Age of Ruin IC: When all your friends are dead

[Ozzy_G]

The group has now managed to get what's left of the tiny woman's corpse onto the tent canvas. Her rings gleam brightly, a strange sight juxtaposed with her gory corpse.
Livina notices that, as she cleans her hands on the grass, it writhes as if in a wind, yet she feels no breeze.

[Lycar]

"What's with the others ?"

Orin gestures at the other bodies.

"We should at least do the decent thing and bury them."

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina walks quickly back in to the tower in time to hear Orin's suggestion. She keeps a straight face and nods.
You're not really that different; you're an opportunist too!
The Mokai woman begins climbing the rope again, this time to examine the mummified remains of the towers other trespassers...

[Ozzy_G]

Livina looks at the four corpses nailed to the ceiling. The three humans have belt knives, but no jewellery. The gnome on the other hand, is festooned with strange items. Each of his fingers bears a single ring. The left one is gold with a black skull, the right one is a simple jade band. He wears these on top of identical gloves that are black but marked with a stylised cat. Around his neck he wears an amulet which seems to be a bit of bark inside amber. On his head is a black bandana marked with a skull. The skull glows with a dull green-grey glow.

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Whistling softly to herself, Livina tosses down the three humans fairly quickly but lingers over the corpse of the gnome, recovering the headband and jewelry and gloves carefully before dropping him down as well.

[Ozzy_G]

Krashnix and Orin catch the bodies and place them on the canvas as well. It's odd how they are only slightly decayed, as if they've only been dead an hour or two.

[Lycar]

Orin watches Livina strip the items of the dessicated corpse and makes a face as if he just tasted something bad.

"... once a vulture, always a vulture..." he remarks in a low voice, not really caring if anyone hears him at this point.

Could at least have lowered the body down first.

When the bodies are placed on the canvas, Orin lifts one side and tries to pull them outside. Also he tries to remember if there were any shovels on the mule.

Looking up at Livina he says "Maybe you could help me digging the graves." (now that you are finished desecrating the dead...)

Orin only thinks the last part but his facial expression is telling enough for those who can read it.


Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina smiles a crooked smile at Orin.
"Sure. When we've done that, I guess we can leave this tomb we were about to rob for someone else who I guess we're abandoning. But hey, shovels away!"

[Lycar]

Orin gives Livina a look, icy cold at first, but then giving way to something more akin to ... pity ?

"... you assume too much. Again. I have no intention to leave master Vel behind without having made a reasonable attempt at rescuing him."

Orin keeps pulling at the canvas. It is quite hard since 5 (well, 4 1/2 really) corpses do weight a lot and he isn't very strong.

As he pulls, he seems to be mulling over something. One can see his face work, jaw clenching and unclenching from time to time.

Suddenly he lets go of the canvas, straightens up and declares:
"You know what ? The dead can wait. I am going to search for Rego Vel now. Those who are with me, follow me."

And he proudly (albeit slightly stiffly) marches on towards the stairs, his staff held in front of him.

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina laughs.
"That's the spirit! The living over the dead! Try and remember that when you're saving the world, 'kay?"
Nonetheless she re-enters the crypt, checking up on Krashnix and Lucci.

[Ozzy_G]

Orin walks down the steps and into the red mist... and then back out. He looks rather surprised. He simply walked into and through the mist, only to find himself stepping back out. Trying again, he finds that the same thing happens.

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
The Mokai woman blinks.
"Huh.So the pink mist makes you turn around?"

[Lycar]

Orin steels himself and goes down the stairs, fighting with his inner demons and holding his staff in a death-grip.

So he doesn't really notice that something is amiss until he suddenly finds himself face to face with Livina again.

He just looks at her dumbfounded for a moment. If his inner demons seem to stop struggling for a moment, just to look up and go 'what the .. ?' .

On the other hand, the fog didn't eat the flesh off his bones or anything. So he just turns around and deftly walks down the stairs again.

Only to find himself re-emerging at the top of the stairs again, without being able to say when or where exactly the 'turning point' was.

"... thats new. I don't know if it just turns someone around..."

He looks at the fog for a moment, head tilted thoughtfully and then reaches into his coin pouch and produces a single gold coin. He weights it in his hand for a moment, then deftly throws it down the stairs.

(So, either it's gonna come fly back right at me or it will simply disappear into the mist....)


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

A moment later, the coin comes flying back out, to land with a dull clink on the floor in front of Orin.

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
"Huh." Livina looks thoughtfully at the mist.
"Well, at least it didn't flense you. Let me know if you figure it out."

[Lycar]

Orin ponders.

"Actually, this makes sense. The locked door and the trap ? Test of dexterity. The golem ? Test of stregth. The fog and tomb ? Test of... cleverness ... creativity.. ingenuity... hmm."

Orin ponders more and tries to scrounge together what he knows about dwarves. Did they like riddles ? They were powerful magicans. Did they enjoy clever traps ? Did they leave clues ?

He absentmindedly picks up his coin again, pocketing it.

"The truning point... Livina ? Would you kindly hold that rope of yours ? I shall hold one end myself, keeping it pulled taut. When i go down the stairs, keeping up the pull, i should be able to reconize the turning point when the rope starts to go slack again."

Orin waits for Livina to get into position and then slowly, deliberately goes down the stairs, staff in his right, end of rope in his left.

Halfway down the stairs he suddenly bursts out "Hah! And to think i even had a compass in that thrice damned backpack..."

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina watches bemusedly as Orin goes about his experimentation.
"How's knowing how deep it takes going to help you get down there? It's a whole crypt down there, not just a layer."

[Ozzy_G]

Orin carefully walks through with the rope... and back. The rope is still taught. It travels into the mist and then back out again.

[Moechi_Vill]

Lucidae

"This is why I prefer to earn my money in school's and laboratories." Lucci remarks.

"Though the latter landed me in this situation. Unto danger travels that which pays well..."
She just watches.

[Lycar]

Orin looks quite perplexed as he suddenly come face-to-face with Livina again. He looks over his shoulder. Yep. Two parallel lines of rope.

He pulls at his end of the rope experimentally. Some of the rope on Livina's end disappears into the mist and his side of the rope gets just a bit longer.

He wordlessly gestures for Livina to hold his end of the rope in her other hand. Then he puts down his staff, puts one hand on each line of rope and walks down the stairs again, trailing the rope through his fingers.

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina rolls her eyes. Who said it does the same thing every time? Maybe the fourth time the magic gets pissed and shreds you.

[Ozzy_G]

Orin walks forward into the mist, his hands trailing the rope. He can't see, but his hands touch something. Each hand feels like they are touching... another hand. On the rope.

Krashnix and Lucci are sitting down, looking around. They see a man step into the doorway from outside. He's not trying to conceal himself in any way, his hand is risen in a greeting.

He stands about six foot tall, with broad shoulders and a chiselled muscle-structure. His black hair is long and dirty, pulled back from his face by a strip of leather around his forehead. He is barefoot, but wears primitive leather bracers, pants, and jerkin. On top of this, he wears a shiny, well polished breastplate, and a belt that seems to be woven from silver and copper. Peaking over his shoulder you see a rather ornate handle of a blade.

[Moechi_Vill]

Lucidae

Lucci watches him silently, waiting for Krashnix to make a move.

[Lycar]

Orin examines the phenomenom with a seldom felt sense of wonder.

(Ooookay... so presumably, these are my own hands i am feeling.... testing.... use right index finger to touch mysterious hand and see if left hand feels touched by ... oh yes... )

He ponders the result of his experiment.

(Strange though.... if the area of effect is a simple plane then theoretically, everything that passes past it ought to reappear instantly on the surface again. But even if the matter is mirrored, then it should create a conflict where the object in question is large enoug to intersect with itself ... pretty much everything past paper thickness. Except if they are somehow phased out and can interject each other without.. ugh, this is some very strange magic indeed.)

Orin decides to return to the others for now, taking care to measure the distance from where his hands met to the end of the staircase in arms lengths. As he does so, he calls out to the others.

"Okay, this is most astounding. It appears to be a sort of space-distortion magic, very strange and maybe some planar shifting effect on top too. But i am seriously out of my depth here, this requires a true specialist of the arcane to unravel. Unless we find a mundane way to circumvent the effect that is. Since we didn't have this problem the first time we entered the tomb level, i suppose it was triggered by the destruction of the golem guardian, anyway...."

Orin reaches the top of the stairs and notices the stranger. He shoots a short glance at his companions, then just takes a step and picks up his quarterstaff.

Straightening himself up he turns to the stranger and smiles at him.

"Greetings, stranger. Do come in by all means."

Spoiler

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Orin is a davethrn human of pretty average heigth and built. About 5' 6" tall and slender. His hair is dark brown and cut short, also he appears to be well-shaven. He is wearing pretty mundane travellers clothes and no visible armour or weapons beside his quarterstaff. The staff, however, appears to have some sort of runes on it. While he does look fairly handsome, the most striking feature about him would be the yellowish colour of his eyes, which give his smile a slightly wolvish expression.

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina positively flinches as she spots the stranger from the corner of her eye, dropping the rope suddenly and half-crouching. When it becomes clear that he has no sword drawn nor a particularly hostile look on his face, she stands again, silent and scrutinizing.

Spoiler

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This fairly short Mokai woman peers out from beneath the deep hood of her gray cloak, her pretty coffee-colored face set in an expression of suspicion. Beneath the cloak can be seen glimpses of practical but well-made traveling clothes, as well as a small pouch at her hip. Practical but stained doeskin boots rest upon her feet, and two heavy-looking maces are criss-crossed upon her back, as well as a wicked-looking coiled whip.

[MattKatt]

The stranger raises his hand and smiles at the assembled group. He speaks with a deep, roughish voice, though his words seem slow and deliberate.

Greetings, I am Tharok.

[Lycar]

Orin beams and approaches the stranger.

"Welcome Tharok. I am Magus Orin Stillwater of Ralm, formerly Lake Stillwater. Just address me as Lord Stillwater though, we aren't exactly at court here... my fine companions here are Sir Krashnix, priest and holy warrior of Isana, Lady Lucidae Misallo Baker and Miss Livina."

He gestures at the others, indicating them as he calls out their names. Then he returns his attention to the stranger again.

"But enough about us. So then, Tharok, what brings you here? This is a very lonely place after all. How did you find it? Are you searching for treasure or fame and fortune? Where are you from?"

Orin fires off his questions one after another, like he's excited to meet Tharok and can't hear enough about him to satiate his curiousity.

Lycar

Edit: Forgot to mention: Also, the staff is glowing like if it is on fire. Which it isn't. It's just shining light.

[Moechi_Vill]

Lucidae

The human maiden sitting sideways and leaning on the wall is blond, waifish, with a snappy hat and a red dress and boots.

"I suggest you tell us anything relative to our group's well-being Tharok."

Spoiler

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Yes. That's a spell. DC: 21

Welcome to the party.
Lucidae is paranoid whenever she can (afford it).

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
"Yeah..." Livina glances at her companions, and then at the stranger.
"Excuse me a sec; Something I need to do outside."
Moving with fluid grace, Livina edges around the tall man with the blade and out the door...

[MattKatt]

A little confused by the bombardment of questions from Orin, Tharok tries to answer each one in turn, sidestepping a little to let Livina pass, but eventually, makes sure to answer the important one.

I am Tharok, son of Thaven of the Car San tribe. I have been travelling these lands for days now. I came into the mist a while back and now I am here. I saw the bodies outside this tower and wondered if a battle had taken place and who... Tharok remembers the grey body outside ...the possible victors where. I was listening to you outside for a time before I came in and now, here I am

Tharok smiles warmly at Lucidae and Orin, but his eyes show signs of tiredness.

Perhaps you could tell me your tale of how you ended up here aswell, and why you seem to have trouble with the thing that keeps turning you around?