Out of the Madlands (IC)

[Happy Gravity]

Ashe sighs a little, eyes closed, as she waits for Simeon and Krystal to finish their discussion. As Abde moves out towards them, her eyes snap open. "Hey, wait...!", she manages.

The necromancer follows after Abde.

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"This was supposed to be a private conversation," the human mutters irritably. "But crowd around, please do. Look, we'll talk about all of this later, when it is safe, okay? I want to tell you everything. I just can't. And we have other problems right now. I need that shard."

[Happy Gravity]

"I-I was going to stay, but Abde decided to meander over!", Ashe protests. "And yes, we do have other things to worry about."

She folds her arms impatiently, looking down the tunnels.

"...what's taking those dwarves so long?"

[Arkhaic]

"You should have said something to that effect, then." He frowns. "It's not as if I can read your mind."

[Eurus]

"...I did say something to that effect," Simeon sighs after a moment, but doesn't make an issue of it.

"Be careful, at any rate. Shards attract attention. The last thing you need is to make more enemies. But I'd rather see it in our hands, or possibly master Susurrus's, than in anyone else's."

[Forrestfire]

About a minute later, the a few of the dwarves show up, several of whom looks a bit worse for wear. Acid burns, corroded armor, and a few ruined swords, but they're otherwise still up and walking.

The one in charge of the squad walks up to Krystal and Simeon. "If the plan is still standing, hurry. We will cover the bottom of the shaft, but I cannot guarantee a clear path back if these damned fish keep attacking us."

[Lord_Gareth]

"Hold fast, my friend," Krystal says to the dwarf, placing a hand on his shoulder. "My associate claims they're wounded by bludgeons, try those if more come. If it gets too rough, get out. We'll find another escape route."

Krystal looks up at the stairs, then drops her cigarette and steps on it. There is a soft 'pop' of shattering glass.

"Let's go."

The human draws Razor from its sheath and begins ascending the stairs.

[Forrestfire]

He nods and turns to face back down the tunnel in a defensive stance, barking some orders in dwarven before the rest of the dwarves follow suit.

"Best of luck."

[Arkhaic]

Sitting on his disk, Abde watches the exchange between the two warriors. "Well then, we'd best be going." He raises his right arm, and an unseen force erases a good chunk of the flesh from existence. Gasping for breath, he stands up and trembles momentarily before suddenly standing up stiffly. A thin, transparent layer of liquid flows outward from the wound to cover the rest of his body before fading from sight. Gesturing almost erotically, a stream of black fluid flows from his fingertips and curls into a ball in his hand. "I'm ready."

As the group climbs the stairs, a twisting, warping black veil forms around Abde, and both his and Krystal's feet begin to glow. At some point a pair of black, doggish creatures emerged from some dreamworld to walk beside him, their motion equally stiff. A wooden staff appears in his left hand. "This type has several magical abilities that might be problematic. If it's particularly intelligent or lucky it will have detected us already." He nods at Ashe "There's a chance that it will show up in detect magic and similar spells, you might want to try that. And preferably put any nonmagical crystals in a magical storage space." He frowns momentarily and glances at Krystal. "The Slaad might use darkness magic. You might want to put that blindfold back on. Hero can give you additional information in combat if it comes down to that." Abde pulls more dreams from the shallows, preparing to call up more of his brood.

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal pulls her blindfold down over her eyes again, shifting her stance with a subtle change in the magical energies around her.

"Thanks for the tip. Hopefully this idiot hands over the shard before things get violent..."

[Arkhaic]

"I'm not counting on it."

[Happy Gravity]

"Oh!" Ashe raises her hand, having listened intently to Abde. "I can cast Detect Magic...! But...I can't see in the dark. I guess I'll just use it whenever one of you wants it." She shrugs.

[Forrestfire]

The climb up the shaft goes surprisingly well, even in the dark. The stairs are an example of dwarven craftsmanship, spaced evenly without any real wear and tear. If the party doesn't have a light, Ennui presumably helps Ashe climb, with Simeon watching behind them to make sure nothing is following.

When the party reaches the top, they find themselves in yet another tunnel, this one shorter and leading to a pair of closed wooden doors that glow with an abjuration aura.

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal takes in a deep breath and decides to light a cigarette; the drug is taken from her case, lit, and placed between her lips. The human takes a long drag and exhales before slowly approaching the door and pushing it open.

[Forrestfire]

Immediately, a burst of sound erupts past her, the doors shuddering as the magic explosion nearly blasts them off their hinges.

Spoiler

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Glyph of Warding (sonic) exploded on Krystal for 27/2=13 because she made the save in the irc. Gareth can describe that, and I'll do scenery when I get around to it tonight.

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal ducks in on herself when she realizes the trap, throwing up a wall of black glass between herself and the blast. It's not enough; the obsidian shatters past her, slicing her arms and cheeks and leaving thin arcs of blood splattered on the walls.

"I have had ENOUGH OF THIS WRETCHED CRAP TODAY!"

[Forrestfire]

Through the doors is the observatory. It's actually a fairly large room, filled with bookshelves, some desks, and various magical implements and tools. In the center of the room is what used to be a telescope of some sort, lots of lenses and levers that look like they were probably important, but right now the telescope is only partially here, part of it disappearing abruptly into thin air at first glance. The rift to Limbo is hard to "see". You can tell it's there, feel its presence, but when you look, it's just... not.

However, the invisible rip in space is probably not the most important thing in the room, as there are two surprised-looking slaad in the middle, looking like they were arguing until the doors exploded. One is the Green from earlier, and his opposite is Grey, wearing some belts with patches and grasping a black rod of some sort with a skull on the end. The Shard of Prophecy is floating just above the ground between them.

When Krystal gets glyph'd and yells, they grey one looks at her and says "What. That was sound, not crap."

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal drops her cigarette on the floor and takes a deep, steadying breath before addressing the Slaad in Abyssal, the only chaotic language she knows.

Spoiler: Abyssal

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"I have been burnt, cut, and beaten. I have been mocked, and disrespected, and swallowed whole. I have had my bones broken against stone, fought a horror without name, and defended a necromancer to a Templar's face. I have had a wretched and miserable life thus far and despite all of this, when I came into conflict with your companion I let him live and go free. I am still willing to make a deal for the shard."

Krystal shifts her weight subtly, her expression cold and grim.

Spoiler: Abyssal

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"Do not put yourselves between me and my survival. Everyone can come out of this at a profit, but so help me, if you force me to fight you I will scatter your souls across the land and grind their broken shards to dust. I am very frustrated, and very tired of people throwing my efforts at peace in my face."

Spoiler: Diplomacy

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(1d20+14)[16] Diplomacy!

[Arkhaic]

"Hero, inform the rest of the group that detect magic no longer functions here due to the Rift. Specifically, inform Ashe that this is a wonderful time for a glitterdust or grease, and tell Krystal that if she has anything that can weaken the mental resistance of the Slaad, she should do it now." For once, Hero relays his message as asked.

[Forrestfire]

The two slaad give Krystal a look somewhere between amusement and contempt. The green one looks at the grey one, who then says "Naw, I think I'll keep the shard, thanks." as he shifts to a more combat-ready pose.

Spoiler

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Grey Init: 14
Green Init: 13

I'm too lazy to draw the room right now, because unless I spent some time on it, it'd just be a boring circle with some guys in it. They're right next to each other, and the rift is behind them, taking up a 2x2 space. The doors are one square wide, and you guys can start in the doorway or in the room, I guess.

[Lord_Gareth]

Krystal pushes up her headband, glaring at the two Slaadi with bloodred eyes. Her wings flare out behind her, no longer sketched in rainbows but in black ice shot through with flaking cracks. Razor leaps into her hand as she stalks forward, the blade vibrating with sobs that wrack the air around it.

The human's footprints begin to freeze where she steps, and the light around her dims, as though exhausted and drained.

"I try to be a good person," she snarls in Common as she advances; frost spreads from her footprints, melting rapidly into pools of blood. "I bend over backwards for people who give me nothing but spite and spit my kindness in my face. You want to fight?"

The human's arms open up in a spray of glittering blood that floats in the air around her, exuding a blasphemous feeling of wrongness.

"THEN FINE! WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY!"

Blood splashes down Razor's blade before Krystal rips into the assault, swinging the blade's one smooth edge at the green Slaad.

Spoiler: OOC

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Swift action - change stances to Aura of Misfortune (enemies in 20 feet suffer -2 penalty to all saves)

Move action - get into melee with Slaad. (1d20+17)[29] Acrobatics to avoid AoO, if needed.

Standard - Initiating Blazing Mirror Strike at the Green slaad. (1d20+14)[19] Melee touch attack (I have been forgetting Dark Focus THIS WHOLE TIME, I cannot believe that) (2d6+11)[19] Damage + Eager + Discipline Focus (1d6)[4] sonic damage

[Forrestfire]

The green slaad barely has time to react before Razor slices into shoulder, green blood dripping from the wound. He shouts "That hurt!" and flails to defend himself against further attacks, realizing a split-second later that he can't see at all.

Ashe is up, I think, unless Simeon rolled higher than an... 18?

[Arkhaic]

Again relaying from Abde, though less...exactingly this time, Hero *thinks* at Simeon Kovspii vants you to leeft ze gray eento ze reeft eef he fails

[Happy Gravity]

Ashe acts on Krystal's cue of ranting and violence, drawing a slim wand from her belt and tossing Sigismundo out next to the two Slaads. She pauses, and frowns at it. "How do I use this..."

She waves it vaguely in the direction of the two Slaads and...makes things happen.

Spoiler

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Using a charge of the wand for Grease after tossing out the bear.

[Arkhaic]

Ignoring Ashe next to him, Abde stares at the Slaad thoughtfully. Smug bastard. It would be more satisfying to hurt it, and more useful to keep it for study, but neither were very effective in this case. Easier just to chuck the monster back where it came from. An invisible force slams into the Shard, the Slaad's staff and Slaad itself, sending all three flying. "Fetch."

[Forrestfire]

The grey slaad looks at Ashe with contempt when he sees the wand. "Grease? What good is a wand of that gonna make?", and keeps his footing easily once the spell actually goes off. He then makes a big toothy grin with his froglike face, raising his staff and saying "See? Useless. Why don't you try some real mag-"

He doesn't finish his sentence, only grunting in confusion as he's abruptly lifted off the ground and hurled towards the invisible portal. The instant the slaad makes contact, it silently flares into visibility, revealing a massive network of multicolored cracks in space stretching around the room and through the walls. The portal itself is a flat "sheet" of light, almost blinding to look at while the slaad is forced through. Then, almost immediately, it's gone, faded back into invisibility.

The slaad's staff is ripped out of his hand before he enters, flying across the room in in the opposite direction before hitting a wall and clattering to the ground. The Shard is a bit better aimed, following the same trajectory as the Slaad. However, when it reaches the rift to Limbo, it merely bounces off with a quiet 'tink' noise that can somehow be heard even across the room.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Arkhaic]

"Is your friend's idiocy unique to it, or are you all this slow?" Abde glares at the green. "Pitiful. I bet you couldn't scratch me even if you managed to hit." He walks up to the Slaad, ignoring any attack that does land, and slaps it lightly on the face. His construct retrieves the staff and keeps pace alongside him, keeping it in reach of Abde's hand.

[Forrestfire]

"No, he's very smart."

The green slaad steps to the side, out of Krystal's reach, and claps his hands together, a fireball exploding outwards around him.

Spoiler

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33 fire damage to everyone, DC 16 for half (I think you have +3 to saves from Simeon's aura?)

[Arkhaic]

Though both his constructs dissipate, Abde ignores the explosion, all of it being absorbed by his various defenses. "I am very smart. He is very dead." This statement is punctuated by two small bursts of force—one impacting the Slaad, the other striking the Rift.

[Forrestfire]

As the blast of force passes through it, the rift again explodes into being, like a frozen pile of prismatic lightning strikes. Then, with a flash, it fades back out. Following that, Simeon takes several steps into the room, then quickly draws his sword, cutting into the slaad's front in the same motion before resheathing it.

Spoiler

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He critted for 32 damage total on mister Green Slaad. Krystal is up.