[Nexus] Neon Knight's Plots

[Shadowcaller]

[The Veldt]

Dena run as fast as she can, while she got boots, they are made for very voyaging through the desert and are thus rather light. And as any adventurer she have years of experience in running the hell away from things.

She runs in the same direction as the others, not wanting to get separated in this place.

[Lex-Kat]

{The Veldt}

Albert follows Kirk as fast as he can.

[Neon Knight]

[The Veldt]

As the shady band of missionaries mercenaries runs like hell, the drought ghosts swarm over the terrain behind them, flocking to the wrecked zeppelin hull in blazing droves. The fire arcs high in the sky from the wreck as more and more drought ghosts climb in, until another explosion rocks the plain behind them.

Pursuit does not materialize, and the four can run all the way home to the frigid safety of NO.

[Gullara]

[The Veldt]

After they get a good distance away, Kirk slows his pace a bit from the full out sprint it was before. He keeps going though, so back to NO it is.

[Murkus]

Tony's Ts

The shopkeep blinks once, and then a look of panic flies over his face. "He knows!" The man yanks a heavy looking mace out form underneath the counter and attempts to cave Ordo's head in with it.

The psion's eyes widen. Well that was a bit of a tip-off. Ordo reels backwards, a heavy mace whistling past the tip of his nose. He falls on his butt and suddenly transforms, leaving his clothes on the floor in a heap. The shopkeeper may or may not spot Ordo-mouse scurrying to the side, hiding away behind a rack of 'U MAD?' tees.

[Neon Knight]

Tony's Ts

"Ia! Ia!" The man doesn't see the mouse, and just takes the apparent fact that he somehow vaporized his foe for granted. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" He bends over, fiddling with something on the floor, before flinging open a trap door and dropping down it.

[Murkus]

Tony's T's

Ordo pokes his little head out once the trapdoor slams open, watching the man disappear downstairs. He scurries over, having a look down into the dank pit.

What has he gotten himself into?

[Neon Knight]

Tony's T's

I dunno. Some sort of craaaaazy, possibly tea-based cult?

Ordo sees a looooooooooooooong black tunnel descending downwards, the bottom visible by a lit torch. The crazy owner is nowhere in sight. There's a ladder on the side of the tunnel wall allowing one to climb down, but it doesn't look like the owner used that.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Veldt]

Sprint, spring, spring back to NO...

[Murkus]

Tony's T's

I dunno. Some sort of craaaaazy, possibly tea-based cult?

Ordo sees a looooooooooooooong black tunnel descending downwards, the bottom visible by a lit torch. The crazy owner is nowhere in sight. There's a ladder on the side of the tunnel wall allowing one to climb down, but it doesn't look like the owner used that.

Ordo shapeshifts again, becoming a rather large orange centipede, and descends the ladder with frightening rapidity. He makes his way down, down, down, following the light desperately.

[Neon Knight]

[Tony's Ts --> In The Spout of Madness]

Cento-Ordo will find that the tunnel descends into a huge underground cavern, a single stretch of rocky path crossing a large expanse of empty air above a gaping chasm. The drip of water is audible, as is chanting in the distance.

[Murkus]

[Tony's Ts --> In The Spout of Madness]

Cento-Ordo will find that the tunnel descends into a huge underground cavern, a single stretch of rocky path crossing a large expanse of empty air above a gaping chasm. The drip of water is audible, as is chanting in the distance.

(So sorry, this thread got lost in my subscriptions. >.>)

Ordo continues onward at a good pace for a centipede, albeit a large one. He probably heads for the chanting, praying that the other tea shops won't be quite as... evil.

[Neon Knight]

[In The Spout of Madness]

Ordo isn't the only thing crawling in that darkness; dark things lurk in the corners, flitting away and vanishing before he can get a good look at them. The walls seem to waver and swim around him, as if the solid stone was about to resolve into dew and drown him in a sea of liquid dirt and rock. He might feel nauseated and light headed, and his vision may spin. This is a place that should not be. And he should not be here.

If he preservers and continues, he will find that the path leads to a tunnel in the rock wall. At the end he can see light, and hear the source of the chanting. But in the narrow, relatively lighted tunnel, he runs a greater risk of being seen.

[Murkus]

In the Spout of Madness

Ordo-pede starts to feel a bit sick. He keeps scuttling toward the noise, trying not to think about the shades in the dark around him. He couldn't back out now just because it's creepy. Not yet, anyway.

Still, he picks up the pace.

[Neon Knight]

[In the Spout of Madness]

At the end of the tunnel, he finally finds the source of the madness.

A group of dark, horrible figures, the shop owner among them, dances around a raging bonfire. Suspended over the bonfire on supports is.... a teapot.

Hey, come on, stop laughing. It's a blasphemous, horrible tea pot, with sanity blasting images inscribed on the side! And the spout is totally an image of Cthulhu! The tea pours out from his hideous tentacled maw! This is totally serious!

Well, what may be serious is that the cast iron tea pot is almost red hot. And the hotter it gets, the more the shadows writhe and crawl, the more the walls swim, the more Ordo's head spins... he can tell that once that tea pot blows, all hell will break loose. That tea pot is a gate beyond the walls of reality, over the threshold of madness. If he doesn't stop this, some eldritch horror form beyond will enter this world... and have tea!

And then possibly eat reality.

And... it's almost tea time.

[Murkus]

In the Spout of Madness

Ordo takes a moment to consider his options. Initially, running away like a little girl seems like the most reasonable option. I mean, these people seem so serious. But he told Dipsnig he'd do the job. He's a mercenary, for crying out loud. After all, he knows of Cthulhu, and he guesses that the Old One likes to have a few treats with his tea. Gotta grow some backbone.

On that note, he shifts into something with a backbone. Ordo has a hunch that this form will help trick the cultists. His head sags, getting a little too nauseous, but he starts forward anyway. The shop owner might find himself tapped on the shoulder, and an eight-foot Cthulhu-esque mutant roaring in his face.

[Neon Knight]

In the Spout of Madness

The shop owning cultists whirls around, dumbstruck by what he sees. He starts to mouth something, maybe a profane unholy apology or something, as the other cultists back off, equally confused and afraid.

[Murkus]

In the Spout of Madness

Ordo starts to point at the teapot, vision blurring, but ends up bending over to vomit instead. It's mostly bile. The atmosphere in here's really getting to him.

Perhaps he inadvertently got the message across. 'Cthulhu thinks your tea is puke', or something along those lines.

[Neon Knight]

In the Spout of Madness

There is a wailing of voices and a gnashing of teeth, and then the tea pot is knocked over and upended, the ritual ended. The environment gets less oppressive and harmful as the cultists grovel before their angry "god."

[Murkus]

In the Spout of Madness

Ordo takes a few seconds to compose himself, sighing in relief. The sigh comes out like a growl.

He bids them stay, mostly with a few angry gestures and warning roars, before hurrying back toward the cavern. He returns in minutes, a camera in one hand.

The psion's head shifts briefly to it's redheaded default form, and he smirks at the duped cultists. "Say cheese."

Then FLASH!, the whole scene, teapot and all, is captured on a few inches of ink and paper. Ordo spins and sprints for the ladder.

[Neon Knight]

In the Spout of Madness

The cultists are frozen for a moment, before an outraged howl sounds at Ordo's back. He can make through the perilous cavern and back to the ladder reaching to the surface, but he can hear the maddened tea party at his heels. They sound rather upset.

[Murkus]

In the Spout of Madness --> Tony's T's

Ordo climbs the ladder with supernatural speed, trying to shake the vicious cultists. Once above ground, he'll try to slam the hatch shut and... tip a shelf on top of it. Yeah, that should keep them busy.