Results 241 to 270 of 1530
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2007-04-30, 10:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar knows little about these towers other than that they line the coast at relatively regular intervals and that they've been here for as long as his people can remember.
For the most part his people avoided them, if only because no one ever figured out a way to get inside.
Looking up at the tower from its base is a bit dizzying.
As Aeroz knocks on the stone, he notes that the black rock appears to have been fitted together without mortar. On the west side (away from the Lake), Aeroz finds a larger door-sided stone that might represent some sort of entrace, albeit one with no handles or hinges ...
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2007-04-30, 06:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
He sighs. "Well, I suppose it can't hurt to try. Perhaps in our hour of need we'll find a way to get in."
He starts examining every inch of stone around the door-like stone.
SpoilerTake 20 on Search : 28"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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2007-04-30, 07:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
Khazrael stares at the door, uttering a few quipped phrases as he does so.
((OOC: Casting Detect Magic and first checking the door, then pacing around the tower to find any sort of lingering spells or anything on it. My spider climb offer still stands.))
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2007-04-30, 08:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- central valley, CA
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel
Tiriel nods in agreement with Aeroz. "I'll check higher up, there may be an entrance we can't see from here."
She takes a few steps back before launching herself in the air. As she climbs the height of the tower, using strong steady wing beats, she looks for loss stones or a window before proceeding to the roof.
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2007-04-30, 09:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
Katrin also begins to examine the stone of the tower, adding her sharp eyes to the search.
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2007-05-01, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer
Achkby raises his hands to cast a spell, but Khazrael beats him to it. He is content to wait for the others to take care of things, as usual.DON'T PANIC
(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
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2007-05-01, 09:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel spirals upward around the tower until she reaches its top. The smooth black stone of the tower walls are completely featureless. The tip of the tower is a smooth flat circle with a low parapet. A round black stone is set in the center of the floor - presumably a trap door of some kind.
She touches down gently and spends a few seconds admiring the view. From her vantage point, she can just make out the last few rays of the sun as it drops below the horizon. In the distance she can spot another tower to the north and, of course, a tower to the south. Looking down, she sees that the base of the tower is already shrouded in darkness.
...
Down below, Adalmar and Katrin examine the base of the tower closely. Khazrael stares at the door. His eyes seem to almost glow for a moment as he whispers the words to a simple spell.
Khazrael is surprised to find that the tower does not radiate magic in any way. In fact, if anything, the tower almost seems to disappear from his view when he taps into the weave.
He blinks, puzzled. Before he lets the spell go, he sees a strange kind of afterimage. The blank door has been marked - Khazrael sees a stylized drawing of an angel. The angel is upside down, as if falling ...
...
Elthan steps forward to examine the door as well. The half-elf reaches out a hand and touches the door. Silently, the door slide inward and upward, disappearing into darkness. The doorway stands open before him.Last edited by Dr._Bob; 2007-05-01 at 09:22 PM.
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2007-05-01, 09:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
"Everyone, be careful. The tower seems disconnected from the weave. I've never seen anything like it."
His eyes shoot to Tiriel.
"There's a picture of one of you guys on the door. Looks like it's dead or falling out of the sky or something."
He slips his knife out of his belt and watches Elthan, unsure of how he managed to open it.
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2007-05-02, 12:07 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
Lissa eyes the now-open door with distrust, then gives Elthan a hard look. "Interesting, that the resident murdering mage should be able to open a tower that's 'disconnected from the Weave'." Her voice takes on a poisonously false sweetness. "Would you care to enlighten us on that topic, Elthan dear? Or would that mean admitting the reason why you slaughtered a man who placed his trust in your hands? There's stories about what an unprincipled mage can do with the power of bloodshed, you know." The gnome caresses the stock of her loaded crossbow. Obviously, Lissa has neither forgiven nor forgotten. She gives Elthan one last brilliant, hard smile, then focuses her attention on the dark opening.
"Dark in there; not surprising, really." With a few words of Gnomish and a spiraling gesture, Lissa's signature quartet of pastel-colored dancing lights pop into existence above her head. She points toward the door, and the floating balls of light zoom in, hovering about 5 feet inside the entrance.
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2007-05-02, 07:09 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
"The tower is disconnected from ...magic? I'm no expert on spellcasting, far from it, but how could the tower be visible to our eyes but disappear when someone looks at it with magic? Wouldn't it have to be magical itself? And if it was, then couldn't someone see the magic that hides it?"
Katrin is immediately suspicious when Elthan opens the door with only a touch. She grasps her still-loaded crossbow and backs away from the doorway.
Last edited by blackfox; 2007-05-03 at 07:22 AM.
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2007-05-02, 07:47 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
Hand on the pommel of his sword, he looks from Lissa to Elthan and back."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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2007-05-02, 09:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2005
- Location
- Torontonia
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Aeroz
"Katrin, sometimes wizards don't want to been seen by their rivals. Making something invisible to magical detection would not always make it invisible to plain sight. Though I'd ask Callos about this. I'm just remembering some basic information from my training." Aeroz states as he draws his rapier in preparation for what may be waiting inside the obelisk.The Gradual decline in sanity of a Fedora developer
SpoilerTrog's Rendition of me, complete with a shirt reminding me who I am!
Originally Posted by AngelSword
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2007-05-02, 10:06 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
Khazrael nods as Aeroz speaks.
"I'm no wizard, I don't really get how this crap works, but I imagine there could be some kind of spell that simply shuts out my detection ability."
He frowns.
"If that's not the case, though, I have no clue what's going on here. Though I bet I know who does."
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2007-05-02, 12:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer
His curiosity piqued, Achkby casts the same spell Khazrael had, puzzled by the other sorcerer's description of his perception.DON'T PANIC
(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
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2007-05-02, 01:49 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Lost within my mind
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Elthan
Elthan takes a step back as the door opens, not certain precisely why it had opened. He nods in agreement with Khazrael that the tower may not be connected to the weave, but states his puzzlement to the described image. "It's certainly an interesting metaphor to the phenomena."
If the door is magic, but the tower is not connected to the weave, I wonder what exactly these towers are for...
Though Elthan was not facing the group when he turned around, for a brief moment as his eyes narrowed at the gnome, some pain could be seen at the mention of Evandurs death. The pain in his face fades quickly as it is replaced by agitation.
"No, Lissa, I don't think I will," he says in a slow, bitter manner, "Or at least not to one as insufferable as you."
After a second, he seems surprised that he had said such, but turns away to face the door again. As he marches into the tower, he closes the door by will alone.
(OOC: Once in the tower, Casting Close. Assuming it's not anti-magic, the door should close.)Last edited by King_of_GRiffins; 2007-05-02 at 04:21 PM.
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2007-05-02, 08:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
"INSUFFERABLE?! I'M INSUFFERABLE?! Why, you lying, murdering, kobold-hearted, maggot-brained, son of a flea-ridden DRETCH! Get out here and say that to my face, puling milk-livered goblin-hearted eunuch! What's the matter, can't take on one little gnome? BETRAYER! BLACKGUARD!" An angry human woman shrieking insults at the top of her lungs is quite bad enough. Gnomes, however, have higher-pitched voices than tallfolk. Lissa continues in this often-blasphemous vein for some time, at earsplitting volume and in several languages. That door would have to be either pretty darn thick or magically soundproofed for Elthan not to get some idea of what's going on... which is probably the point. In a last bit of spite, Lissa pulls her ghostly quartet of lights out of the building. Let him burn his own magic to light his path.
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2007-05-02, 08:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- central valley, CA
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel
After admiring the view Tiriel turns back to examining the tower "roof." After giving the stones a quick once-over, Tiriel spends some time examining the round stone in the center. She doesn't rule out the possibility of traps, but also figures that it would be unusual to trap a tower roof.
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2007-05-03, 03:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lumpy
Lumpy folds his arms across his chest, letting an impassive mask slip over his features,
"This is why I advocated killing him, ya know. He's a liability, and whatever his intentions are, he ain't ever gonna be trustworthy."
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2007-05-04, 05:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel examines the disc curiously. There does not appear to be any way to open it from the outside as best she can tell. She pries at the stone with his fingers, but even with all of her strength, she can't get the stone to budge.
Shrugging, she looks down at her friends gathered about the base of the tower. With a leap, she dives downward for several seconds before unfurling her wings and gliding to a gentle landing in front of the tower's entrance.
...
Elthan's dramatic storming into the castle was somewhat spoiled when the black stone door fails to slam shut completely (perhaps it's too heavy?). Instead, the door sits half ajar, like a loose tooth.
Lissa recalls her dancing lights and they spiral about her like enthusiastic puppies. Meanwhile, Achkby narrows his eyes and confirms the unusual nature of the tower reported by Khazrael.
Several other members of the party nod in agreement as Lumpy speaks. On the other hand, the darkness brings with it an additional chill. Sinister or not, the black tower appears to offer your only option for shelter.
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2007-05-04, 12:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Khazrael
Khazrael ducks under the half-open door and moves uncomfortably close to Elthan. He says nothing, but throws him a look that just dares him to try and run off again.
Curiosity seems to rule out the need for a vindictive attitude, and Khazrael turns from the wizard to examine the interior of the tower. He allows his eyes to make a few passes over the interior before deciding to see through the weave from inside the tower. He repeats his earlier gesture and looks up expectantly.
((OOC: Casting detect magic again once inside.))
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2007-05-04, 06:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- ...
The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Callos
When Elthan first spoke up and ran inside of the tower, Callos froze completely as every fiber of his being stopped. There was no way Elthan could....was there? Didn't he think about what this looked like?! A silent groan was more then covered when Lissa pounded on the half shut door and began to scream profanities out into the air.
Carefully sidling past the gnome, Callos ducked underneath of the stone slab of a door and looked around thoughtfully. Hmm...this place out to do just fine...especially if it's disconnected from the Weave, it'll just mean there isn't a chance of backlash or unforseen consequences...er...well...Weave related consequences anyway.
Thinking about his own plans, not to mention looking over at Elthan with a wary eye and shaking his head to himself. "Elthan, I would like an explanation about how you opened the door. Is this tower...is it a receptacle of what we talked about? Is it safe?"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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2007-05-05, 12:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
After her initial rage has spent itself, Lissa regains enough common sense to follow Khazrael and Callos through the door, loaded crossbow at the ready. Her dancing lights swirl out and up to bob merrily at a point some ten feet in from the door and five feet up from the ground. (Plenty high from a gnomish perspective.) Once the lights have left Lissa's immediate vicinity, it becomes much harder to see her...
Lissa's voice echoes from the dark recesses of the room's opposite side. "We're still waiting for an answer, Elthan dear. Some of us aren't easy sleeping at night with a murderer, you know. After all, we could be next." The voice suddenly moves behind Elthan. "Do you remember the tale of the scorpion and the swan? I've no desire to end up like the swan... and I can see where the scorpion is now."
OOC: Ghost sound FTW!
Hide w/Small bonus - (1d20+18)[20]
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2007-05-05, 01:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Adalmar
There is no need to think, he knows what he must answer to the Orc. "If we kill him like that, we are no better than him. It's out of the question. He must be judged." He is not forceful, for he states a simple truth.
[EDIT]With a last look at the sky, he strolls into the tower. He decides to leave Kir to roam as he wishes - the proud hawk has earned it.[/EDIT]
Callos' cryptic words make him uneasy. He mutters under his breath : "Mages will twist words until North becomes South."
"Couldn't you be plainer, mage ?"
Yet, indecision has returned. He eyes the tower with even more distrust than before.Last edited by namo; 2007-05-06 at 12:33 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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2007-05-05, 08:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Katrin
Katrin is immediately suspicious of Callos after he demands an explanation. He's hiding something from us...
"I agree with Aldamar. Besides, I am quite curious as to why Elthan did what he did..."
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2007-05-05, 11:32 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- ...
The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Callos
Another disgruntled sigh came from the necromancer as he heard the comments from Adalmar and Katrin. Great, now he'd have those two acting all suspicious around him when he hadn't even done anything to deserve it. Well...nothing on purpose anyway. How was he supposed to know the wolf he had lightening bolted had been a werewolf? Anybody could have made that very same mistake. Best to clear up his involvement in this then.
"To answer your question then yes, I could be much plainer but I choose not to. Plainly stating such things as I'm referring to would already taint your already darkened dispositions in a way that would be both unfavorable and unjust to all present. But I'll explain what I can with what information I have, which isn't much to be perfectly honest. Lissa, I need some light over here if you wouldn't mind..."
Proceeding quickly, who knew what was in here after all, Callos reached into his pack and withdrew his spellbook and flipped to through the first couple of pages until he stopped on one of them. The picture held an illustration of a bolt of lightening on it, plainly stating what sort of spell it was.
"You all can tell what this is, right? Its a spell for conjuring up lightening to use against ones enemies. It alters and shapes nature in such a way as to bring about the desired result from the infinite possibilities of the multiverse. However, despite the supernatural qualities that it produces the magic is still a part of nature."
Again he went into his pack, this time retrieving a sheet of parchment, his quill, and inkwell. Dabbing the tip into the plain ink, his quill could be heard scratching across the parchment as he began to doodle. Figuring other people could relate to it better, Callos drew the figure of a human person and then labeled the different parts of the body with the schools of magic. Once he had finished with that, he very carefully shaded in the shadow of the person up to a certain point then ceased, not to mention not connecting the shadow to the person.
"Here's the best way that I can show this to all of you. Look, heres each school of magic that has been classified at the moment. Abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation. Most magic-wielders tap into the entire spectrum. Some specialize in certain aspects, like myself. I'm very good with necromancy but I refuse to even learn conjuration and illusion spells. Not to mention their beyond my abilities. But for the most part, this is the whole of the Weave. But! You'll notice something in this diagram. That's because like all things, the Weave has a shadow. For lack of better words to describe it, we'll call it the anti-Weave. It's different from the normal weave because it wasn't...built in to the multiverse at it's creation. Instead it was simply added on later by another deity. Another way that it's different is it's function. From what I understand it has a much narrower spectrum then the Weave. Only necromancy and enchantment to those who use it, but they use it at a greater degree of finesse then normal Weave-users. Look, see how the shadow doesn't touch the whole? That's because this anti-Weave has nothing to do with Weave yet relies on it. So there are benefits to using this anti-Weave, provided that there are precautions taken to ward one's self from mental and physical harm, but the anti-Weave corrupts, even to the smallest degree, whatever it touches." Came the verbose lecture as Callos held out the sheet of paper for all those inside to look at even as he gave an apologetic look to Elthan. They did deserve to know, and if explaining some of Elthan's dirty little secret would convince them he probably hadn't done the deed of his on violation then it was worth it. But he knew enough about religon to realize that telling who had crafted the Shadow Weave or who Elthan had most likely contacted to gain such powers would open up a whole new can of worms.
Twisting he let a re-approving look fall on Katrin and Adalmar before speaking softly once more, the studious tone being replaced by a very acidic tongue. "Was I plain enough that time or shall I dumb it down some more? And can you see the signifigance in this place being 'disconnected from the Weave' now? It's most likely safe, but we shouldn't stay long. A night at the most if I'm right."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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2007-05-05, 12:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Lost within my mind
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Elthan
Elthan takes several steps back to the wall as Khaz and Callos crawl in after him. However short a period he had been alone, it was still enough to calm his nerves, even with sudden interruption. He rolls his eyes away as the gnome attempts to throw her voice.
"Lissa, please try to be less antagonizing. Stop trying to hide in my plain sight, and for heavens sake learn some proper interpretation rather than soiling a good story with your creativity. I suppose the same to you, Callos. Stop patronizing them. I'm sure they could all cast spells by now if not for tendencies to do otherwise." To the five or so present, he address his explanation.
"There is another Weave, and no, it is not called the 'Anti-weave'. It does not oppose or contrast in any negative fashion, assuming a positive for the Weave. Rather, it exist side by side with the Weave like a shadow, hence the name.
"The door opened, as I see it, because I have a connection to this Shadow Weave. This allowed magic to flow through me were for others it would not, such as the area of dead magic this tower is no doubt built upon.
"I know nothing about this section of the worlds history. I'm so far east, I'm almost expecting to see home over the horizon. However, I can guess as to what this towers purpose was. The ones who built it must have had access to the Shadow Weave, or some other method of preserving their magical abilities. The ability to retain their spells where others cannot is a clear tactical advantage to holding this structure. The door itself kept people from entering for however long, as Adalmar has said.
"I apologize for being so... reactionary, earlier. Please, one of you go and tell the others to come in from the cold. This place was for an immediate advantage to the holder, and should not contain any danger."
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2007-05-05, 01:17 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- California
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Lissa
"Antagonizing?", echoes the ghostly voice. "I'd say I'm being pretty darn reasonable considering what you did to Evendur. I haven't killed you... yet... after all."
OOC: I should've done this last post- Move Silently - (1d20+9)[14]
Lets see if 'Shadow Weave' rings any bells- Knowledge: religion - (1d20+5)[10]
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2007-05-05, 01:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Lost within my mind
- Gender
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Elthan
The light of Lissa's spell, even set at their distance and height, or even the dwindling light outside coming in from the jammed door, is enough to illuminate the tower for Elthan. With some disdain, he speaks to the gnome in shorter words than usual.
"Yes, Lissa, I shall repeat; Antagonizing. The story of the Scorpion and the Swan was about how one cannot not deny what one truly is. How many times for as long as you have known me have I killed, or perhaps even permanently injured anyone, alive or not? Based on that, what would you suppose my nature is? The tale is not one of distrusting others."
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2007-05-05, 04:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
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- central valley, CA
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Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Tiriel
By the time she gets to the tower's base everyone but Lumpy has entered the tower. "So who got the door open?" She asks the half-orc, "There wasn't much up top, maybe a trap door, but I couldn't get it open."
She can only hear snatches of the conversation but from what she's heard, things are turning ugly. Ducking under the door, Tiriel walks in as Callos finishes up his little lesson on magic and... non-magic or whatever it's called.
"Lissa stop it. And you," she says pointing at Elthan, "You owe us an explanation. I could care less about some story about a dead bird and a stupid scorpion. No metaphors, no more avoidance, you're going to tell us or I swear I'll hold you down while Callos gets the answer out of you."
She plants herself in front of the door, hoping that with Lumpy outside and everyone else inside, that they'll get some answers.Last edited by kuja.girl; 2007-05-05 at 04:13 PM.
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2007-05-05, 08:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Maryland, USA
Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
The walls at the base of the tower are quite thick, so the ground floor chamber is smaller than one might have assumed from the outer diameter of the base. The circular room is perhaps 80 feet across.
Eight large columns form a ring around the periphery of the chamber, providing additional support to the upper levels. A narrow staircase spirals upward and downward along the inner surface of the wall to levels higher and lower. All of the structures appear to be made of the same dark stone as the exterior. The surfaces are smooth and unadorned. Inside, the tower maintains the same detached aura it had when scanned from the outside.
As most of the rest of the party ducks under the half-opened door and enters, light spills into the chamber from their torches. Lissa steps out from behind one of the columns, and joins the others confronting Elthan. Only Callos seems to stand near the half-elf. The others (Katrin, Tiriel, Adalmar, Khazrael, and Lissa) form a cautious semi-circle in the center of the room. Tension thickens the air.
Lumpy, Trinark, Aeroz and Achby crowd around the half open doorway, listening to the conversation, but not committed to entering just yet.Last edited by Dr._Bob; 2007-05-05 at 08:32 PM.