Random Plots and Places 9: What a crazy, random happenstance!

[Lord Magtok]

House in the Countryside

"Once upon a time there was light in my life, but now there's only love in the dark. Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart," Needs replies in between his bacon-nibbling, quoting a song that was originally about a certain kind of undead.

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. There's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone." Looks like we're getting two quotes this time, this one about his assessment of their destination. That backyard is bad news, and Needs is going to be on high alert their entire time within that pocket reality.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

Dena isn't actually using magical cloaking right now that she's hidden behind the lich. So unless he can also see through stone or have some sort of life sense, he should not be able to detect her. He can easily see through the illusion however. The drow is not pleased with this turn out, she had expected the lich to attack right away or she wouldn't have let a warrior act as the party face. She stands ready to attack though but she just wished Wenomir would ask the lich of something actually useful.

[Beans]

Office

"What about my- oh" she says, having never noticed the fluff on her shoulder.
She sighs at the quarters. Sheesh. She takes a roll or two, though. Should be good for a couple of bucks.
"All right, better go tell the workers to pack up and go home, preferably taking these eyesore factories with them." she says once they're done.
This is weird. Compared to the last adventure, she seems to have made it out rather quickly and without much trouble besides the ten minutes of leglessness.
Huh.

Acanthe, cured, finds another energy vial and crushes it in the air above her friend's shoulder, letting the energy dribble out to negate the minor change there.

"Okay, yeah..." Though before going, she knocks over basically every piece of furniture with a slap of her tail, giggling in enjoyably petty vengeance.

[ThePhantom]

Mirror, mirror -Card

Demon summoning, cursing? Clearly someone upset the servants if they would go this far. Card carefully looks at the graffiti, trying to figure out what they were so focused on that they would write it on the very things that they would normally clean.

[Deathkeeper]

Office

Pat shrugs and takes a moment to kick over a nearby cabinet before Acanthe finishes her rampage and they can go.

[Beans]

Office

Pat shrugs and takes a moment to kick over a nearby cabinet before Acanthe finishes her rampage and they can go.

VICTORYYYYY

Acanthe heads back to the testing room with Pat. "Hey! We killed your boss and stuff! Can you go now?"

No reason not to get to the point, it seems.

[Deathkeeper]

Labs Again

Pat shrugs.
"Yeah, we wrecked his face. If any of you wishes to shower us with praise and/or gifts for your liberation, you may. Otherwise, feel free to go home, although if you know how to make these ugly factory places leave the spots they appeared at, that'd be great. I liked my lawn." she says to the gathered workers.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

My apologies; I thought Dena was hiding magically. In that case, the lich doesn't seem aware of the rogue's presence.

"This one had some apprentices. Four of them; an elf, a human, an aasimar and a halfling. Each very skilled. Oh, yes, very skilled indeed. This one taught them all it felt them ready for; still they wanted more. Ganged up on this one, they did, and tried to steal its vault of magical items and artefacts. The battle raged for eight weeks, stopping only long enough for the apprentices to rejuvenate their stores. They discovered this one was holding magic back, not because they couldn't use it but because this one felt them too immature and inexperienced to be trusted with its power. Still, this one underestimated them and eventually this one lost. Due to this one's nature, it could not be easily dispatched and they knew not where this one kept its phylactery. So they sealed it instead, powering the spells with pain and suffering. Crude, they were, and inelegant, but powerful. This one could not resist, and spent the intervening time hoping one would come to free it from its torment. One did- you did, Warrior, with your disguised construct there." Motioning towards Violet. "As for this one's intentions, it will serve the Warrior that did so release it from its mystic bindings until such time it feels the debt is paid. Or the Warrior dies, whichever is first. If the Warrior dies ignobly of treachery or deceit, this one shall avenge it. That complete, this one will seek out the apprentices and, if they yet exist, destroy them. If not, it shall conjure up their souls and cast them into the blackest pits of Hell for their treachery, arrogance and greed."

[Shadowcaller]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

Seeing her fears being justified Dena as Wenomir seem to be struggling for something to say Dena let's out a sigh and grab's a communicator from one of her many enchanted pockets. "Do we have a magical pact on that? A geas or whatever you call it?" She asks into the communicator which Violet will then transmit. "Since like it or not, most people believe liches such as yourself to be evil and untrustworthy. It's why we threw had sarcophagus into the corridor, sorry about by the way. It just seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. But still, all liches we've heard about previously have been out to destroy all life or something so you have to understand we need some kind of guarantee here."

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"That about sums it up," Wenomir says. He's relived to be able to let someone else do the talking.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

"If the Warrior and his companion feels magical compulsion is necessary to confirm this one's loyalty, this one is willing to submit to such. This one lacks the magic to perform such a feat upon itself, however; trying to do so would compel this one to obey whatever this one said and that would doubtless get confusing. This one does warn that it is highly resistant to magical compulsion through its nature, both being dead and not being fully mortal when alive. This one does promise upon its immortal soul, sealed where none can find it, that this one sought the path to eternity because it had no desire to meet the unholy patriarch nestled at the top of its family tree." Basically, this lich does not wish to die because then it'll meet the demon or devil who sired his fiendish line, and probably be tortured as a disappointment- or just because.

[5a Violista]

[Mirror, Mirror]
Card

Most of it has not to do with cursing in general, but specifically with cursing a specific person. The name of the person really doesn't tell much about who it is, but it was definitely a person.

Why? It looks like they were angry or frustrated or something. It also looks like one of the demon summonings was actually successful - if "gone horribly wrong" is an acceptable definition of "successful", as evidenced by one now-broken summoning circle with scorched stones around it.


Darsy

It's a good thing Darsy make her hands glow. This door actually leads to stairs that go down, followed by a long stone hallway with twists and turns and branching hallways and such. The sound of dripping water can be heard. It's dark. There's mirrors on the walls and puddles of water on the ground.

Each mirror's image freezes in place as soon as Darsy looks at it, almost as if it were taking a picture. Somewhere in this stone hallway, there has to be someone because the sound of footsteps occasionally echoes throughout the stone hallway.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Mirror, Mirror

Mirrors that freeze up? That was definitely strange.

Curious, and mindful of the other footsteps, Darsy will slowly walk up to a mirror and lightly tap it with her knuckles. She doesn't do it hard, because she doesn't want to make noise that will attract whoever is down the hall.

[Shadowcaller]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

"Okay, what about this. Soon there will be a mage coming here. Why don't you follow her and 'the warrior' to the mountain base of VIGIL and they can probably arrange some deal.". Dena replies before adding. "As for me, do you happen to know if there are any valuable items you won't have any use for left inside the pyramid?"

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

Wenomir tilts his head. Well. That's not something he expected when he decided to go adventuring.

"If what you say is true, then yes, we can probably work something out when our mage arrives."

[ThePhantom]

Mirror, mirror -Card

Well, there's something else that went wrong here. Now, likely the demon is gone, based on the fired stones around a broken summoning circle. But, maybe it still here too. Well, that covers this room fairly well. Now is the time to continue his search for the others. Card gives the glowstick another shake to keep it going, and heads for one of the passages leading out of this room.

[Beans]

Labs Again

Pat shrugs.
"Yeah, we wrecked his face. If any of you wishes to shower us with praise and/or gifts for your liberation, you may. Otherwise, feel free to go home, although if you know how to make these ugly factory places leave the spots they appeared at, that'd be great. I liked my lawn." she says to the gathered workers.

They sort of shuffle. One throws Acanthe a clipboard, which she finds quite palatable.They awkwardly leave, a pile of change, coupons, and breath mints left behind as they go for the controls to the factory teleporters.

[Deathkeeper]

Labs

Pat just shrugs with a small smile, takes some of the loot that looks decent, and leads Acanthe over to a teleporter.
"Let's go home."
And hopefully, they do without a hitch.

[Beans]

Labs

Pat just shrugs with a small smile, takes some of the loot that looks decent, and leads Acanthe over to a teleporter.
"Let's go home."
And hopefully, they do without a hitch.

NYOOP.

[Buneplane]
By the smell as they return inside, those cookies are done baking!
...
Wait, did they even have cookies in the oven?

[Deathkeeper]

Buneplane

Pat certainly doesn't remember having cookies on, but she won't be too freaked out or anything. Just enough to look around for anything unusual in the cottage.

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

"This one would find that acceptable, yes." He makes a small bow towards Wenomir, before turning to Dena. "This one was not sealed within a building it previously used. Indeed, this structure was designed and constructed solely to contain the one before you. Everything within, besides the contents of the sarcophagus, did not belong to this one before its long imprisonment. The sneaky one may take what she wishes; this one shall not stop her." The contents of the sarcophagus are at the far end of the trapped corridor, but there is still some loot available. Whatever the child-headed ogres were carrying may be claimed, plus also the contents of the final chest.

[Shadowcaller]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

"Great. I'll do that then once our mage arrives." So I suppose they just need to wait for KR now! Dena wasn't going to go in into the pyramid without Violet who pretty much were her magical eyes and ears in there.

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"That makes things easier, I guess," Wenomir says as he also settles in to wait for KR. This dungeon delve turned out to be nothing like he expected.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

There's a rather understated flash of light as Kr's teleportation spell completes, depositing her here without any other sound or fanfare. She's obviously decked out for fighting, since she has her coat, saturated as it is with defensive spells and billowing rather sorcerously on the sharp breeze created by the air displaced by her arrival, as well as a hefty spellbook floating to her left, and, rather oddly, an ordinary steel sword, held point-down with both hands in a way that very clearly says she doesn't intend to use it, at least in any way Dena or Wenomir might be familiar with.

Her eyes immediately dart back and forth, quickly glancing between Wenomir, the Lich, and the illusory Dena... who don't appear to be fighting.
"Okay." :I

[Shadowcaller]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"Great, you're here, KR." Dena apparently recongize the mage both by name and appearance. "There apparently been some misunderstanding that Wenomir probably should have updated you on." The illusionary Dena gestures at the lich. "This guy apparently likes to serve your boyfriend now so he can repay him for setting him free." Technically they released him but Dena didn't want to deal with some lich. "So we have arranged that he'll follow you back to that mountain base of yours so you can arrange something for him."

[Morty]

[Pyramid of Painful Demise]

"The situation seems to have indeed developed unexpectedly, dear," Wenomir says, a little sheepishly. "We expected the lich to attack, but like Dena here said, he's not too interested in that."

[Earl of Purple]

Pyramid of Painful Demise

"The Warrior freed this one from a..." The lich glances up a the sun, which somehow tells him the length he spent imprisoned. "Millennium, roughly, of foul entrapment within a stone coffin. Whyfor should this one attack the one capable of freeing it when it could not free itself? That would merely be idiotic and suicidal." The lich, for KR's benefit, is obviously a tiefling; a pair of curling horns erupt from his forehead. His skin is pulled tight across his bones, and has a faded reddish orange colour. His empty eyesockets are lit by tiny blue flames serving as his eyes, and he is clad in a dark blue silk robe. A mithril sickle is at his waist, but he has yet to draw it. There are several powerful arcane defences surrounding the lich's frame, including a two-metre aura centred on the lich designed to slow down any living creature within it and a potent electrical ward cast on the robes; any metal object touching the cloth will channel the electricity into any creature touching it. In addition it has a necklace that absorbs hostile magic and releases it as necromantic energy that will heal the lich. There is a passive enchantment that enables the lich to partially see through illusions, too, so he not only can see the illusion but also what it's hiding. Far more useful than seeing through the illusion.

[UncleWolf]

Spoiler

Show

House in the Countryside

Wes will dig into the food, once it's served, with the typical appetite of a 16 year old. "What happens if it closes and we're on the other side?"

House in the Countryside

"Every time a door closes, you punch a window in the wall." The Mother replies to Wes absently as she tears her bacon into small strips, ordering each into piles of prime numbered amounts and then shifting one piece from each pile to the pile to its left, only eating the first pile's first piece and shoving the rest of her plate over for Needscat to finish off.

"Any more than that and rivers of filth flow forth. The third worst curse of my existence." She confides in a stage whisper to the cat.

House in the Countryside

"Once upon a time there was light in my life, but now there's only love in the dark. Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart," Needs replies in between his bacon-nibbling, quoting a song that was originally about a certain kind of undead.

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. There's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone." Looks like we're getting two quotes this time, this one about his assessment of their destination. That backyard is bad news, and Needs is going to be on high alert their entire time within that pocket reality.

House in the Countryside


"I don't know what'll happen to you three, but if the doorway closes while Kirby is there, I'll be weakened to a point where I can no longer hold Fire at bay. He'll break out and all this world will be cast into ruin." Vigil says darkly before giving a small smile. "So the doorway better not shut." He points out as he sits down and begins eating some food of his own. "You could say Fire is my other half. He's asleep in the other room at the moment but he's stirring so you'll get a chance to meet him shortly. Our relationship is...complicated. I am his warden, his lover, friend, enemy, brother...there is no word in any language in all the worlds to describe it beyond 'intimate and complex'." He says with a shrug, not seemingly bothered by it at all.

[happyturtle]

House in the Countryside

Wes stands up, looking horrified. "Your lover wants to cast the world in ruin? And you can't just say 'Don't do that, as a favour to me?'"

[Slii Arhem]

Spoiler

Show

House in the Countryside


"I don't know what'll happen to you three, but if the doorway closes while Kirby is there, I'll be weakened to a point where I can no longer hold Fire at bay. He'll break out and all this world will be cast into ruin." Vigil says darkly before giving a small smile. "So the doorway better not shut." He points out as he sits down and begins eating some food of his own. "You could say Fire is my other half. He's asleep in the other room at the moment but he's stirring so you'll get a chance to meet him shortly. Our relationship is...complicated. I am his warden, his lover, friend, enemy, brother...there is no word in any language in all the worlds to describe it beyond 'intimate and complex'." He says with a shrug, not seemingly bothered by it at all.

House in the Countryside

Wes stands up, looking horrified. "Your lover wants to cast the world in ruin? And you can't just say 'Don't do that, as a favour to me?'"

House in the Countryside

A hand swiftly reaches up to lay itself on Wes' shoulder, trying to lower him back into his chair with surprising gentleness for the Mother's strength, "Steel holds fire, and fire tempers steel. Steel hammers steel in fire to harden itself, to give it strength against the brittleness brought by fire. But in every strain of steel there is imperfection, and to break that point lets loose the Fire. When Ragnarok comes, only those tempered by its flames will see its end before their own." She smiles, sadly, as her hand is folded into her lap once again.

"I was once a history teacher, or was it a prophet, or a poet? Never matters, everything turns, myth into marvel. Everything returns."