing the air with flicking out a less human looking tongue, opening its mouth in a manner very unlike Helm as if tasting the air. It looks around roughly where Petal is moving, though luckily it being on the other side, and Petal being a flier, she is currenty outside its immediate range to test the air.

In the tunnel, Petal gets a much better look at the gnome mage the group has talked about, and also the real Helm whom she has seen copies of, and whom perhaps indirectly she has allowed him to suffer. Helm himself is a young man, as much as she can judge humans, with a medium build, brown hair and eyes. His face looks haggard and pale, and his simple peasant outfit looks ragged and torn. He appears to be cradling one of his hands with the other, and winces at any movement of the grak-graks or himself. He also spares an unhappy look towards Ameena.

Meanwhile, the gnome mage himself is disarming, looking about as normal as any other gnome Petal has seen. She would assume him more a simple craftsman or storekeeper than a mage, and aside from his too bright, sparkling eyes and smile given the gloomy and oppressive circumstances, he would seem pleasant enough. Slowly, Petal tries to get passed the gnome, towards Ameena and Helm's position. The gnoem, for the moemnt, does not seem to have noticed the discordant behaviour of one of his minions, and seemed completely focused on Haynuus and Deephold.


Raixel, roll me a perception check, but please add any bonuses you would add for your sorcerous senses. And can I advice rolling high


As Haynuus spoke, for a brief second all the Helm faces except the real one started to melt, and a brief impression of of Haynuus's face wildly distorted could be supposed. Soorec seemed ot realise what was happenign, and all the grak-grak faces snapped back to perfect copies of Helm. Soorec beamed at Haynuus's words, although there was a slight crack to his smile when Falkor was mentioned.

"Indeed! I was so sad to see some absent, although that was perhaps the cost of not being accepting or my aid when I gave it!" Soorec gave a brittle smile after wiping a single regretful tear, but he was more obviously Soorec than Brighteyes by the odd calculated twinkle in his eyes. "Still, all things forgotten and forgiven...for the most part. You may not have quite succeeded as you though you would - rescue aside - but you certainly caused enough of a sensation to cause me to smile." Soorec rubbed his hands, almost dancing a jig. He vaguely acknowledged Deephold's presence when mentioning the rescue. "Oh yes, some wonderful devlopments are occurring, and your timing could not have been better. I wish the duration of the thigns you did had lasted longer, but perhaps this is for the best. Oh yes, certainly it has not harmed the cause!"

Then Soorec shook his head sadly. "Of course, it is all for naught if I am chasing after you. There is no point in asking for my aid, indeed requiring it, and then slapping it back so many times. I am so sorry for the thigns I must do to ensure your best interests, however I am afraid you do not realise the speed with which events are moving." Soorec stopped smiling, although it was not menacing, just regretful. "I am afraid I must insist you come with me with no further delays. I can explain all when we are back in the anterooms. Oh my, yes." Soorec beckoned with his finger, and all the grak-graks bar the one holding Ameena did likewise.

Haynuus could still not tell if Ameena was alive, nor the state Helm was in. The man might be one step for dropping, as had happened last time he been involved with the party. Sadly, Soorec seemed very intent on Haynuus and Deephold moving onwards, than answering the question.


Meanwhile, Ameena had odd feelings of being near Helm, deep in her subconscious. Strange dreams in turn of rescuing him, and not rescuing him. Of Helm carrying her out of the evil dungeon and in to great greenery, and other dreams where Helm was Haynuus, but one of the bad Haynuuses that the grak-graks had been. And Haynuus was taking her out in to greenery that reached out to choke her, and beyond that the sky was on fire...

And then Ameena's sense of smell kicked in, as she came awake. She realised she was being held securely as if Haynuus were carrying her. And she could, vaguely, smell a scent that her brain told her was like Helm's. However, the overriding scent was of death and oil. It was a hateful scent, yet it surrounded her and was right in her nostrils. She smelt what she had come to know as grak-grak.


And leave it there, I think! Maybe another small update tonight/tomorrow moring depending on rolls and reactions. I'll try tofigure out a suitable cliffhanger, if the narratives goes correctly, for the long weekend break. Hopefully from Tuesday onwards next week posting will be back to normal, and I had try to build up some fun momentum!

[raixel]

So you want me to roll a preception plus my sorecerous senses bonus? Thats what I will do, but I will break it down if I ddnt do it right so you can fix it. My sense bonus is +4 (knowledge arc total 8 but only +4 when only using the cha bonus and not know arc ranks) and percept bonus +5. So +9 total. 1d20+9=21

Petal realizes she is running out of time but was unsure of what to do. The fact that the gnome didnt know she was here was a distinct advantage, but she couldnt risk casting a spell at him without hurting Ameena. She could hardly believe this was the source of evil her friends warned her about, the gnome looked so unassumingly friendly. If she hadnt been told by her friends that he had created these undead formstealers and was a maniacal sociopath, she would assume he was just similar to the friendly wandering tinkers that passed through her village every few seasons, bringing toys for both those still flightless and those in the air as well as mending household things and casting small magics to make life easier, things the pixie sorcerers had no talent for. Smiling for a second, she remembers the toy her father bought for her from a gnome as a present for her First Flight. It was an amazing contraption, a little thing like like a pretty kite in the shape of a butterfly attached to a piece that went around the base of her wings. When she flew, the butterfly appeared to fly near her and trail a shower of rainbow colored sparks.

Petal shakes herself and stares hard at the gnome in front of her. She realizes that the same ingenuity that caused the wandering tinkers to develop such amazing things and magics could twist into...something evil. She swears the stench of his energy is making her dizzy, even though there was no way she could sense such a thing without revealing herself. How could this evil being call himself a sorcerer? If he truly was one of the Singers, couldnt he sense what evil actions such as making undead did to the mana around him?

If only there was some way I could speak to my companions without using my voice... she muses. It might be best for her just to follow them and strike at a better time instead of risking an attack now. But how would she let them know she wasnt abandoning them to the twisted gnome?

[Ameena]

As her senses start to feed her information, Ameena resists the urge to tense up or try to struggle as she realises where she is. She has no idea how she got there, but decides that considering the current situation, maybe it would be better to make the creatures think she's still unconscious - after all, she can hear Soorec's voice nearby. But she is sure she just heard Haynuus speak, too - so where is she? Has the whole group been taken by the grak-graks? What magic did the gnome use to get hold of them all in this way, and why did he only choose to use it now, rather than much earlier instead of sending a grak-grak to look for them? Or maybe he couldn't do that, due to the strange magic surrounding the group at the time. Yet she doesn't get the impression, from the sound of the voices, that Haynuus is being held in the same way she is. Then again, Haynuus can make facing down an angry predator sound like a pleasant scamper through a warm forest, so she can't be sure of his condition either way at this time. She can't smell him, or Deephold, due to the stench of the grak-grak, but...
But she can smell Helm.
Helm!
She is glad to finally be near him again, and wonders whether he's alright. The scent is certainly a living one, certainly the smell of her friend, but is he alright? She won't be able to tell unless she moves and opens her eyes to look, but doesn't want to do so in case the grak-grak, and therefore Soorec, finds out.
Instead, she concentrates on staying limp and on focusing her hearing intently on all the sounds around her, whilst being careful not to instinctively move her ears about as she normally would in order to detect things more easily.

OOC - Ameena plays dead and meanwhile makes a strictly hearing-based Perception check...25 (14+11). I'm wondering whether she may need a Sense Motive too, to pick up any slight nuances in speech or whatever (obviously, this would be mainly focused on Soorec but she also wants to try and work out what kind of situation Haynuus and the others are in)...I'll roll one of those as well, just in case it's useful...21 (10+11). Oh, and just to check, should Ameena decide to abruptly try to squirm free of the grak-grak's grip (she's not planning to do so in the immediate future, but just in case), would that be an Escape Artist roll, or Acrobatics? I'm presuming it wouldn't be Athletics as you've implied the grak-grak isn't holding her too tightly so it wouldn't be a Strength-based check to get out if the grak-grak's not expecting it...

[beowuuf]

Ameena basically hears everything that is said by anyone. There is nothing additional, although from general shuffling, scent etc she can tell there are no further people in the corridor beyond, just the four grak-graks and two non grak-graks. She will also be able to scent Petal reasonably easily. You can use escape artist to escape grapple pins, so that would be the suitable skill. Acrobatics is for doing cool tricks when you are free to move You wouldn't roll Athletics in a grapple anyway, as that's cool musxcle-based feats when you are free, not raw use of strength.

Ameena, only hearing Soorec's voice and not seeing his smiling and capering, thought he sounded very serious. He was obviously excited about something, but he sounded nervous excited. His tone did not seem to brook any contradiction.

As Pelal moved forwards carefully, she suddenly felt prickles as she started to move towards the gnome. There was something around the gnome. It took a moment to realise what it was - it was a shell of anti-magic. Probably other spells criss-crossing that, but she recognised the draining effect of the anti-magic shell. She had no idea if her invisibility spell would be negated by moving passed the gnome, but it seemed likely that it would at leastbe partially interrupted, making her easy to detect.

Not sure where you are reading the evil corrupting energy from Raixel, unless that's just Petal's imagination, in which case that's fine. I've said nothing about the power of Soorec, but he's a normal sorcerer similar to you. And I don't think we've talked about undead before or any energy there. We're treading dangerous ground if Petal can hear mental connections. So yeah, coming from a region twisted by Chaos's power unchecked, and saying Soorec is somehow worse than that? He really is pretty unassuming. You'd actually read Deephold as a stronger magical force if it was possible to cold read like that.