The Threshold IC II (D&D E6, low-op, story based)

[iTookUrNick]

Jack is dismayed at the construct's disappearance. "Oh Stabby, why did you join us only to leave us when we've gotten fond of you? Did we not care for you and make you sing along some catchy tunes?" he laments to the open air. He had been really looking forward to see it in action on their enemies' faces. More importantly, he hopes they'll not find themselves on opposite sides once more.

-----

Down in the old city, Jack greets the necromancer with a respectful bow, as it is custom between powerful friends: "Greetings Zurl'Gech. We bring news for those who would hear them, and seek aid from those who would provide it." He then proceeds to update the 'man' on the current situation. "Do you know of a way into the mines, that we might access them without battling our way in?"

He also mentions their 'side project': "We brought you materials for those potions we discussed before leaving. Would you brew them for us?"

[Kaptin Keen]

What follows might be described as .. disturbing. At least you're well pleased no children are around. When the Zurl'Gech takes the bag of elf bones, hordes of beetles emerge from the sleeves of it's heavy cloak, scuttling all over the bones. An awful, rasping sound ensues - much like a bone saw would make - and within moments, the bones disappear.

The pineal glands are much less visceral an experience, the Zurl'Gech simply reaches out a gloved hand and picks up the sealed jar.

The brewings of these some time will take. We shall notify you when pick up you can.

I do indeed know of ways to enter the mines you speak. Approach with care I would, for watchful the illithid is.

[Woggle]

Innal Luthenjar Bilkenforth VI
*Upon meeting Zurl’Gech, Innal smiles and does his best to bow politely, leaning closer to Bobin.*
“I might leave this bit out of the local stories… no need to worry them, after all.”

Bobin chuckles. "Heh, yes, they're not exactly... presentable, if you catch my meaning. Plenty of people would be blinded by their prejudice, and not be able to look past some of the admittedly distasteful things they do." Bobin's eyes widen as beetles scurry from the Zurl'Gech's robes, and he does his best to keep his stomach from turning. Looking a little paler, he adds to Innal: "Ya. Like that. I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

Bobin retrieves the jar containing the pineal glands from his pack and passes it carefully to the Zurl'Gech.

"Illithid? Oh, you mean Faelthalaniel. Well, we are acquainted, so hopefully they won't attack us on sight. Do you know if there are any creatures that guard the way?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Guards need not the illithid. Your sentient minds they see can through and afar.

As the beetles work their way through the bones, a fine white dust floats down, covering the floor and coloring the Zurl'Gech's robe. Perhaps by way of explanation, they say: Only the marrow needs we.

When finished, he leads you through the village to his home. Much is changed since last time - for one thing, undead orcs toil away, tilling subterranean fields of fungus, lichen, molds and so on, building and repairing, and many other small tasks. For another, you see more Zurl'Gech. You wonder if they are individuals - or all part of the same entity?!

His home, too is changed - expanded, for one thing, but also strange decorations have been built. Scarab statues, unknown glyphs and symbols that seem to hurt the eyes. He leaves the ingredients you brought in the hands of an orc (deceased), and leads you to another tunnel.

Here you will follow to illithid, he explains, pointing.

[WalkingTheShade]

Earlier

*Taking a moment to get a better idea of the sheer size of the man, he just shakes his head.*
“I’m not sure what they feed you humans, but it doesn’t quite seem fair that you’re all so much bigger, and then there’s mountains of men like yourself. Is there ever a time when you’re not hungry?”

Jon's eyes widen, and he turns to Bobin. "But... but..." Jon's sagging mouth corners make him seem utterly discountenanced. "But not fair! Bobin, he eats mo' than me! An' then he's drunk an' he falls asleep an' I gotta get 'im to bed!" Jon stomps his foot for emphasis.

In the church

Welcome, good believers and followers of all faiths! Welcome to the House of the Gods, where you shall hear the Word, partake of the Gospel, receive their blessings and sing their praises. He beams at you, clearly happy.

Jon beams in reply and gives a long and loud sigh of reassurance. Good Gods willing, clearly, this is going to go great.

Spoiler: OOC

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By the Good Gods, this will come back to bite us so bad, soooo bad...

In the catacombs

As they pass not far from Saint Anton's grave and memorial, Jon stops a few seconds, lowers his head, and quickly mumbles. "Please ask 'em, th'Good Gods, that they help make things a'ight fo' th'people of Silverbrook." After a few shuffled steps to catch up with his friends, Jon stops again, and turns in the general direction of the grave. "Oh, an' thanks fo' last time! It gone, like, great an' all in th'end. Got a bit scary, but I think the adult-things girl she goes a'ight an' all.

In the underground village

"Hi friend!" says Jon to the entity known as Zurl'Gech. He lets the others do the talking.

“I might leave this bit out of the local stories… no need to worry them, after all.”

Bobin chuckles. "Heh, yes, they're not exactly... presentable, if you catch my meaning. Plenty of people would be blinded by their prejudice, and not be able to look past some of the admittedly distasteful things they do."

Jon leans conspirationnally, but far from unconspiciously, towards Innal and whispers in his ear: "Y'know, it's just beetles unde' th'cloth."

[TheMightyQuinn]

Innal Luthenjar Bilkenforth VI

*As their host devours the marrow, Innal let's out a low moan, his head tilting to the side as the sound grated against his finely tuned hearing. *
"Yes. I'm quite aware, but not everyone can help their situation. We can't hold that against them any more than we can assume anything based on your hair color. Now can we, Jon?"

*As the talk shifts to alchemy, Innals ears literally perk up, and he shifts his focus to the ingredients*
"Oh, I wish we had more time - I haven't had a solid break for proper alchemical brewing in some time. Perhaps I will return and we can compare notes!"
*he chuckles and falls into step with the group as they're led through the village, and he quickly grows quiet, his eyes scanning his surroundings*
"On...second....thought.... maybe not. "

[Woggle]

Bobin notices Innal's silence as they pass through the village. He shrugs in a way that he hopes is a little reassuring "Ah, you get used to it. Probably helps not to think about it too hard."

Bobin glances down the tunnel entrance. Rummaging in his pack, he pulls out a hooded lantern and sets about lighting it. He then tips his hat to the Zurl'Gech. "Thank you, if all goes well we'll be back soon."

Bobin turns to his companions. "Faelthalaniel should be able to sense us coming, so as long as we don't barge in things should go smoothly." Bobin hefts the crossbow on his shoulder, regretting a little bringing it along. "Everyone ready?" The halfling nods to himself, raises his lantern, and begins down the tunnel at a leisurely pace.

[iTookUrNick]

Jack thanks the necromancer for his kindness. If he is perturbed by the creeping insects, he does not show it. Instead, he follows Bobin onto the tunnel, putting his sharp senses to good use.

[Kaptin Keen]

The village of the Zurl'Gech is strange and disturbing - no dogs barking, so to speak. No voices, no sound except tireless undead workers toiling away day and night.

Leaving it behind can be nothing but a relief. You think. Until you draw closer to the dwelling of Faelthalaniel, and you start to notice .. things. Initially, it's not that different from any settled area. Small signs of habitation and use: Paved floors, lighted corridors. It's only when you think about it, and look closer, that it becomes too alien. The paved floors are somehow ... soft, organic, each 'tile' individual, like a fingerprint. The lights are clusters of what look like bioluminescent fungus - but they seem to breathe.

Then you notice the creatures. Long, pale, creeping 'centipedes' that scuttle to and fro, seeminglty purposefully, like maintainance crew. Clusters of crawling eyeballs on the ceiling, watching you intently. Finally, what appears like a naked, legged brain the size of a small dog, standing in the corridor some 60 feet ahead of you, when you turn a corner.

[WalkingTheShade]

Jon waves goodbye to New Friend, while wondering if he's not actually turning to be now an Old Friend, or maybe at least a Friend Without Qualificative. "Come Toby."

Seeing that Bobin puts his weapon away, he does so to, but not before not entirely consciously giving Orduar, again, a magic glow. Jon doesn't give Just-a-Friend's village any mind.

Nor does he do, at first, to the stranger dwellings. As they reach the strange tiles, Toby starts sniffing them. The dog then licks one, before giving a low whimper. "Whassup Toby?" Jon notices the licked tile, then the other tiles. He prods one with his heel. "Eeeew. Gross. Don't lick th'floor, Toby."

When they reach the eyes, Jon's mouth contracts in disgust. "Eeeeeeeew!"

When they finally reach the walking brain, Jon opens his mouth, as if to eeew again. Yet, he seems too perplexed by the vision. His mouth hangs open and no sound comes out.

Spoiler: OOC

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Since we're here to *cough* negotiate, and most probably had to do some climbing on the way down, Jon is only wearing the lighter part of his armor.

Also, if Illithids eat brain, and there's a walking brain here, should we, by analogy, expect human alchemist/mad scientist to have walking roast beef in their lair? That makes a pretty good case for veganism, really.

[Kaptin Keen]

Spoiler: Illithids

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They actually do manyfold things with brains and living beings, none of which you actually know about. If brains on legs interest you, here's one for you. Keep in mind that monster manual entries do not apply to this game, so while what's in front of you looks like this one, it doesn't mechanically do what this one does.

It may be of potential interest that there is a larval state, an ustiligor, which is ickier but has no real attacks, and just wobbles around in the elder pool.

The brain on legs sits in the corridor in what can only be described as looking like an alert - quite possibly aggressive - pose. It gives you the same general sort of impression as an angry cat, raising it's hackles.

[iTookUrNick]

Jack has never seen such a complex ensemble of strange creatures, but he has seen enough strangeness not to be too much put off by it. Too much being the operative word here. Still, that looks like a brain and he has telepathic abilities: it stands to reason that he might be able to interact with it. He tries to read the thoughts of the creature as to better interact with it.

[Woggle]

Bobin grows increasingly ill-at-ease as they travel down the 'organic' tunnels. He tries his best to shake away nagging thoughts of what Faelthalaniel could possibly be doing down here, but some of them worm their way deep into his psyche. He stops still at the sight of the walking brain, baffled at why such a creature should exist.

"I trust no-one's seen anything like that before, yes? Any idea what it wants? I don't even want to think what it might do if it's angry."

[Kaptin Keen]

Spoiler: The reading of minds

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Jack is indeed a telepath, and as such has access to tools to assist him in the reading of the minds of others. Such tools need to be used, however - so I take it Jack want's to manifest Read Thoughts, right?

The psionic version isn't called Detect Thoughts, which is what it says on the sheet.

[iTookUrNick]

Spoiler: Ooc

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Yes, Jack is going to manifest Read Thoughs. The similarities with the spell in question are quite high, so I tend to confuse them.

[WalkingTheShade]

"I trust no-one's seen anything like that before, yes? Any idea what it wants? I don't even want to think what it might do if it's angry."

Jon squints at the thing. "I don't think it can, huh, bite us o' anythin'?"

[Woggle]

Jon squints at the thing. "I don't think it can, huh, bite us o' anythin'?"

Bobin scratches his temple with his free hand. "Well, as my mother would always say, 'beware the mouth with no teeth'. Not... really sure what she meant, maybe hidden mouths being more dangerous or something'. Uh, not really sure why I brought it up, to be honest."

Bobin furrows his brow in thought, then adds "I feel like a creature that's not much more than a walking brain might have some other way to defend itself than just a mouth. 'Course, maybe I'm just getting spooked by shadows."

[Kaptin Keen]

A surge of alien thoughts overwhelm Jack as he manifests his mind reading power. And it's immediately clear to him that what he has contacted isn't the mind of the creature in front of him - not as such. Rather, it's like pulling on a strand of a spideweb, and seing the whole thing vibrate - and then, the spider strikes.

Jack reaches out, and feels the relatively simple surface thoughts of the creature - it's here to guard against intrusion, and it's aggressively going to dissuade any intrusion. But then, almost immediately, Jack has the feeling of being deep underwater, and realising that the strange motion in the darkness is truly a massive eye swivelling to regard him.

A mind, vast and unthinkably alien, settles on him with the weight of mountains, with the avid attention and curiosity with which an alchemisst might dissect a frog. Jack can read the surface thoughts of the creature ... but this ancient sentience spreads out Jack like a deck of cards, regarding each card in at a time, cold and clinical method dragging up his deepest secrets at random, discarding them as insignificant.

Spoiler: Stuff

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Jack can try to dislodge .. whatever it is .. from his mind by a Will save vs DC 20. Others may assist in this if they sense the Sky Captains discomfort at being involuntarily probed in the only way less comfortable than anally. Other methods of disconnecting may be possible.

[iTookUrNick]

Spoiler: OOC

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[roller=Will]1d20+6[/roll]

"Stand back: I'm going to make contact with it. Soon we will know more."
That said, he thrusts his hand forward in a totally unnecessary gesture and manifests his mind-reading power.

His mind is blown by what he perceives. He begins whimpering as he tries to detach himself from the alien mind.

[iTookUrNick]

Spoiler: OOC

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Will - (1d20+6)[18] to resist the probing of the alien mind.

[Woggle]

Bobin nods to Jack and watches the brain-beast intently. Small whimpers from the goblin captain cause his attention to break, and he turns to see Jack, pale-faced and glassy eyed, obviously struggling.

"Uh, Cap'n? Cap'n! Snap out of it!" Bobin takes a hold of Jack's shoulder and gives it a shake, and waves his other hand in front of Jack's face. It seems to have little effect. Bobin can feel a panic rising in his chest which he does his level best to quash.

"Jon? Innal? Do you know what to do!?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Jack presses his hands to his temples, making a gibbering sound, face convulsing. His eyes stare wildly at things that clearly aren't there. He doesn't seem to be taking any actual damage, but who knows - maybe his soul is being sucked out right in front of you?!

Spoiler: Potentially useful things to do

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It's possible some skill roll (or an int check - please let Jon outsmart everyone) would garner useful insights into what is going on, and how: Dungeoneering, knowledge: Psionics, psyniscience, or come up with something better. Likely, the range of this is limited, and Jack is quite little =)

Also, like I said, an assist roll that's better than Bobins nat1 it's only dc10 to succeed, after all =D

[iTookUrNick]

His hand still firmly pressed on his temples, Jack slowly slides down to his knees. With a barely audible voice he manages to whisper: "Help... Please..."

[Woggle]

Bobin shoots a glance over his shoulder toward the brain-beast and furrows his brow. No doubt the creature was doing something to the capt'n. Hesitating for a moment, Bobin places himself between the creature and Jack, firmly grasping his companion by the shoulders. He then proceeds to shake the goblin vigorously, nearly lifting him off of his feet.

"You've gotta snap out of it, Capt'n! Sorry bout this but I'm not sure what else to do!"

Bobin pauses after a few shakes to reassess the effectiveness of his approach.

[Kaptin Keen]

A thorough shaking - making him go glabl-abl-abl-abl - seems to distract Jack from the blatant theft of his inner self, allowing him to refocus, and force the intruder from his mind. Jack's eyes shiny an aggressive red as his features set in stone, and there is a slight visible shimmer, like a halo around him, then he relaxes, almost collapsing in relief.

Spoiler: As the abyss gazes into you ...

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So you gaze also into the it. Jack, having already activated his Read Thoughts power, gained at least some insight into the entity that overwhelmed him. It is not the small guard creature, which acts merely as a conduit for the power of a far more fearsome beast: The Elder Brain.

Interestingly, this particular Elder Brain - so Jack sensed - is all but an infant, it's power fledgeling. But even so, that's not the full story. The Elder Brain grows from the seed of every Elder Brain that came before it, accumulated knowledge from a yawning maw of time. And somewhere in there, the faint echoes of countless sentients that fed each of the Elder Brains from which this one eventually sprung. The Elder Brain, even in it's infancy, is near-godlike in it's knowledge and power.

Jack senses one more thing: It is afraid, and desperately cooking up ways to defend itself.

[TheMightyQuinn]

Innal Luthenjar Bilkenforth VI

*Walking up a short distance and catching up to the group, Innal tucks a feather into the pages of his small drawing book to mark the page before snapping it shut and wrapping a leather binding cord around it to keep it secure, completely unaware of the current situation. Looking around at the others who are standing around, he gives a small start at the sight of the small brain-dog and reaches up to cover his mouth slowly.*
"I was going to ask if you gents had noticed anything odd about this place yet, but by the celestial realms, look at that.... I'm not even sure what to call it."

*With a look to Captain Jack, he scowls a bit, tilting his head.*
"Captain Jack, sir. Are you quite alright?"

*Raising his fingers in front of Jacks face if he doesn't respond, Innal snaps his tiny fingers a couple of times to check.*

[Kaptin Keen]

Jack isn't visibly hurt, and seems to be regaining his senses quickly.

In the background, the brain-on-legs seems to be shuffling uncertainly. It starts to back away from you, slowly, seeming to watch you keenly - despite the absense of any organs for watching.

[iTookUrNick]

Jack stays on the ground a little longer, trying to regain his composure after the harrowing experience. After a moment, he looks up at his friends and says "I know what we're up against." He proceeds to tell what he learnt as best as he can. To Bobin, with gratitude, he adds "Thank you for helping me snap out of it". He uses the halfling's support to pull himself back up his feet. "So, what shall we do now? Ask the creature for an audience? We can certainly provide it with something it desperately craves."

[TheMightyQuinn]

Innal Luthenjar Bilkenforth VI

"What we're up against? We're up against something? Care to fill us in on what you know?"

*He seems a bit unaware, but not malicious in his questioning.*

"This place is fascinating! It's almost as though it's growing, expanding. Incredible. I have to wonder what kind of force is driving it, or is it just a natural phenomenon?"

*Reaching up to tug absently at his pointed ears, he watches the small brain creature openly, but doesn't make any move towards it.*
"And that critter. I don't even understand how it moves. Brains don't have musculature, so why legs? How do the legs work. It's like looking at a floating bowl of swirling, boiling air. I don't even know where to start."

[Woggle]

Bobin looks over Jack with concern written plainly on his face. "So, is the creature one of Faelthalaniel's? Do you think we can communicate with it, let it know we just want to talk?"

Bobin follows Innal's gesturing, looking more closely at the walls and floor. "Interesting, sure. But kinda unsettling. Just thinking about it spreading gives me chills."

Thinking a little more, absently adjusting his hat, Bobin adds: "Do you think we can head on past? Or will it try to, uh... attack again?"