[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 8: Adventures! Thrills! Groceries!

[Shadowcaller]

The Pyramid of Painful Demise

"Looks like a prison of some sort." Dena remarks as the observes the bars. "I'm trying to think of a reason why it was hidden away by such a complex lock but trying to make sense of dungeons is the way to madness. I think the safest option is to open this door and then let Violet scout ahead a bit, find traps and so on."

[Morty]

[The Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"You're probably right," Wenomir says. "And it does look needlessly intricate, doesn't it? I don't have that much experience with dungeoneering. We don't seem to have encountered any actual enemies yet, though. Just traps and puzzles. But I have a feeling there might be something behind those bars."

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

The angle is wrong for them to see through the other barred doors to see what is beyond them, until they work on unlocking the door before them at least.

[5a Violista]

[Mirror, Mirror]
Card, 2nd Floor East Hallway

Card's smoke bombs work remarkably well. It was a very intelligent response.

So long as the smoke remains thick enough, he has absolutely no trouble from the mirror knights. In the areas where the smoke is thinner, he will feel like he's brushing against something cold, but it won't be able to stop him.

Now, what happens next depends on Card's sense of distance, length, and so on. In other words, it depends on his ability to get around in unfamiliar wilderness.

If he's really good at judging distances and direction (especially when curved hallways are involved), he'll be able to guess which door to open to find stairs that lead back down to the East Wing Hallway on the first floor. If he overestimates the distance, he'll find himself down the stairs on the other side of the Great Hall, in the West Wing Hallway. However, if he's absolutely lost, he'll wander his way over to the 2nd Floor West Hallway, where there's several more doors everywhere. All the way down at the west end is a bedroom, in case you were wondering.


Darsy, Mirrored Master Bedroom

Darsy can, in fact, block the shadowman's attack. The shadowman isn't exactly an expert in martial arts. Street brawling, on the other hand...

Its face melts away the same way when Darsy headbutt it. Fortunately, shadows don't really need faces to do anything. But the volume of shadow is decreasing.

Speaking of volume, the shadowman appears to be getting smaller. Rather than being like a very large man, its size reduces to be similar to Darsy's.

This would normally signify something. Or maybe not. In this case, it actually does. Part of the shadow's volume sunk down to the ground and went under Darsy's legs, and formed another shadowbeing behind her.

While the Shadowman in front still grips Darsy's wrist, the second one throws an icy punch at the back of her head.

I imagine getting hit in the head by a punch that causes sadness and coldness is much worse than getting hit anywhere else. Much closer to the brain. An average person would freeze up in indecision and probably cry his or her eyes out.

[Shadowcaller]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

Dena grabs her thief tools and goes to perform the most stereotypical thing a rogue can do, unlock a door. It has been a while since she did this so she's a bit rusty but she will probably eventually get it up. Assuming that works she will send in Violet to see what's in those other rooms. "We'll see, worst case we got a bunch of immortal monsters on our hands." There were worse case scenarios but they weren't within Dena's realm of possibility right now.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"Immortal? Well, been there, done that," Wenomir says, resting his axe on his shoulder.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

The lock is easy to pick, and it won't take Dena long.

Violet will find that the doors on either side lead to cells, each containing an illusion of somewhere else- probably closer to a divination effect than an illusion. The images are projected onto the wall of the cells, and depict several hulking, ogre-like individuals in the act of torturing three much smaller, human-proportioned figures. The lighting and angles aren't good enough to make out details about the ogre-like beings, being focussed far more on the smaller people, who appear to be a naked, screaming in pain and covered in scars.

Two cells on the left at the end of the corridor are empty, as is one on the right. The other three on the right contain a man with shattered limbs propped against a wall where he is forced to watch the torture, a woman that has been partially flayed and a man nailed to the wall. On the left are a partially-eviscerated woman and a man that is hanging from his ankles. All five individuals are emitting considerable amounts of necromantic magic- not enough to be harmful, but enough to have reanimated them after they were tortured to death into forms still capable of pain. None of them notice the intruders or react in any way.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"We all been." Dena remarks as she takes up the chalice to see what Violet sees.
"Nothing of interest as far as I can see. Must be some religious torture of some kind." She couldn't think of a reason to spend time and effort reanimate the victims otherwise. "I guess we could take a closer look at the rooms just in case... or go back to the super-trapped corridor."

[ThePhantom]

[Mirror, Mirror]
Card, 2nd Floor East Hallway

Card's smoke bombs work remarkably well. It was a very intelligent response.

So long as the smoke remains thick enough, he has absolutely no trouble from the mirror knights. In the areas where the smoke is thinner, he will feel like he's brushing against something cold, but it won't be able to stop him.

Now, what happens next depends on Card's sense of distance, length, and so on. In other words, it depends on his ability to get around in unfamiliar wilderness.

If he's really good at judging distances and direction (especially when curved hallways are involved), he'll be able to guess which door to open to find stairs that lead back down to the East Wing Hallway on the first floor. If he overestimates the distance, he'll find himself down the stairs on the other side of the Great Hall, in the West Wing Hallway. However, if he's absolutely lost, he'll wander his way over to the 2nd Floor West Hallway, where there's several more doors everywhere. All the way down at the west end is a bedroom, in case you were wondering.

Mirror mirror- Card

I'm afraid that totally lost is how Card is for getting around. So, its the 2nd floor west hallway for him. Well, there's some doors, might as well try one. Card opens the first door on the left and looks inside the room.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"The owners of this place are, or were, a pretty sick bunch," Wenomir says. "Something tells me this place isn't entirely deserted, though. Are those people there still alive, or what? Maybe we should put them out of their misery."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Mirror, Mirror

Darsy did notice the shrinking size of her opponent. She figured that she was destroying it. Boy, was she wrong.

With her attention on the shadow in front of her, she fails to notice the one growing behind her.

Her instincts yell at her, and Darsy responds by tilting her head and body to her left as she brings her right knee up to the front shadow's torso. That causes the punch to graze the side of her flaming head, reducing it's effect.

Still hurts, though.

Darsy lets out a short burst of curses as she feels the effects of the hit. She's strong enough to shake it off after a moment, though.

What happens during that moment, though, remains to be seen.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"The owners of this place are, or were, a pretty sick bunch," Wenomir says. "Something tells me this place isn't entirely deserted, though. Are those people there still alive, or what? Maybe we should put them out of their misery."

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"Sure, knock yourself out if you don't mind me staying back and watch." Dena replies, gesturing for Wenomir to move in first. In truth she would probably have done the same if Wenomir wasn't here but she wasn't going to say that.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

They aren't technically alive. They are, however, alive enough to feel pain and be tortured. They're also locked into their cells... Even though most of them couldn't move if they wanted to, and they prefer to stay in their minds most of the time because it's less painful in there. There's various methods utilised to coax them out so they will scream when they are tortured, but mostly they're catatonic.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

Wenomir will try to put his knife in the back of each of the slaves' necks, in hope that it'll break whatever half-animation gives them their mockery of life.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

Dena stands outside the cell, keeping an eye on things (in case someone came in from behind), Violet accompanies Wenomir inside however.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

Wenomir's knife does the trick, though mostly due to his intentions. He's intending to kill them; the ogre-like individuals, when they do something similar, intend to torture them. The magic linking them to their heavily scarred and disfigured bodies is heavily governed by intentions of that sort. There's also a heavy steel slab of a door leading away. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that in addition to the cell doors, and if I didn't I meant to.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"That's it," Wenomir says, stepping out of the last cell. "Whatever afterlife they have coming is probably better than this. Let's move on."

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"If they got one." Dena remarks. "Pretty sure souls back home just disappear or something." She wasn't really too clear about the afterlife but since all the gods were apparently dead she couldn't really imagine there being much of one.

In either case she moves towards the stone slab door with Violet taking the lead. "Looks heavy, probably requires an ogre to push that open... or two strong adventurers?" She glances at the warrior.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"Still better than that," Wenomir says, before looking at the door. "Well then, let's try this." He puts the axe into the holster on his back and puts both his hands on the door. "Ready?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"Ready." Dena declares as she puts her both hands on the door as well to push it open. She's actually stronger than she looks, couldn't be an adventurer without at least some muscle mass. Violet stays back and scans for traps or other dangerous things that might be on or behind the door.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

As soon as Dena is ready, Wenomir will start pushing as well. His strength, while not superhuman, is considerable.

[UncleWolf]

House in the Countryside

Steel. That's what he was, but how strange it was to feel like such a limp wet mass of reeds instead.

The man in the kitchen gently scrubbed the ceramic plates clean under the hot water, his mind slow, mostly blank, and filled with sadness as he watched the morning light shine through the window and sparkle off the smooth stainless steel that replaced his right arm. His entire right side was replaced seamlessly, without a single speck of scarring or edge between his flesh and metal. Smoother than a knife's edge... the man thinks to himself as he pulls one out of the sink, examining it before idly tapping the tip against the steely palm of his hand. When he couldn't feel the slightest pressure he gave a disheartened sigh and washed the blade carefully before setting it in the rack to air dry with the plates.

The man couldn't help but smile a little bit when the house groaned behind him, The Other's presence putting pressure on the world itself. "You shouldn't be awake." He says lightly, chastising the newcomer half-heartedly without looking. As usual The Other replied wordlessly, moving closer instead to rest it's great head on the steely man's shoulder, giving him a small nuzzle. That small action meant more to the man than any amount of words ever could, making him freeze for a moment before letting his tired shoulders slump.

"Dammit..." The man says, wiping his eyes of some of the sink water that must have gotten in them. "I promised myself I'd hold my composure." He admits, reaching up with his flesh hand to pet The Other's muzzle while leaning his cheek against it as well. They held the pose for several long moments, relaxing and worrying together before the man spoke once more. "I put out an ad for people to help. I know we don't have much to offer, but with luck a handful will come to find him for us." A small snort in his ear made the man smile before turning around to wrap his arms around the The Other's furred torso. "Let's go lay down for now. We need all the strength we can gather. It's just a waiting game now. For now though, let's...just..." The steely man says, stopping for a moment to lean his forehead against The Other's chest, trying to collect his scattered thoughts.

"In case the worst happens and the connection is lost, I want to lay with you for now. The dishes and chores can wait." He finally says quietly, barely whispering.

The wolfish Other doesn't move, hardly even breathing as it digests the words, understanding the weight they had behind them. It took a glance at the number of dishes left to clean, knowing that the steely one never left something unfinished so willingly. If he chose to put it off now, the situation was dire indeed.

The scent of tears drew The Other's attention back to the man and he lifted him up gently, cradling the steely one to his chest before heading to the bedroom. Usually the steely one was the stronger one, the smarter and more level headed. Maybe this time it was his turn to be so.

At least while they waited for guests to arrive.

Spoiler: The Ad

Show

Wanted: Adventurous people willing to rescue a young boy from a possibly dangerous mystery realm. Rewards of any type can be asked for and will be granted to the best of our ability. Complete compensation will be given for any expenditures.

Those answering the Ad will find a small one floor house out in the countryside with a well kept gravel drive with a meticulously kept blue pickup parked in the driveway. The front is unadorned except for a small garden of roses and honeysuckle vines. The front porch has a small rocking chair but no one seated in it at the moment.

(Closed Plot)

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

The door slowly grinds open, revealing the chamber beyond. It's large, with a vaulted ceiling and a lot of torture equipment scattered around. There are five individuals in the chamber; one male strapped to a table enchanted so anyone viewing whomever is on the table will instead see somebody they know very well who matches in general shape and gender, a woman suspended from her wrists, bound and slung over a hook dangling from the ceiling with weights tied to her ankles, and a man in a set of stocks. The other two individuals are much different, being the size of ogres and clad in thick leather aprons. The three bound individuals are the ones whose torture is projected into the cells.

The two ogre-like beings are very hairy, with thick black hair covering every inch of flesh, sprouting out from the edges of their leather aprons. Their heads are exceptions, being disproportionately tiny in relation to their hulking frames, and look as though they belong on the shoulders of eight-year-old human girls, with blonde hair tied into pigtails on either side of their faces and innocent expressions. One is holding a hot iron pressed to the ribs of the man on the table, eliciting a scream of pain and the scent of burning flesh. The other is whipping the woman, though it stops and looks up in surprise when the door opens.

[Shadowcaller]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

Violet sounds a warning signal the moment she detects possible enemies and Dena retreats back so fast that she doesn't get a close look of the room or the enchanted table. Instead she pulls up one of her so-called pistol crossbow. It was a fairly modern weapon Dena had taken a liking for compared to the standard issue guns she didn't care for much. It was just as effective as one too if one spend some money on enchantments.

Back in the day Dena would have used a short sword and a small buckler in a fight but recently she had started using ranged weapons instead as they were a lot more effective in the nexus. She will try to fire a bolt with a strong paralytic venom in the hip in the furthest away ogre, letting Wenomir close in on the other one.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

Wenomir's hands shoot forward, sending a knife at each of the ogres' necks. Before the missiles are even halfway across to their targets, Wenomir himself is charging, his axe suddenly in his hand, although an untrained observer might not notice when it was drawn. He crosses the distance with eye-watering speed and tries to bury his axe in the lower spine of the ogre that Dena isn't targeting. There is, however, a slight moment of hesitation before he acts, as he first had to register that the figure on the table can't possibly be his brother. Unfortunately for whoever set up the illusion, Wenomir has run into so many such effects in his career that by now they mostly irritate him. Once he shakes it off, however, his movements are nigh-instantaneous, flowing from one to the next so quickly that there appears to be little transition between them.

[happyturtle]

House in the Countryside

Wesley Warwick was the first to arrive. The sixteen year old human was in that lanky phase of growth where he seemed all arms and legs, and hadn't learned to move through the world in a body that was suddenly so much larger than he was accustomed to. He didn't drive - his motion sickness made it an entirely unpleasant if not dangerous experience - so he came on bicycle. It was a hybrid bicycle, heavily modified to be comfortable on and off road. The modifications meant it wasn't the fastest bike around, but it got him places a lot quicker than his own two feet could do.

He'd stopped a mile or so back to look at the ad again. It still seemed his best chance to get Fazim to notice him. It didn't mention horribad monsters or hint at killing like the other ads had done (or both, like the Wall ad against a creature called 'Psycho'). It didn't ask for someone who was an expert swordsman or had superpowers. They were probably going to turn him away regardless, but it wouldn't hurt to try would it?

That's what he'd told himself. But after he reached the driveway, he couldn't seem to bring himself to go knock on the door. In fact, it was all he could do to stop from turning around and pedalling straight for home.

[UncleWolf]

House in the Countryside

Wesley's footsteps, while quiet, seem to have made enough noise for him to be noticed at least, because when he reaches the driveway the front door opens as a tall man steps out. At six and a half feet with broad shoulders and chiseled muscles, the man appears almost too good to be true. While he's wearing sweatpants, he's shoeless and shirtless, revealing his broad chest, flat stomach(not a six pack), and a moderate amount of blond chest hair on his left half that goes down to his stomach. The right half of his body appears to be replaced completely with metal though. The steel doesn't look like cybernetics however, more like it was grown out of him with smooth lines that match the musculature of the flesh half. Even his face is split in half and the metal covers his eye. Despite the metal though his dark brown and gray hair seems to be able to grow through it, giving him a bit of a shaggy appearance. Finally, Wesley will notice that he's wearing a pair of stylish glasses and oven mitts.

When the man steps out he gives Wesley a once over before his eyes fall on the ad. "I was just preparing breakfast if you'd like to join us."

[happyturtle]

House in the Countryside

Wesley swallows hard, and stuffs the ad in his pocket. "I... " He was about to say he'd already eaten, before his appetite kicked in and said 'Wheee! Second breakfast!' Like most teenage boys, he has a black hole for a stomach. Of course his heart is doing flip-flops at the sight of a gorgeous half-naked adult male - really there, in the flesh! - which makes him both want to run away and run towards the door of the little house. "Thank you. This is the place... from the ad? I don't know if you're what I'm looking for... I mean I'm what you're looking for..." How could someone so grown up, so... manly... need help from a skinny teenager?

[UncleWolf]

House in the Countryside

The man smiles knowingly but doesn't comment on the slip up, instead gesturing for Wesley to come on in. "If we had thought soldiers would be better, we'd have asked for some. As it is, come on in. I think you'll do just fine for this. You've come out all this way so even if you eventually decline the least I can do is serve you breakfast. Anything in particular?" The man asks as he heads inside.

If Wesley follows he'll find that the house is on the smallish side with the entrance leading right into the kitchen/dining room. The room is painted a cool blue with flowery curtains over the windows and the smell of fresh biscuits comes from a fresh batch sitting on a cooking stone that's just been pulled out of the oven. His host pulls sets the coffee machine to brew and also pulls out a jug of milk to pour himself a glass. "I can make gravy, sausage, bacon, anything you'd like." He explains before smiling a bit. "And pardon me, I forgot. Call me Vigil. Or Steel. Either is fine."

[Slii Arhem]

House in the Countryside

Rather unlike Wesley, who biked up the way to the house, the figure who approaches next is as silent as a ghost. Covered entirely in a cloak that has been patched and quilted and layered many times over and looks more like a pile of shredded blankets than a garment, there is nothing to be seen of the person underneath, not even a slit for eyes to peer out of.

Though her limbs shake under her covering, rustling it faintly, her feet do not touch the ground as she hovers over the driveway. A muscle spasm as she tries to knock causes her to use more force than she intended, possibly putting a dent in the door the size of her index knuckle.

Despite the jarring force, she waits nervously outside until her single knock is answered or until the morning sun is too much for her to bear. The ad, ripped roughly from a wall somewhere and streaked with distressed tears, flutters down to the ground from her hand.

She must do this, for a lost child is the heaviest burden to bear.