Results 361 to 390 of 1530
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2007-05-30, 03:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
Khazrael walks to the edge of the floor, staring at one of the far-off towers.
"What the hell are these things for?"
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2007-05-30, 09:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Gingerly, Katrin reaches out a hand and is amazed to feel cold stone, just where the wall should be. The panoramic view is either an illusion, as suggested by Lissa, or perhaps some form of localized invisibility.
Raising an eyebrow, Trinark too reaches out and runs his hands along the transparent walls, looking like some kind of street performer or mime.
Achkby's spell reveals only the same frustrating shadow aura. Nothing obvious has changed.
A thin cloud veils the waxing moon for a moment, darkening the view outside.
Suddenly a faint humming can be heard, and the floor begins to dissolve. This time, the floor does not merely become transparent, it actually begins to slowly dematerialize. Your feet begin to sink downward as if you are standing in soft sand. Only the various circular platforms appear to remain solid, both visually and structurally ...
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2007-05-30, 10:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
Khazrael wastes no time dragging himself to one of the stone platforms. He eyes the ettin platform, but decides to grab hold of a dragon platform instead.
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2007-05-31, 09:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
He had been sitting against the wall when the view cleared up, so he was aware the walls were still there after a fashion.
When the floor starts to dissolve, he imitates Khazrael by jumping on to the closest platform.
"Try to avoid the central one ! I have a bad feeling about it."
SpoilerDr, please pick a random platform for me."Even gods must learn to control their tempers, lest they set a bad example."
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson
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2007-05-31, 10:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- ...
The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Callos
Another sleepless night. Spent staring up at the ceiling and trying to just stay awake, dark circles beginning to grow underneath of his eyes. The nightmares still wouldn't stop...But he was still tired, so very tired and it was hard to notice things even if they seemed rather important.
Like the floor, ceiling, and walls becoming transparent to sight to reveal the world on the other side of the tower. But when the floor melted away right underneath of his head, letting it flop down suddenly, that definitly jolted him up and about.
"Wait...whats going on here? D..d...did someone touch something? You should know better then to touch something!" Came the grumpy mage muttered out as he sat up, the middle of his words interrupted by a loud yawn. Stumbling some he walked over to the fallen angel platform critically and stepped on it hesitantly before looking around.
"Why are the torches out? Someone light a damn torch!"
((Callos will stand on the fallen angel symbol. But if it's dissolving too then he'll move to the medusa one.))Warriors & Wuxia: A community world-building project focused on low-magic wuxia/kung-fu action using ToB.
"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
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2007-05-31, 11:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
"Waugh!" Lissa wades over to join Khazrael on the dragon platform. Now she looks unsettled. Actually, make that downright scared. "What the hells else is this creepy tower going to pull on us? The builders had to be crazy; why else would you deliberately enchant your floor to dissolve at night?"
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2007-05-31, 02:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Oh, I thought the platforms were floating! This is mush better.
Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer
The tower dissolving? That's just too much for Achkby. He looks wildly at Eltahn for a moment, and then to Callos. Seeing that Elthan's done nothing obvious and Callos oblivious to the possibility that the other mage has, Achkby by rote falls in behind the much longer legs moving away from him, pursuing Khazrael to the dragon. Looking down, he whispers, "Tamara protect us." Raising his eyes to the others', he offers a bit of a self-conscious smile that becomes slightly strained as his gaze meets Lissa's.DON'T PANIC
(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
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2007-05-31, 04:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Lost within my mind
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Elthan
When kicked awake, Elthan complains momentarily while clutching his sides. After getting up, he staggers to look at the invisible wall he had no doubt been awakened to identify. Whether is was asked or not was still too soon for him to identify.
"I'm pretty sure it's not invisible, since then I'm sure Adalmar could identify that nobody could see them from the outside at night as well. My bet, just one way transparency, sort of like the way a window works between a dark room and a light room."
Without, and ignoring, any demand, he settles to himself that he is not going to be able to go back to sleep, and so drowsily begins to inspect the raised platforms. When the floor begins to dematerialize and his feet begin to slowly sink into the floor, he wheels around onto the Ettin platform and sits tight until the floor is fully gone.
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2007-06-01, 08:49 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- central valley, CA
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel
Awake, but not rested, Tiriel sleeply looks at the landscape revealed by the transparent walls. Whatever the cause, the effect is rather nice. She starts to nod back asleep but wakes up at the other's shouts and the creepy sensation of sinking through a floor. Quickly grabbing her belongings, she takes to the air and heads toward one of the unoccupied platforms.
"Is anyone else regretting entering this tower, or is it just me?" She says grumpily.
If all the platforms are of an equal height, then Tiriel will head towards the closest one. If their tiered, she'll land on the tallest one.Last edited by kuja.girl; 2007-06-01 at 08:50 AM.
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2007-06-01, 01:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
A sharp laugh answers Tiriel's question.
"Oh come on, you mean to say you still aren't having fun?"Last edited by Koji; 2007-06-01 at 01:46 PM.
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2007-06-01, 03:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
Once the floor starts to dissolve, Katrin scrambles on the nearest platform with her gear. "Trust me, Tiriel... you're not the only one."
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2007-06-01, 03:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
Lissa puts on a look of exaggerated thoughtfulness, resting her chin on one fist. And pointedly ignoring Achkby. "Well, let's see. There's certain death by freezing outside. Or there's the unknown but menacing and mysterious black tower. Hmm..." She nods solemnly. "Yep, I think I still prefer the tower. Even if the architects were a few bolts short of a quiver. At least we've got some chance of survival in here."
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2007-06-02, 07:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
One by one each of you wades over to a platform as the floor dissolves from underfoot.
Callos stands in the center of the floor over the "fallen angel" symbol, but it too fades away, forcing the necromancer to leap to the "medusa" symbol.
Elthan scoots onto the "ettin" platform. Aeroz and Trinark scramble onto another platform marked with what might be a "manticore".
Adalmar, Katrin, and Tiriel join Khazrael on the "dragon" platform. Achkby and Lissa leap onto the increasingly crowded platform, clinging to Khazrael's legs for balance.
Lumpy looks around the room as the party breaks up, deciding whether to take his chances by himself on an empty platform or join the others. Sighing, he steps onto the crowded platform with the majority of the party.
Within seconds, the transformation is complete and the platforms float independently, seemingly in midair.
The stars above seem to vanish as each platform is individually shrouded in darkness. Each of you experiences a nauseating vertigo, then all is still.
Those of you with darkvision are able to get oriented first. Adalmar takes out his torch, illuminating the room. Adalmar, Khazraek, Lumpy, Katrin, Tiriel, Achkby and Lissa find themselves standing alone in the circular room, once again visible and solid.
The only visible change is that some of the markings seem to have been moved around. The platform everyone is currently standing on is now marked with the "fallen angel", which seems to have switched with the central sigil. From your current vantage point, the "dragon" (now in the center of the floor) looks upside down.
"You know, it actually looks more like a stag's head," Katrin observes.
Of Aeroz, Trinark, Elthan and Callos, there is no trace ...
OOC: Players of the "missing" characters need to PM me ...Last edited by Dr._Bob; 2007-06-18 at 02:01 PM.
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2007-06-02, 10:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
"The platforms are different--is this the same tower?"
He glances around for anything familiar or different features.
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2007-06-03, 12:05 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
Lissa sighs, rubbing her forehead. Just one night of peace and, dare I hope, sleep. Is that too much to ask, O Sly One? Your servant does her best, but you know, mortals need sleep in order to function. The gnome looks decidedly cranky at this point, as if she were really looking forward to the end of watch and her bedroll (which is hopefully at the bottom of the tower by now, as opposed to another dimension).
"Oh, lovely. This is just what we needed. Another poxy magic puzzle-trap-thingy set up by the never-to-be-sufficiently-accursed mage who enchanted these blasted towers!" She glares down at the dragon that's moved to the middle of the floor, as if this were somehow it's fault.
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2007-06-03, 04:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
He mutters a swearword in Rashemi under his breath and steps hastily from the platform : he still doesn't like what the falling angel might indicate. Hopefully it's just superstition.
"I'm afraid we're in a different tower..."
Damn, and I left Kir outside !
"Wait, some people are missing..." He tries to remember the missing faces.
"Those two mages... they're gone !"
A pause. But he has no idea what to do about it.
"I say we don't spend any more time in this tower than we need to - let's head downstairs." His voice is gruff, as usual.Last edited by namo; 2007-06-03 at 04:01 AM.
"Even gods must learn to control their tempers, lest they set a bad example."
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson
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2007-06-03, 12:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
"Wait... wait. Just a second, Adalmar, let's think about this. I don't fancy slogging from tower to tower through the snow looking for people if we don't have to." Lissa hops down from the angel platform (it's higher up for a gnome), looking intently from the angel to the dragon. She twirls the end of her blonde braid, thinking. "Nations come and go, but gnomeoid nature doesn't change all that much. If we don't want to wade through the snow, the tower-builders probably didn't want to either." Tap-tap. Lissa prods the floor with an experimental toe, wondering if it too will dissolve.
"I think these platforms might be a magical transportation system, with each tower designated by a creature." She points at the dragon inlay in the middle of the floor. "See, we stepped on a dragon platform when the magic activated, and now the dragon's in the middle- just like the falling angel back in the other tower. I bet if we went downstairs, there'd be a dragon on the front door. So we came from Falling Angel Tower to Dragon Tower." Hands on hips, Lissa tilts her head at the group still standing on the platform. "If I'm following this trail correctly- which I might not be, the gods know I've been wrong before- we just have to figure out what activated the transportation magic back there, do it again here, and everyone crowd back onto the Falling Angel platform. Hopefully the others will figure the puzzle out, and the most reasonable place for everyone to go is back where we started."
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2007-06-03, 12:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer
Achkby sighs deeply.
"That's how I figure it, too. But I'd wager the magics work at midnight, or when the moon's at a certain phase, or something unhappily mystical along those lines. We might just have to wait it out to be reunited with the others.
"If we can, though, we should use these spatial portals to our advantage."
Damn, Callos is rubbing off on me.
"Um, I mean that we should see if there's a map or something. Figure out which tower is farthest northeast, or closest to Rashemen... at the very least find one across this lake. Probably meet up with the others at the falling angel, or maybe just make our own way to the Iron Lord..."
And get me free of Elthan.DON'T PANIC
(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
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2007-06-03, 01:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
Katrin studies the symbols on the floor. Somewhat absently, she says, "I don't think we should go anywhere in this tower unless we know where the others are first." The symbol in the center must be actually part of the floor... some sort of marker or something, because it dissolved when Callos was standing on it... and the center symbol in the other tower was a falling angel, and now we're on the falling angel platform in this tower... and we were on the dragon platform in the other tower, and the center symbol in this tower is a dragon... you must be able to get to a certain tower by standing on the platform with that symbol!
Ready to explain this discovery to the party, she hears Lissa finish her explanation and decides not to. "Does anyone remember what platforms Aeroz and Elthan and everyone else got onto? Because if Lissa's right, we could get to where they are by standing on those platforms ourselves..."Last edited by blackfox; 2007-06-03 at 01:15 PM. Reason: phasm got there first
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2007-06-03, 02:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
A grin creeps across Khazrael's face. He steps off of the platform and fiddles with his hair.
"I hope they can manage to sit still while we figure out how to reactivate this thing."
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2007-06-03, 02:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
He reddens, embarassed at his public display of thickness. They seem to take everything smoothly in stride, whereas he is always lagging behind...
Perhaps keeping quiet is not such a bad idea after all.
She's right - it makes sense... at least for a mage, and it's definitely a cabal of mages who created those things.
We need to know where we are, and to find the others. We cannot all stand on the same platform, so we have to take a reference point, and work from there. But if each tower has its own trap..."Even gods must learn to control their tempers, lest they set a bad example."
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson
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2007-06-03, 09:37 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
You decide that it would be prudent to identify each of the platforms before taking any further actions.
In the center of the floor is the "dragon" glyph, although on closer inspection it might be better described as a "stag's head" glyph with the "dragon's wings" actually representing the stag's rack of antlers when viewed from a different viewpoint.
Surrounding the central glyph are a dozen platforms, each individually marked.
You decide to name them as follows:
hippogriff
chimera
manticore
basilisk
medusa
falling angel
ettin
gynosphinx
harpy
serpent
minotaur
beholderLast edited by Dr._Bob; 2007-06-03 at 09:37 PM.
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2007-06-03, 11:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
"Elthan was on the ettin and the drow was on the manticore. I remember that much."
He considers Akhby's words for a moment.
"So the towers activate nightly, or did someone turn it on for us? I'm guessing that if we really teleported, these were used to zip people around to send messages or defend the region. If only Elthan can open it, we need to find a way to activate the tower and get back to him."
Khazrael strides to the ettin platform and kneels on it, running his hands over the surface to check for any method of activation.
"If someone outside of our group activated that tower, then we could be in a lot of danger."
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2007-06-04, 08:20 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar considers Lissa's theory. "But there are far more than 12 or 13 towers along the coast. I would say that there must have been at least two score that my people knew of spread out along the shore."
The ranger looks tired. He can not sense Kir as he is accustomed to doing. He is afraid that his animal companion is now far, far away ...
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2007-06-05, 10:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- central valley, CA
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel
"In that case, shouldn't we try to get out of the tower so we can get our bearings?
Of course, we may not even be able to open the door without Elthan. Since no one can sense anything magical, maybe we should look for a switch?"
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2007-06-05, 10:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
Lissa frowns, toying with her medallion. It's the I'm-thinking-really-hard sort of frown, as opposed to a Somebody-has-annoyed-me frown or an I-want-to-kill-the-evil-mage frown. "I'm kind of hoping Achkby's right about the activation mechanism, actually. Something like moonrise or midnight as the trigger. I mean, nobody was actually doing anything when the floor started melting back in Falling Angel." She runs a hand along the edge of the Falling Angel platform. "Khazrael and I were just talking when the walls went invisible, and everyone else was asleep. Then... I don't think anyone cast any spells, did they? We were all looking around, admiring the view, trying to figure out what the Abyss happened. A few minutes later, the floor starts going soft and everyone scrambles for the platforms." Lissa shrugs. "Maybe that was midnight? The moon was out, I was watching the moonlight on the lake, so it can't have been moonrise or moonset."
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2007-06-06, 11:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
After exploring the platform chamber thoroughly, the party decides to try to make its way down to the ground level.
This tower is definitely different from the original tower. The doors in this building are made of thick oak beams bound in dark iron. Katrin and Lissa are careful to check each door for traps, but they find none. In fact, the doors are not even locked.
Reaching the lower level you find that, unlike the original tower, this one does not have any steps leading downward. There is some debris here, nothing particularly interesting, just some old ragged hides and a few bones.
You open the front door cautiously. The massive wooden door swings open into the tower without a sound. Thanks to the moonlight, your dark adapted eyes have no trouble making out a thick pine forest surrounding the tower. Fresh powdery snow lies on the ground. All is quiet.
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2007-06-06, 04:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
He seems revitalized by the night sky. A smile creeps over his delicate features and his bony frame draws itself to its full height.
He looks at Tiriel, fairly certain she's got the same idea, but he voices it anyway.
"Why don't you fly up and see if you can spy the other tower, or at least the lake?"
He rubs at his chin.
"Did you see any signs up on top of the tower? Do you think you could carry me to the top of this one? I want to check and see if the tops have the symbol like the doors do."Last edited by Koji; 2007-06-06 at 04:17 PM.
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2007-06-06, 05:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
He takes some time to re-orient himself, looking for tell-tale signs on the tower and trees.
SpoilerSurvival - (1d20+10)[27] to find the North and maybe some indication of where they are."Even gods must learn to control their tempers, lest they set a bad example."
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson
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2007-06-06, 07:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
Katrin is uncomfortable progressing too far outside. "I don't think we should go too far when we don't know where we are... especially with the way the last tower reacted to us. I'd rather get back to familiar ground."