All Endings are New Beginnings: Group One IC

[Lix Lorn]

You awake, noting ground as cold as ice, smooth too. The air is thick and warm, and a sense of general wrong floats around you.

Counting yourself, the cave contains what looks like a statue, with markings upon his skin showing him to be a goliath, a woman of sheer perfection, despite the dark wings upon her back, a human male in thick armour, an aura of magic around him, and an insectoid creature with far too many limbs. The last two beings within sight were a green haired nymph of exceptional beauty, and a young woman with long brown hair, a single stripe of black in it.

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Go. (Gulps)
Also, spot check if you want to notice something interesting from back in the arena.

[whoiam]

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"Spot" - (1d20+18)[19]
Edit: I guess Lisa was rather distracted by her pending execution:)

"Are I dead?"

It seemed a logical place to start. Had she not recently been executed?

But as she glanced around, she started to come to the conclusion that things may not be that simple. "Why would a suit of armor come to the afterlife?" was the next comment to pass her.... vocal chords.

She glanced down. Amulet, Ring, Ring, Belt, Bag. She did not carry much clothing, but that she did carry was all still present. "We hope one of you understands what just happened. We are quite confused."

Still, no reason to continue lying here. So she rolled onto her front, and raised herself onto lower fours. Tentatively, she tried a stretch - Scythes first, Spikes second, what appeared to be a pair of vestigal stub arms third.

Everything was still working.

She glanced around - her shield was lying on the floor beside her.

Strapping it onto one of her 'arms' was easy enough.

Wings next. Unfurl each one individually. Stretch. Flap a couple of times. Just make sure they still work.

Everything seems to be fine.

"How bizzare." Several simultaneous shrugs and a glance around at her companions. "Is my camoflage reflex still working?" she calls out, shifting colour to match the surface beneath her. Apart from trying to kill something, that was really all the tests she had to run. She may be somewhere weird, but she was all in one piece and no worse for the journey. Just a little stiff.

Idly, glancing over at the others, Lisa tried to leave a message behind. One claw dipped to the flaw and began trying to scratch out the words...

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I wonder where this is?

Odd place.

I should go. There is probably not a decent cow to be found anywhere down here!

[AmberVael]

Elesi places a hand to her head, trying to remember what had happened. The strange dream, the unusual location... of course, any location other than her lake was unusual to her. How long had it been since she had last left it, anyway? Slowly gathering her thoughts and senses, Elesi looks around the cave they are in, instantly recognizing the wrongness of it. This was definitely not a natural environment, she could say that with certainty. But then... what was it? Magic?

Getting to her feet, Elesi examines the others near her a bit more closely, trying to figure out if she'd seen any of them before.

The... many clawed... thing (which was about as unnatural as the cave), got no answer from Elesi, as the nymph looks at it with a bit of distrust, but more than distrust, a bit of disgust. It didn't belong in the world she knew. She didn't like it.

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Spot Check: (1d20+21)[31]

[Lix Lorn]

"Ugh..." said the brown haired girl, stirring. "Does anyone know what's going on? This... wait. Crap. This looks like Baator..."

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Anyone who get's 30+ on their spot Check:

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The man who led the execution had black hair. However, somehow you noticed that there was a stripe of it a slightly darker shade-the same stripe of dyed black as worn by the girl with mostly-brown hair.

[Cardea]

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Spot: (1d20+17)[32]

Pain. Pain begets pleasure. Pleasure begets feeling. Feeling begets sensation. Sensation. Yes, still had that. And legs. And arms. Feet. Hands. Head? Yes, head. Do not be stupid. Still have head. And Armor? Still have Armor? Still have Armor. Still safe.

"Still laying down. Why? Ground is cold. Air is warm. Last known location was... Arena. Good intention? No. Bad intention? Shot. Many, many times. Conclusion: We are dead." Bala says, moving his body up. He moves his hands, making different signs in succession. "Full control of hand." Next, he takes a piece of chalk from a pouch in his belt, yes, still have belt, good, and crushes it into his hand, while sounding out the 'Rook' sound required of the spell. The sound resonates in his head, and the chalk turns to dust, as a large opaque floating chalkboard appears. He motions at the corners of it, and stretches it outward, expanding it to a ten foot square. He then moves it to a few feet out from the entrance of the cave, covering the entrance, and speaks and writes down...

"Creature. Reptilian. Insectoid. Speech. Intriguing. Dead? Yes. Probably. Suit of Armor in the afterlife?... Oh. Me? Yes. Me. Not sure. Female. Green Hair and Eyes. Looks wary. Cautious. Nervous. Eying us. Very cautious. Female. Brown Hair. Odd coloration. Parallels man from before. Man who shot us. Baator? Matches description. Outlook? Not well. Awaiting others to move. First appearance: Female. Black Wings. Demon? Male. Large. Very large. Markings. Tribal? Tribal. Conclusion: Goliath. Outlook: Very bad."

He writes this all down with with, rapid strokes across the plane.

[whoiam]

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--Signed Lisa (the Lictor)

Message completed, Lisa pulled her claw free of the 'ground' once more, and straightened up. This time, ending up bipedal. The view tended to be better.

"Baator? I had not expected to end up here. Mechanus, perhaps. I did not steal enough cattle to end up here."

Pause. Think. How about the rest?

"Did any of you earn a place in Baator?" Stupid question. They were all here. "Apologies, did any of you *think* you had earned a place in Baator?"

....They probably wouldn't say yes even if that was the answer. Still, worth asking.

While the others (hopefully) replied, she took a moment to glance at her limbs... yes, the camoflage was working. Shame the others did not bother replying to her question.

Now what?

...Well, Baator was a large place. She'd have to figure out where she was, first. Then she would have to start looking for the portal to the level above... and above... If memory served, the fixed exits from the plane were on the highest level, so she had to get up there if she wanted to get out.

One at a time. Check the cave for entrances. Then pick an entrance and go to it. She had to work out which plane she was on...

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Yay, Untrained Knowledge Check!
"Knowledge (The Planes)" - (1d20+24)[39] - to work out from the landscape which layer of Baator she's in.
"Knowledge (Religion)" - (1d20+24)[37] - to let me check the sourcebooks about what foes we're likely to find on said layer;)

[Cardea]

"It speaks fluently. Asks questions. Good. Intelligent. Yes. I deserve Baator. It is fitting." He speaks and writes.

[Lix Lorn]

"I did nothing to end up here." said the brown haired girl, seemingly angry.

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So you know, I'm not using Baator completely the same as in normal d&d. I'm essentially using bits and pieces.
whoiam:

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You can tell you're in Baator, somewhere near the top, you think. From what you know, you think you're most likely to fight damned souls, part-fiends and evil creatures.

[MammonAzrael]

Skullweaver

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Spot - (1d20+5)[18]
Knowledge The Planes - (1d20+18)[28] To determine the accuracy of Baator and possible location.

With a grunt a hand flew to his face, feeling for damage. But everything felt normal...well, as normal as it had for the past several months. The bed, however, did not feel normal. Anyone watching him already saw his hand move, so he discarded the idea of stealth and simply opened his eyes as he sat up.

Taking in the unusual surroundings, and his unusual...companions, he flexed his hands as he checked his equipment out of habit, deftly verifying everything by touch. The strange insectiod creature, surprisingly, spoke first, and with swift responses.

In a voice that sounded like an avalanche rumbling echoing down a distant canyon, he responded, "Baator? No...no I never expected to end up here, of all planes." Standing up, stretching what he assumed were still muscles, he sighed. "Perhaps a more important question, though, is why are we here? Are we even dead?"

[Lix Lorn]

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MammonAzrael

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You were too busy worrying about being executed to notice.
As far as location goes, you're pretty sure that you're rather near the top of Baator. How near you couldn't say, but the idea of getting out isn't implausible.

"Does it matter?" said the girl. "Look, I can fight. I bet you lot can. We can get OUT of this place, go find the people that 'killed' us," she said, making quote marks in the air with her hands, "And kill them right back!"

[whoiam]

"It seems that, important or no, questions about how or why will have to wait. If none of us know the answers then asking one another will not magically conjure them into being."

What was probably a sigh was the next sound from her throat.

"It sounds as though I am not the only one who considers finding an exit to be a good idea.

I think that we have not ended up that deep inside Baator, so making the journey to the uppermost layer and searching for an exit is not an impossible goal.

Perhaps a brief introduction to each other's capabilities is in order, but then we should try and get moving.

In that spirit, I will go first. I am a mutant strain of Tyranid Lictor, known as Lisa. I am a scout and a tracker, posess a camoflage exoskeleton that hides me from most mundane sight, and posess several claws and energy attacks for when I locate a target."

[Lix Lorn]

"I shoot things." said the girl with pure directness. "Like those maniacs who... killed us. But without the, y'know. Psychosis."

As she said this, she sat up a little, revealing slightly insectoid wings.

[AmberVael]

Maybe she was just unused to people, but this group seemed a bit... odd. Elesi bites her lip, considering each of them for a moment.
Well, she didn't have anything against them.
"Getting out should be very easy- unless I'm mistaken. I know how to travel between the planes. I could just draw us back out immediately. But I admit I don't really know much about this place, and if that's feasible."
Picking up on the girl's words, Elesi looks at her strangely.

"Psychosis? I don't really know anything about them, other than what they did. Given your similarity to one among them... do you know something more about them?"
The nymph asks, a little suspicious.

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Yeaaaaah. Psionic Plane Shift. Hope you're prepared for that, one way or another.

[Lix Lorn]

She shook her head, hand going subconsciously to a pendant around her neck. On looking, it appeared to be the same holy symbol as that from the arena.
"I think... they're some kind of cult, thinking that the goddess wants desruction spread throughout the planes."

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Yes, I am.

[whoiam]

"Is there any way to test this that does not involve horrible eternal torture for all of us if it fails?"

It cannot be that easy, surely? Either we are dead, and surely the Devils have some kind of protection against their most powerful captures simply plane-shifting away... or we are not dead, and something placed us here for reasons unknown. Whatever it was, it was surely powerful enough to force us to remain here...

Elesi's words were interesting though. The 'non-psychotic' one resembled their executioners?

...actually, time to sort that point out. Lisa held out her left hand, closed her eyes, and stabbed herself through the palm.

A small sequence of odd clicks followed, before she withdrew the spike arm from her hand and glanced at the bleeding, yet closing wound.

"No, we are not dead. My soul would not leak if you cut it. It was something else that brought us here." Turning her attention back to Elesi, "And if you have an easy way out, we should use it. Quickly."

[Cardea]

"Goliath awake. Cognitive. Moves. Ask Questions. Good. Intelligent. Too intelligent? No. Just intelligent enough. Psychosis? No. Too intelligent. Too organized. Capture us. Toy with us. Execute us." When saying the last two words, his voice is akin to a growl. "Planar travel. Option? Possibility. Not feasible. They know who we are. They anticipate for this? Yes. They did. Did not capture me not knowing what I can do. They find way to make travel backfire. Yes."

He turns to Elesi and points at her, light from the board still lingering on his finger. "Do not go until know for sure. Could cause problems. Could cause detection. We are in Baator. Do not cause us to be known." He turns back to the board, and starts writing again. "Female. Brown hair. Has wings? Has wings. Small ones. Not human. Goddess?" At this word, he turns and tilts his head at the small girl, his eyebrow raised beneath his helmet. He turns back to the board. "Goliath. Awake. No name? Has name. What is your name?"

[Lix Lorn]

"Part Fey, if you must know." she said. "Why are you talking like that?"

[whoiam]

"His brain is faster than his mouth, and he does not take enough pride in interpersonal communications to work on mitigating the effects on his speech. We were the same when we were first learning spoken tongues. Many words are technically unnecessary for the transmission of concepts. I use them regardless.

Time is not such a precious commodity that one should risk ambiguity for the sake of their sense of urgency. More time is wasted in repeats and clarifications. Better to get your intended message across at the first time of asking."

Lisa makes her way (rather quickly) over to where Bala was standing. She doesn't smile. She does, however, fold her little mandibles flat before speaking again. "Hello. I am called Lisa. Who are you, and what do you do?"

At least she was considerate enough to offer him a hand to shake instead of a spiked claw...

[Gorgondantess]

The impeccably perfect woman is the last to rouse, and as she gets up, she does so perfectly. She looks around with perfect eyes, and speaks in a perfect, pouting voice; all ears perk up, and all eyes are inexplicably drawn to its source.
"Oh, dear, hell again? And not even the fun one. Tsk."
She looks around at the group assembled before her, and grimaces at the big purple thing that was just too close for comfort. As she walks by, she waves a hand at it. "Sit, girl."

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DC 29 suggestion on Lisa.

Smiling at her handiwork (or quirking an eyebrow at its failure), she gives an appraising eye to all those gathered.
"Well, at least they sent me here with some subjects. Now, if any of you possess some divinatory skills, we'll need to find the nearest Baatezu outpost to conquer. I see we have a varied bunch, and myself of course, so it shouldn't be too difficult, and should give me a good foothold to get back into the swing of things."

[AmberVael]

Elesi

This was all too weird. There was a demon trying to command her, a girl who refused any connection with those who had done this to her, yet displayed numerous signs of a connection, and two bizarre beings who were difficult to comprehend.

She really didn't have an obligation to any of them. They could take care of themselves.

Elesi focuses her power, trying to get back to somewhere she knew.

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Elesi is just going to planeshift by herself, back to Kykeo, if it turns out to be possible. 9 power points on Psionic Plane Shift.

[Lix Lorn]

You see the nymph trying to focus energy in some way. Nothing seems to happen.

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You feel like something's blocking your planeshift. You can't tell what it is; nor where it is, but it's powerful. The power fails. On the plus side, you don't lose any power points for it.

[Cardea]

"Name? Ba- Oh. Last one awake. Aware? Yes. Demanding. Authoritative. Commanding. Assumes command. Attempt to take control of group by leadership. Commands 'Lisa'. Something different about voice when doing so. Talks about returning and conquering. Conclusion: Demon. Commander in previous time. Disturbing to view. Too calm. Too... fluid. Self-centered.

Everyone in cave are awake. All asking questions. All suspicious. All aware and intelligent. Conclusion: Wait and see interaction amongst th-" Bala feels a disturbance in the cave, and turning to it, sees the Nymph trying to do... something. He moves away from the board, over to her, and slams one hand over her mouth, and the other behind her head. He talks slower, and with a different tone. "Do not do that again. We have no idea what you may have just caused."

[AmberVael]

As soon as Bala touches her, Elesi gives him a glare of such force that it might drive him back and send him reeling.
"Don't touch me!"
She struggles to get free, put quite on guard by his sudden action.

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Stunning Glance. Make a DC 28 fortitude save or be stunned for (2d4)[5] rounds. No concentration check required, as it is an Su ability.

[whoiam]

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"Will Save" - (1d20+20)[32]

If Lisa had been the growling sort, she would have done. Instead, as she finishes her walk over to Bala, she casually levels her tail at Aislin and a small spine shoots forth, aimed squarely at Aislin's forehead.

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I'll roll in the OOC thread, since I can't edit in more rolls.

Edit: She missed, but only by a few points. Stopped by your aura or whatever it is that generates that massive Misc AC value, probably.

"I do not appreciate your whispers in my head, " she notes, before switching attention back to Bala. Who was grabbing at the unwilling head of one of their other colleagues...

...until, stunned or otherwise, a couple of small chitinous hooks on the end of long sinewey strands pulled him back away from Elesi...

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If you avoid her stunning attempt and want to contest it, we can make grapple checks:)

...Or tries to at any rate.

As she does (or doesn't) so, Lisa speaks to Elesi. "I am guessing that what he felt was an attempt to leave which did not work? If so, we should begin moving, and quickly. Whatever blocked the attempt may well have noticed it."

[Cardea]

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Rolling Fortitude Save: (1d20+11)[13]

Bala's arms slump down, as he collapses to the ground. In his head, his thoughts race. Do not do that again. Next time, cloak yourself first. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten...

[AmberVael]

"If there is really anything big out there watching for things like this, they already know we're here. We arrived, after all- I can't imagine that didn't leave an impression. Not to mention someone planned this in the first place."
Elesi retorts grumpily, backing away from Bala, but keeping her eye on him.

Still, leaving might not be a bad idea. Elesi looks around a bit more, seeking the way out that looks best to her, as well as testing the air and natural environment for anything good or bad.

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Survival check to find any hazards or natural effects of significance, and also perhaps a decent direction to go in.

(1d20+21)[33]

[whoiam]

Although Lisa had gone to the trouble of ensnaring Bala to pull him away from Elesi, once there was some space between them she simply dumped him on the ground. He would survive.

"There are flaws in that assessment. I suppose the most obvious one being that this is Baator - the ones who get away are far more of a problem than the ones who remain. It is not unreasonable to assume that more attention is paid to escape attempts than to entrances.

Besides, whoever planned this does not seem to be an immediate threat. They must have deliberately chosen to set us down in a safe spot. They may turn out to be a liability later - probably will, in fact, but for now they are not our primary worry."

That said, like Elesi, she was going to look for a likely-looking exit. Unlike Elesi, she was going to do it from an elevated height.

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"Spot" - (1d20+24)[42]
"Survival" - (1d20+24)[44]

[MammonAzrael]

Skullweaver

Great...another group of psychotics I didn't get to choose for teammates. This feels like the worst guard duty ever...Gods I hope we can co-operate long enough to discover our new opponent and get out of here. I better look myself, who knows if any of these people will be reliable (or trustworthy) enough to choose a safe goal...

Looking around, Skullweaver begins to explore the general vicinity of the cave while the others bicker. As things started to escalate he tried to interrupt before things got completely out of control. But continued to look about trying to decide upon the best route to take or even looking at the rest of his impromptu companions.

"I think everyone just needs to step back and calm down. We've clearly all experience the same...execution, and woken up here. Lisa, was it? Lisa has the right idea, I think. We should probably stick together until we can find out why we're here.

I don't think escape will have much of a point if we can't find out why we're here in the first place. I can't imagine we were selected at random, and who or whatever is behind this is obviously powerful enough to bring us here without our knowledge or consent. Fighting amongst ourselves will only weaken any chance we have of winning this game we have been pulled into."

Skullweaver finally straightened and turned to the various creatures he was now trapped with, for whatever the reason.

"I am called Skullweaver, and have learned a large amount on a variety of topics through my journeys. I suspect if you cannot escape, green one, then we are all here for however long our captor wishes it. And our only option is to move forward."

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Knowledge The Planes - (1d20+8)[17]
Search - (1d20+7)[19]
Survival - (1d20+15)[25]
All to determine the best options to travel, and what possible destinations would be available in the upper layers of Baator we may want to head for. Where we might get some answers.

[AmberVael]

Elesi

A sudden thought occurs to Elesi.
"Actually, there's a way I can test..."
With a small gesture and a few words, Elesi brings forth the power within her once again, remembering the visions in Kykeo lake, calling on its mirror surface.
"Well, I won't know if someone found us, but I'll know if staying her is an immediate danger."

While her mind traces the link to Kykeo, she looks around at the others.
"I'm Elesi. I... guess I have a number of supernatural powers that will prove useful. I can't fight, but I can create things that can, and I have some innate control and magic in relation to the natural environment."

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Elesi will cast Omen of Peril, a spell from Spell Compendium, page 149.

Elesi has an 82% chance to know whether they will be safe from dangers, will face moderate perils (generally stuff that we can take without too much worry), or face life threatening danger, assuming they stay where they are for 1 hour.

[Cardea]

Bala rolls backwards, going onto his knees, and stepping up to stand. He pulls his chalkboard to his right, and begins writing on it while walking to the entrance of the cave. "Sight based attack. One way. Human? No. Dryad? No. Nymph. Yes, Nymph. Out of place, out of mind. Panicking. Sensible." He turns to her, and pauses his writing. "Apologies." And turns back to the entrance of the cave as he writes. "Goliath. Suggests companionship. Suggests peace. First result: Bad. Chances low. Nymph and Succubus liable to fight. Nymph wary of Lisa. Succubus commanding of Lisa. Lisa and Goliath, Skullweaver, suggest teamwork. Divided opinions. Divided team. Liable to fight each otherbefore fight enemy."