Evil Game (IC)

[Sir_Chivalry]

The dank cellar beneath the sewers of Helthos stink.

Huddled within this cellar, after weeks in the underground caves, are the former overlords of this land, the powerful magics of the god of trickery having stripped them of their power.

This is their story, this is the moment when they realize that alone they will never survive.

[SecondRevan]

Those who have power rule of those who don't. Kassander had lived his life according to this philosophy.

It felt like he had lost an arm. In fact he had, or close enough. He had learnt quickly that humanity was too weak, and Kassander had spent years crawling over magical tomes to learn how to become more than human. And he had. But now he had lost so much of his power... He twitched his wings, thankful that at least they stayed. He still had something, and with that, he had a chance.

He looked around at his new allies. An ithlilid, a pyromaniac, an aasimar, a... loony?. And War. He remembered plotting with his tacticians the many tactics they would prepare to fight War, strategies and deceptions to stop one of the few forces that Kassander was threatened by.

And now it seemed like they were about to work together, out of neccessity. Kassander couldn't believe it.

[PowerGamer]

Lust for destruction was setting in. Dirk-chikt had once, not too long ago, enjoyed his time burning sections of cities and murdering inhabitants just for the fun of it.
Now, he felt too weak compaired to his normal self that he had only of late burned a farmers crops and that didn't satisfy his as much as his normal deeds once did. He had agreed to this meeting for his own reasons, he wanted his powers back, but he needed help to revenge the gods.
Waiting for someone else to speak first, Dirk summons flames to his hand and stares at them, entertaining himself and remembering the days as they once had been, hoping they will return that way soon

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Hand afire: hand on fire, no damage to myself

[Monodominant]

The goliath-thing rumbled at the sight of the flames in the dark dank cellar.

" That -ing locust will set this -ing place on -ing fire!" It said to noone in particular and brought his hand up to clutch a pendant made out of a potato.

" Now now Mr Tulip. Calm down. The Thri-Kreen is merely flexing its mental functions. I guess we would all wish to do so under the conditions we have been... a stretching of our... limbs so to speak " came the reply from the shame person but with a weirder tone, one more self-assured, more quiet and somehow more threatening.

" Yes but -ing fire gives off -ing light! And -ing light can be spotted by the -ing Guard Mr Pin! We might be discovered!!!" the first voice spoke again taking a menacing tone.

It was then that the shadows tensed around the figure despite the flame in Dirk-chikts hands, almost as if engulging the goliath in a protective motherly embrace.

"No Mr Tulip. We wont be discovered... that much is certain regardless of what that puppeteer God did to us..." he replied to his brother and then paused to look at the others.

"This is what has befallen us. A union of purpose gentlemen. I believe our running has forced pleasantries and polite conversation to fall under-ground... but at this moments rest we can rectify it.... I am Mr Pin and this is my brother Mr Tulip" he said and paused to point at himself again.

"We are... or used to be The New Firm until we ended up chewing a contract that was a tad too stale. Blame Kelemvor for that..." he continued but was interrupted by his own self.

" -ing Kelemvor and -ing fairy petitioner"

"It was an avatar Mr Tulip, not a petitioner..."

" -ing Kelemvor and -ing Avatar then!"

"Yes quite. In any case, gentlemen. Shall we now, down on our luck as we are make a pact, though without any of that horrible blood letting that makes the place smelly and sticky, to help one another until we have our vengeance from the Trickster bastard and regain our rightful places? Then on its every man for himself but until then let us agree not to try and mess about... so what say you?" he asked quietly.

"-ing Trickster bastard" he rumbled on a second later.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes

Aes had arrived at the stinking cellar earlier in a haze of madness and anger. He had risen so high and dared to touch the high seat of the gods: his own people had been unable to touch him. But now he was nothing! His rage boiled inside him, a loathsome mix of pain and hate: in bitterness he had used his remaining powers to torch his home as he fled in fear and bitterness.

How he'd fallen into this slovenly den he didn't know, his flight was a grey mist to him that he barely recalled.

One of the creatures near him lit up it's hand with some small fire, and in Aes's bitterness he screamed.
"THIS IS NOTHING! NOTHING!"

And with that he unleashes Darkfire and sends balls of ethereal, black flame onto the floor in front of him.
"NOTHING!" He falls to his knees, a look of despair covering his face.

[PowerGamer]

Glances at the goliath as it starts to talk. He listens, though still fascinated by the flames. At the mentoin of a pact he looks up again and listens...

You suggest a pact but what is there for us to unify for? We all have our own wants and needs*quenches the fire clenching his fist*What is there to stop one of you, or myself, from stabbing another in the back for power? I'm not saying I don't like the idea of working together, I do like it, but I have no reason to trust anysingle one of you. The only things we have in common is a hate for good and threaten revenge on a god.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes

The nattering of the others finally broke through Aes's depression: speaking of alliances. He, who had once been great, and could have shattered the world in a thought.
He laughed then, to see how he had fallen, how it seemed they all had fallen, a bleak laugh, low and cold that cut through any conversation as a string of lesser words.

"Oh how fallen, how changed..." Aes spoke quietly. "Nothing is as it was. Nothing stands that cannot fall. We all know, but they don't." He gestures up at the ceiling indicating the world beyond. "It would be rude not to share our experience."

He leaves them to think on that.

[Tharione]

This meeting place was no place for a man of Wars caliber (or size). But concessions needed to be made. Although his return to power and vision of a world-made-barren were inevitable, this group had promise: Potential to bring the inevitable much more quickly.

A smirk cross the scarred face of the armored blue giant, the burning light in his hollow eye sockets growing brighter for a brief second.

"Mutual Hate is a good reason to trust. And i fear nothing, a knife in the back not excluded. woe betide the fool who dares cross me."

He rises from the sitting position and stretches, an action which is accompanied by an altogether unsettling degree of cracking and snaps.

"If you had no intention of trusting in others perhaps you should not have come. This is a meeting of men of pedigree and renown, for instance you stand among the mighty Kassander."

The final statement made with a twinge of sarcasm. The giant gestures to the be-winged man across from himself. And speaks again in a grandiose manner bearing more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Famed leader of the Hundred army! Feed my curiosity if you would Kassander, did you leave your army at home when you came to this meeting? or are you keeping it in your pockets?"

the smirk on the giants face becomes a cruel antagonist grin.

[Monodominant]

The one with the double personality heard all the musings of the crazy and the power hungry alike staying quiet. Yet Mr Tulip could not be made to hold his silence for a long time.

"Whats a -ing pedigree? Is it one of them -ing edible dogs?" he asked his speech impediment becoming worse.

This off course forced Mr Pin to surface and respond both to his... internal companion and the others.

"It means lineage Mr Tulip. It is indeed edible after a fashion..." he started before forcing the commonly shared head to turn towards the Thri-Kreen.

"I am unsure of what you mean by a hatred of good. The New Firm is above such labels... chaos, law, good, evil. If its gold or platinum... and we even accept electrum from time to time then it has worth and value... nothing else truly matters..." he said before stopping to hear what the one dubbed War had just said.

"In any case... I do need to clarify though that although we believe that money walks and everyone else walks it is also in the interest of a professional to have a certain fame... here I guess fits the pedigree ideal... thus a Firm that is known for breaking contracts or killing the employer or even failing very soon loses its fame or infamy and also any respect it has garnered..." yet another pause on this eloquent yet ranty rant.

"And this brings us to the reason we are in agreement with the gentleman here..." said as he points to the Giant.

"We were robbed of our victory, robbed of our experience and cast down. Thus in order to prove to prospective future clients that the New Firm still has got -it- we need to punish, destroy, maim and gut the one that wronged us. And as it seems the same one has wronged the rest of you that is reason enough for some degree of loyalty and understanding to creep among us."

" Spoken like a true -ing intellectual Mr Pin" came the rumbling.

" But even now I know what a -ing pedigree is, and this -ing gentlemen know each other I sure as -ing Hell dont know them. Maybe they would care to -ing introduce themselves? I feel a -ing undercurrent of resentment, general hatred and even some of that -ing sarcasm that has nothing to do with -ing sharks yet shares the same -ing phonetic root! And we few, we -ing few should not resort to -ing making fun of each other cause that way -ing danger lays..." continued Mr Tulip.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes

"Making fun of you hardly seems fair, or necessary." Aes quips sardonically, before turning back to the others who were making a hash of forming an alliance. 'War' seemed to believe he was invincible, a fool then, and thus a good ally, but his belligerence had Aes's own hackles rising. He decided against adding to the conversation the, deciding that these could make their own mistakes first before he put his hand into this sorry furnace.

[PowerGamer]

Having had enough of the chatter and hearing that introductions were in order Dirk steps up to the plate. He stands up with out warning summons to him his flaming whips and mind blades.

You asked for introductions. I am Dirk-chict, Lord of Flames. Theatrics and burning are my specialties. And after wards I like to sprinkle in some killing for an extra zing.

With that said he throws the mindblades into the floor where they disappear and drops the whips around his feet where they too disappear. Then crossing his arms:

I very much like the idea of teaming up. That's why I can here. But I think we need to learn a little from eachother first. Well now that I've gone who is next.

[SecondRevan]

Kassander wanted to stand up, but his size made it unadvisable. Of all the mutations to remain, he had to keep the one that made doors a challenge.

"I am Kassander, and I once led the Hundred Army..." Kassnader begun, before turning to War "Just as War used to lead the Black Army. Though, as I understand, the Hundred Army still exists while his was destroyed" It frustrated Kassander that he could do nothing to War but trade insults, but he had to prioritise. That was what seperated the two of them. War destroyed, Kassander ruled. And the first thing Kassander had learnt about ruling was the importance of others. War could stay, for now. WHen Kassander had no purpose for him, then War could be dealt with."I am here to get back my power, whatever way possible. If you are all willing to work together, I shall happily join. I believe we can all admit that none of us are powerful enough to take down that trickster god without help." The last part was more of a warning. With a group this dysfunctional, he thought it was best to remind them of the importance of teamwork.

As Kassander discussed the slaughter of the god, a sword came to mind. During the quiet moments Kassander had found since his depowering, he had imagined this sword. He was still uncertain of the specifics, but one thing was certain. His old sword, Dusk, was powerful, and that carried only the slither of a dead god in its hilt. What could Kassander forge with a god's entire soul? He was looking forward to finding out. A fitting end to the god that dared to cross Kassander.

[Iceciro]

Nixith crept in, late, after dropping the body of a homeless vagrant at the door, remnants of brain juices leaking out the hole now in the back of his head. He longed for better fare; regular humans with no time to be marinated in their fear were like bland rice.

The outcast even among outcasts, he drew his hood back around his body, wracked with the taint of both dark magics and psionic changes. He 'spoke' telepathically rather than directly, his body shuddering and coughing as he stood, a victim of forces beyond the pale.

"I am Nixith. Master of... lesser minds and bodies. To say the least. Working together is the most advantageous situation I can calculate at this juncture."

[Monodominant]

"Well... if we are looking for powerful implements of destruction myself and Mr Tulip had actually found one... it wasnt all it was meant to be off course..." he says and stops.

"-ing sword, -ing positive material plane and -ing fairy avatar!" comes the frustrated cry from the voice that by now you all have come to accept as the Mr Tulip personality.

"Yes quite Mr Tulip, now be quiet as I need to explain our predicament to these gentlemen. So you see, some may have heard of us and some may have not... we are not as flamboyant or far reaching as some of you... we prefer a certain degree of anonimity mixed with infamy. During our last contract we were tasked with basically saving the world... we would be paid 10 million gold for this so off course we accepted. The specifics had to do with finding a particular sword that could kill Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells. See bastard fiend that he is he hid the only weapon that could kill him in the place that noone would look or could look! The positive material plane!"he lets this sink in before continuing.

"Off course this meant that the positive material plane was leaking positiveness in reality and unbalancing things which is where Kelemvor and his little elf-fairy looking avatar come in to play... but I digress. After adventures including searching for sages in Toril, Sigil and Athas we figured out how to get there and not be blinded or die and we claimed the sword.... well that bastard son of a kraken that mated with an Aboleth, and I mean the trickster god, must have switched because there we were in Nessus with an Avatar, an Epic wizard rival of Elminister and his pet red dragon and the sword didnt work..."

"-ing sword, -ing Nessus, -ing Asmodeus and god damned -ing Trickster bastard!"

"Yes. Ing indeed Mr Tulip. So gentlemen... or things in any case. We are all agreed. We hang together till we have vengeance for the trickster god... but I am still pretty sure we cant take a god even if we tried at our current stage. So I would suggest maybe a smaller target at first? Maybe some tasty morsel against which we can strike that will both challenge us but also test us to see what our combined might can achieve? I personally suggest we go ahead and attack a dragon or another or I actually know of a nest of nightwalkers in the Plane of Shadow we can challenge..."

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I decided to switch Mr Pins speech to normal size and Mr Tulip to Bolded Size 3 as otherwise it becomes too difficult to read.. and given I will be mostly talking with Pin it may fit better...

Also, I hope noone minds the long posts and internal banter... if its annoying or troublesome I can tone it down...

Lastly I suggest Sir Chivalry has us make some kind of relevant rolls to see if we know anything about where we are and what targets may challenge us so we get to figure out our group power level IC but also OOC...

[Tharione]

"Your information is correct as usual, and the black army's current state doesn't matter. Its victory is inevitable. It is good to see rumors of your cool head reliable."

Chuckles softly (for a giant) before continuing

"My reputation has once again preceded me, I am known as War. Not because i was born to some primitive culture that names its children after the world around them blatantly, but because I am conflict. I am Aggression. I am the desire to kill and the will to do it made flesh and blood."

War emphasizes what he says with gestures. Grand when he is louder and simple when soft.

"I am the first of four tragedies, destiny to end the world. This destiny will come to pass, the only question is when. And delays like the one caused by this trickster god are unacceptable."

He slams a fist down on the nearest destructible looking wooden object or a boot on the floor.

"I came here to hasten my destiny, to prove that no one will stand my way to the multiverse, to kill a god and put the fear of War in them all. And standing here now, among you fine gentlemen, I find myself believing that we will capable of just that. Assuming none of us does anything... rash"

"I do agree that in our current state challenging our common enemy would be foolhardy. A smaller target is wise, going to fight a dragon or somesuch. Men learn much of each other on the field of battle, more than a thousand conversations and we should learn of each if we seek to work together. After we can plan our greater actions over the broken bodies of our foes... and a nice wine perhaps."

chuckles again

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes

Aes listened to the words of the others, with barely concealed disgust. These were not his equals. There conversation was of a most basic level, something a child could figure out.

He turned to them then and spoke softly: "Battle for the sake of battle may be your way, but it is not mine. There must be a gain. It must advance my cause in some way. Choose your target for what you will gain from his destruction, not the amount of your blood he could shed in his passing."

[SecondRevan]

War's speech demonstrated his folly, and Kassander struggled to believe just how little he understood. What purpose was there to destruction? Power had purpose. With enouh power, none could control you. That was a real goal.

Still, surprisingly, War was making a decent point. Kassander turned to Aes."A foe like a dragon would have purpose. At the very least, we can gauge each other's skills. But dragons often have valuables as well, and we will need better equipment than this to fight a god. While I believe all of us, like Mr Pin, have knowledge of something that could at least help hurt a god, I do not believe any of them are within our reach." Dusk certainly wasn't. It was in the middle of the Hundred Army camp. While it would certainly be an invaluable asset, it would have to wait.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes

"And thus a dragon is a potential target: a dragon who's lair we can locate, and whom we believe ourselves to have a viable chance to destroy. Further, we must consider the repercussions of such action, and the benefits: who does it benefit, beyond ourselves. All these we must consider when choosing a target."

"But yes we can add, nameless dragon with large hoard to our list."

He finishes mockingly, his tone becoming a drawl as he speaks.

[PowerGamer]

At the mention of hunting a dragon, Dirk clicks with excitement. Another battle for him of fire verses fire. But in the end he knew his fire would be the hottest.

The idea of fighting a dragon warms me like a small flame. Sadly I have no idea where one might find a dragon, but I would love to burn it's innards and sell it's skin to help us towards our cause

[Monodominant]

"Splendid! And Kassander got exactly the point... dragons tend to have money... money buys power and information... and this seems to also please our locust friend as he pits his own flames against those of our enemy... and I am pretty sure Nixith would love himself some dragon brains!" spoke Mr Pin.

Pleased that he has been heard and his idea of finding a good target is being discussed the combined minds of Mr Tulip and Mr Pin work to recall any details about the nearby area and the presence or absence of suitable draconic targets.

Knowledge Local (Any known dragons around here) (1d20+2)[10]
Knowledge History (Same question regarding famous dragon hoards etc) (1d20+2)[15]

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I hope those with higher Knowledge checks can also 'rinse' their brains for such info :D and maybe Sir Chivalry can go ahead and give us some more info about where we are exactly and some basic knowledge about the area?

[Tharione]

aid other the next person with ranks (for more than common knowledge) in know local, history, arcana

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local: (1d20+2)[9]
history: (1d20+2)[22]
arcana: (1d20+2)[6]

[Sir_Chivalry]

A very well known red dragon is just a few days away, a massive hoard of gold and jewels awaiting those who slay him.

You are in the city of Kaltesh, known for its lawlessness and thuggery, and you have been allowed to stay here after much persuading by a "kindly" and well-payed dungsweeper.

[Tharione]

"Sounds settled to me then. It would be best to begin travel immediately unless one of you happens to have some method of long distance teleportation."

The giant shrinks down rather rapidly to a medium form, a male human. although his eyes remain burning sparks and armor and weapon remain practically identical aside from size. He then proceeds towards the exit unless halted by new information, action, or words.

[PowerGamer]

Dirk remembers something about red dragons and says,

I must make a stop at a magic items shop first, if you don't mind. My fire as it is is not effective against a dragon but there is an item I can use to work around that.

Dirk too then proceeds toward the exit

[Monodominant]

"He just -ing became smaller!" calls out Mr Tulip at the transformation of War but it seems Pin, the more dominant personality at times of... well... peace, doesnt respond to him but rather to Dirk.

"I am sure we can make a stop to the world above and get you something to improve your offensive capabilities... I wish I knew a white dragon so you could enjoy melting them but what can you do... on the other hand fighting against difficult circumstances IS what we should be preparing for... I am sure the tricster god knows all the gory details of our exploits and our powers and he will be prepared for us no matter what!" he explains.

"So yes, let us be -ing off to the -ing surface to find a wizard or magic store to -ing rob!" Calls out Mr Tulip as he also heads for the door.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes Alleran

Well, these people seemed driven, certainly.

"Then it is decided. We shall equip ourselves appropriately and then ransack the hoard of this creature, and slay it if we can to prove our mettle. How 'heroic' that sounds. It occurs to me that there must be certain members of this town who would pay dearly to be rid of such a threat, perhaps we could turn that to our advantage as well..."

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Knowledge Local: (1d20+1)[7]

[Monodominant]

Aiding: (1d20+2)[19]

"That does sound like a splendid idea. More money and a contract always makes things more fun... maybe the Dragon has something in his hoard someone needs or something to that effect!" Mr Pin replied excited at the prospect of more resources for something they already planned to do.

[Iceciro]

Nixith straightens up. "That sounds suspiciously like you would have us work in the employ of our lessers. I want no part of such denegration. I would be curious as to the emotional flavor of such a creature so perhaps I will join this little... Excursion." Nixith manages the last word before breaking into a hacking, wet cough and ejecting a grey, grainy substance from his maw.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Aes Alleran

Some creatures just did not understand subtlety, Aes mused: "Not in the employ, only our own. Yet it costs us little to let them think we are intrepid adventures seeking funding, and in time we may have need of supplies and gold. If we are to do a thing already, then why not press others to fund our endeavour if they will profit from it. It strikes me as less self fulfilling to do a thing others yearn to be accomplished without first taking payment for it."

[Tharione]

Appeased with the agreement on course of action, exit the cellar and head for topside, outside.