Age of Ruin IC: Where demons dwell

[Ozzy_G]

Ugh... you groan in pain. Last you remember, you were being burnt by unholy black fire.

You raise your head and look around.
There are several people here.
A tall, dark-skinned, white-haired man, Hern. He's lying unconscious on the ground, badly burnt, even as you watch, they seem to be fading.
Another tall man, a Davethran, red eyes and tattoos down his neck. Khorik. He too has burns, but not as bad.
A boy, 16 or 17, raises his head woozily. Sumner. On his head is stamped a sunburst, and black lines intertwined with red suns run up his arms and legs, and his skin is in places blistered red from the fire.
A thin Zhan, red eyes and 6 fingers. Kaleff. His burns aren't that bad.
A bulky, but short man, covered in tattoos of dragons, lies sprawled on the ground. You recognise him as the man who charged across the room in the Bronze Cauldron.
Just behind him is an extraordinarily beautiful woman, a Davethran by the looks of it. Her slightly ophidian eyes hint at noble birth.
She's also completely naked.
In fact, you're all naked.

At this point, you notice that there's far more strange things going on than a lack of clothes. You are sitting on bones. A whole plain of bones, no sand or stone, just bones. Human bones.
The sky is a dark, brooding red, or at least the flashes of it you can see behind black clouds are.
Looking around, you see that far away, there is an ocean. A red ocean.
In the opposite direction, there are distant mountains.
About 200 foot away from you, there is a road, running from the direction of the sea to the direction of the mountains.

[Toliudar]

Ismal

By all the power of the dragons, that HURT. Draven, can you hear me? I could use some of your lovin an healin right about now.

Raising her head slowly to prevent the contents from spilling out, Ismal raises herself up onto her elbows to see where she is. Something pokes her in the ribs.

It's a rib.

It has friends.

And why aren't her sturdy travel clothes protecting...right. Because she's naked. Oh, but there's Lamb. Come here, sweetheart! The small greenish-black snake unwinds itself from around a skull and slips silently and gently up to wrap around her left arm.

Glancing around, Ismal is relieved to see Draven lying nearby. Less pleased to see four of their new acquaintances from the bar. ESPECIALLY not pleased to see the man who seemed to have brought all of this on all of them.

Right. Focus. Protection, shelter, information. Emotions later.

Rising to her knees, Ismal crawls carefully over more bones towards the dragon warrior. So beautiful, even amidst all of this. And, seemingly, none of the important parts seemed to have burnt up in the fire. She touches his shoulder lightly and murmurs in his ear.

Draven. Draven! Are you there?

Focus. Protection, shelter, information. Right. Crap. What can I even do without the focuses for my spells?

[Lot]

Khorik pushes himself up, wincing as what feels like sharp stick press into the burnt flesh of his hands. He opens his red eyes with a small groan. As soon as those eyes register the new surroundings, however, Khorik quickly rolls to his feet. He has trouble finding his balance on the precarious footing, but he remains standing.

Where am...where is the....what is...

Khorik's hands instinctually reach for the sword on his back. It's not hanging over his shoulder. In fact, he's not wearing his armor. Or any other clothing for that matter. This is when he notices the others.

"What happened? Please, please tell me one of you knows what's going on."

Khorik is a formidable looking man. With his large, muscular form, his shaved head, his black tattoos, and his piercing inhuman red eyes, he is normally pretty intimidating. His look of confusion and helplessness, however, makes him appear pretty pathetic at the moment.

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
Sitting up slowly, the young boy's eyes are a little unfocused, but his gray eyes soon sharpen and he reaches instinctively towards his hip.
And finds nothing. Looking around, Sumner notes the ossified landscape with a sense of detached horror. Wincing as the motion places pressure on his various blisters, Sumner reaches down and strategically places a skull across his lap and surveys once more the others around him.
He deflates visibly, his chin now resting upon the first few hairs of manhood upon his chest. Even in such a huddled pose, the muscles on the young boy's arms and legs and chest are quite prominent, speaking of an intensive regimen of training or excercise.
"Dead again," he says, to no one in particular. "And worse this time than before."

Noting Khorik's inquiry, Sumner responds slowly. "I think we're dead."

[knewsom]

Draven's heavily muscular form tensed as he heard Ismal's thoughts penetrate his. Her voice opened his eyes, and the first thing he said was, "Are you ok?"

He looked around for a brief moment, then, seeing the others, he quickly jumped to his feet, instinctivley raising his shield.... or rather, his arm where you'd expect a shield. Just then he noticed that they were all naked. His scrotum shrank slightly with the realization. Any burns and wounds on himself and ismal instantly closed and healed themselves as he pushed himself in front of her protectively, a green mist encircling their naked forms as his fists clenched. He wasn't a tall man at 5'6", but with 210 pounds of rippling tattood muscle, he looked like a man you didn't want to tangle with. Only his kind green eyes revealed that his defensiveness was driven by a different emotion than agression.

Don't worry Ismal - I don't need spell components or items to protect us; my power comes from within.

"That's it - I've had enough of this insanity. Someone's going to start talking, or I'm going to get VERY angry."

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner
Raising his head, Sumner regards the raging bulky man with a glum gaze.
"Well, it seems time is the only thing we have right now. We may as well use it for talking. What do you want to know?"

[knewsom]

Draven looked at the boy, still angry, but more confused.

"If we were dead, we wouldn't have still been wounded, would we?"

I hope that death-shaman doesn't come along and eat my soul, otherwise I'm afraid I'll be trapped in his scruffy body for eternity...

[knewsom]

"Let's start with the basics. Who are you all, why did you come to the cauldron, and how do we get back?"

[Ozzy_G]

You notice that the burns on Hern have stopped fading. He is still unconscious.

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner
Passing a hand across his own tattooed skull, Sumner reaches down and picks up a femur, absently.
"I, as you might have heard earlier, am Sumner Kesh, son of Daxthran Kesh. I came to the cauldron in search of allies; people I had met ten years before on a misson." He shakes his head, and turns the bone over in his hands. Sighing, the young boy puts the bone back down. "It did not end well. Zere's hopes were dashed, and he left us then to the streams of chaos. We were scattered, and the world changed."

"As for getting back," he continues, "I have no idea. We are in a different world, now. My goal," the youth says, shifting a little, "Is to find my sword. And some clothing."


He meets the man's green-eyed gaze. "Now. Who are you?"

[Lot]

Khorik looks around with horror at the amazing bleakness of his surroundings. His eyes fall on Hern. Khorik walks over to him, balancing as best he can on the piled bones. He appears to lack all modesty concerning his naked state. Khorik quickly checks to see if Hern is breathing tries to understand the extent of his injuries.

"I'm all for introductions but we have a very badly hurt man over here. Do any of you have any skills in healing?"

[knewsom]

Draven shrugged slightly.

"The world changes. Nothing can stop that. My name is Draven Kheldravan. This is Ismal. We came to the cauldron in search of someone, someone who had long since been absent from Ralm. Perhaps you know Orin Stillwater?"

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
The youth snorts.
"Which one?"

[knewsom]

Draven looked at the other tattooed man and then at the wounded man, suspiciously.

"I do. ...but isn't it his fault we're here?"

[knewsom]

Draven raised an eyebrow at Sumner.

"The one who went missing from Ralm ten yeas ago."

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
The teenager nods. "Yes, I knew him. I was on that same mission." Looking over to the other naked warrior, Sumner calls. "Khorik! Is it your Hern, or the other?"

[knewsom]

"'knew'? As in past-tense? Is he dead or something?"

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
Sumner shakes his head. "Does it really matter? I admire your courage, standing as you are naked on a carpet of human bones." He glances at the black and crimson sky above for emphasis. "But are there not more immediate concerns?"

Hmm... Sumner thinks. Only Milli's age has been changed this time, it seems.

[knewsom]

Draven shrugged.

"You said it yourself - we have nothing but time. Besides, where can we go? What can we do? We have nothing, literally. Even if we were to find a shop to buy clothes, food, and armor, we have no money."

Draven walked closer to the dying white-haired man, holding Ismal by the hand and keeping her close. The green mist surrounding them shifted slightly and changed to a healing white, surrounding Hern as well.

Spoiler

Show

changing aura from energy shield to vigor, and extending to Hern for 1 round, healing 2 HP. Just enough to wake him up.

As the man's eyes began to flicker, Draven placed one of his feet on his neck, ready to kill him instantly if he tries anything. The white healing mist vanished from Hern, and shifted back to green again, still surrounding Draven and Ismal.

"Even if it is the wrong Hern, we can ask him how to get out of here before we kill him again."

[Lot]

Edit: Double-post. Sorry

[Lot]

Khorik looks up at Draven.

"He's badly burnt so it is not easy to tell but this is not the Demon Knight. These burns here and here are from acid. We fought a wyrm that vomited acid before we met up with you and he was burnt by it. The explosion was probably too much for his body to take."

Watching as Draven heals his old companion, Khorik continues speaking.

"My name is Khorik of the Nulliop family. I, like some others here, am a man out of time. Actually, another world if I understand it correctly. Magic, likely similar in power to the kind that brought us here, transported me and some of my companions, including Hern here. We were involved in some kind of power struggle between the archmages and a supposed heir to the Empire. It got messy, as things like this tend to. Needless to say, the pawns were the ones to suffer."

Khorik stands up, grateful to see Hern beginning to stir.

"Anyway, we're in a bad situation. Despite the unreal feel of this place, I am still capable of feeling pain. That probably means we can feel hunger and thirst, as well. We should make for the road and see what we can find. I'd prefer to go towards ocean than towards the mountains. Oceans, even red ones. may mean some kind of port town or other other sign of civilization. It's not much to go on but what do we really have?"

Khorik searches around the ground for a femur to use as a makeshift club.

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
Abandoning for the moment his grinning groin guard, Sumner sets the skull aside and stands. His jaw is set as he approaches the other warriors, moving carefully to avoid treading on pointy bones with his unprotected feet. "And what civilization will there be, in this land of human bones scattered on the plains, and oceans red as blood? Let us take a road, but let us not be too optomistic about what we may find."

[Toliudar]

Ismal

Ismal stands proudly beside Draven. While she is certainly worse for the wear after recent events, her long dark hair, pale skin and long, lean figure bely her years...whatever they might be. She makes no effort to cover her nakedness as she stands. Sharp teeth poke briefly out as she smiles grimly at Sumner's comment.

I think you're right, young man. I'm only accustomed to such excesses in decor in art. The reality of a plain covered with bones is somewhat more...discomfiting. And dusty.

It seems that all of us are pawns in this game, and I do not like the feeling.

She reaches down to select a long and strong-looking rib. Whether as a knife of sorts, or merely something to hold in this vast emptiness, it's hard to tell.

And, just so I'm clear...Khorik, you are from some other world, a sidestep from our own. And Sumner, you are from our world, in fact were on the same mission as Orin, but were displaced somehow. If you don't mind me asking, how long has it been for you since that first mission. Because unless you were a very precocious ten year old at the time...

[Ozzy_G]

The temperature is surprisingly warm, considering you are naked. Unpleasantly warm, actually... the air seems stuffy and dense.

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
Sumner, too, reaches into the pile of bones, looking for an unbroken strain of vertebrae to use as a flexible club or a lash. He looks for another to loop around his waist, if possible.

"Ah, but Khorik and Hern were both with us." Sumner straightens up, fixing his gaze on the horizon instead of the nude beauty in front of him. "Ten years ago it was...but only a few weeks have passed for us." He shakes his head. "But would you listen to the ramblings of a dead man, no matter his age? You said your name was Milli, I think; You too have been youthened by death."

[knewsom]

Draven nodded at Khorik's explanation.

"True. Were he the other Hern, he'd have his guts hanging out, amongst other wounds. It looks like we're all stuck in this mess together, I guess."

Spoiler

Show

switching to the vigor draconic aura again, this time for everyone, granting healing up to 50% of total hit points, 2hp at a time per round (fast healing)

The white healing mists now surrounded everyone. Draven took his foot off of Hern's neck before bending over to pick up a femur and a skull as a club and a shield, but made no effort to hide his nakedness. He looked at the beautiful Ismal by his side.

"Well, in any case, we'd best head to the road and try to find food and shelter. I can heal us to a certain extent, and even somewhat beyond that, but I cannot work miracles. Let's hope there's more to this world than bone."

[Gungnir]

Hern groans, and stands, but slowly, as he is expecting a lot of pain, which mysteriously never rears its ugly head. Hern takes in his surroundings quickly head slowly turning from right to left. It isn't until he completes a full revolution that he notices everyone else's lack of clothing, and then his own.

"DAMN IT TO HELL!" he screams, reverting to his native Mokai tongue. He smashes his fist into a skull at his feet, sending shards of bone in all directions. His armor had become like a second skin to him, never leaving his person for more than a few hours, and even then, it was never more farther than a room away. And now it was gone, years of planning, work, memories, sweat, and blood, just gone, in his sleep.

He looks up at the others, eyes still filled with anger.

"Who healed me?"

In his anger, he forgets to use a more common tongue, and still speaks in Mokai.

[The Great Skenardo]

Sumner Kesh
Answering in halting Mokai, the youth answers,
"We did. Do you know where we are?"

[knewsom]

Draven's eyes narrowed at Hern's outburst.

That's gratitude for you...

"I healed you. ...but if you prefer being injured, I'm sure I can arrange it."

Spoiler

Show

changing draconic aura to energy shield again, focusing on himself and Ismal.

[Gungnir]

Hern shakes his head a bit, and some calm returns to his face.

"Then thank you. I can only hope I receive the chance to return the favor."

He turns and begins walking down the road.

"As to where we are? I have no idea, I don't intend to care until whomever has sent me here has suffered the full consequences of his mistake."

He doesn't seem to care if anyone follows him or not.