The Necromancer's Pact IX: City of Weeping Ghosts

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn silently curses to himself. He knew it was going to be hard, but he'd hoped the hard part would come later. He doesn't dare move in the darkness that surrounds him, but he tightens his grip on his 'short sword.' Unfortunately whatever is creeping up on us can probably see in the dark. I'll have to rely on my keen ears, reflexes, and training to help me survive.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika draws her sword, as quietly as she can, and moves behind any cover she can find, since darkness would be no use against a creature that could see in the dark. She looks around for any sign of living creatures--or undead creatures, for that matter...

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael deftly pulls the knife from his belt and sinks low. He extends his left arm in a hasty motion and splays out his fingers. A bit of abyssal chanting spills from his lips, and the air in front of him shimmers briefly.

They might yell at me for making noise, but if somebody's following, they already know we're here.

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OOC: Shield spell, +4 ac for the next 7 minutes

[Dr._Bob]

The darkness closes in around you instantly. You are quite literally unable to see your hand in front of your face. There is a tense silence after Khazrael finishes chanting. You breathe through open mouths to keep as quiet as possible, your ears straining for any sound.

After a few moments, you hear a voice whispering in common, "Is someone there?" The voice sounds scared.

For Tryntha, Anika, Khazrael, and Tiriel:

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You can barely make out a small figure huddled and shivering between two rocks about 60 feet away.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel quietly draws the silver her flaming longsword and glances at Anika and Khazrael, the only other people that she knows can also see in the dark. Gesturing silently, Tiriel trys to indicate that Anika should go first and see if she can get closer while Tiriel follows a little behind her.

[Koji]

Khazrael

No stranger to tricks, Khazrael creeps forward, making sure Tiriel and Anika stay ahead of him.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Her instincts tell her to go to the scared creature, but seeing the others approaching cautiously reminds her of their circumstances. Readying her magic if she needs it, Tryntha moves along with those creeping forward...shield leading.

Hoping to draw whatever it is out to her, leaving it open for the others to attack, she called out softly trying to reassure the creature.

"I am here little one, come out so I can help you."

Bluff - (1d20+1)[17]

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's daggers slip into his hands the instant a voice is heard in front of them. With the pitch black around, he focuses only on the sound of the quiet voice they're approaching, and immediately aligns himself facing opposite the direction of the voice. If anything is going to sneak up on us, it will come from the direction opposite the distraction. His eyes keep searching the pitch black, hoping that someone will think to light a torch if danger presents. I really need to find a way to see in the dark. Badly.

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian is immediately disarmed by the frightened voice. He lowers his greataxe - though he keeps it in hand - and wonders why noone has lit the place up again. We can't do a thing in this dark! Only a little common sense prevents him from speaking or getting out his own everburning torch.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala remained terse and quiet since Tanner left. He was the first one to reach out to her in friendship, and his loss weighed heavy on her mind. She followed Adalmar through the tunnels in silence and prepared for the battle ahead. As she hears the quiet whisper, she draws her sword, maintains her position and waits as the lights are doused, trying to face the source of the sound. Blind, and in full plate. Plus, I'd probably trip over a rock if I tried to move. I hate being so useless. Gala stays put and waits to hear if Tryntha's words provoke any response.

[namo]

Adalmar

He concentrates on evening his breathing. Whispering to the people mving forward, he asks : "What do you see ?"

[Dr._Bob]

Anika quickly slides silently forward, and slips behind a rock outcropping, out of sight of the shivering figure. She readies herself to intercept the figure should it prove to be a threat.

When Tryntha calls out, the figure starts shivering even more violently, but it quietly steps forward, out from between the two rocks, on all fours.

Anika, Tiriel, Tryntha, and Khazrael see what looks like a bedraggled dog or small wolf step forward into the passage with its tail tucked between its trembling legs.

"Please do not hurt me! I mean you no harm ..." it calls out quietly.

Tiriel whispers back to the rest of the party, "It appears to be a talking ... umm, dog or wolf or something ..."

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Tense in the sudden darkness, with an unknown voice ahead, Elthan readies himself to cast a spell, only for it to dawn on him he would not be able to target at all in the dark without a very good guess. He lowers his stance, pointless at the moment to maintain, and bats an eye as Tiriel passes back events to the group.

"A talking wolf?", he whispers, "Could it possibly be a werewolf? Or maybe an illusion on some demon?" He stops to think about this last possibility for a moment, and decides to cast Detect Magic, if only to be able to see something out of the black.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika narrows her eyes (although no one can see it) and hangs back, suspecting, as she had before with the aboleths, that something was not as it seemed. She considers asking if any of the mages could detect magic, but seeing that Elthan was apparently having the same thoughts as her, she decides to remain silent.

[Dr._Bob]

Elthan can make out a vaguely quadruped form that radiates magic. He whispers to whomever is nearby, "Whatever it is, it is magical ..."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Silently cursing herself for never having learned the languages of the other lands beyond her borders, she seems to recall someone among the group at one point spoke Rashemani, and hoped it had not only been Tanner,

Keeping her voice calm and soothing, she says over her shoulder while keeping an eye on the wolf/dog thing,

In Rashemani

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"Whatever that is, it's appearance is not it's true form. It looks demonic in nature, and someone should make a concerted effort to kill it before it can raise some form of alarm."

Switching back to common, she asks the creature,

"Are you injured? How did you come to be in these tunnels?"

Bluff - (1d20+1)[14]

[barawn]

Damian

Damian remained unaware of Tryntha's statement in Rashemi, but still, her attempt at informing others duplicitously immediately makes him more tense. Quietly, not much more than a whisper, hoping there are others around who can here, he speaks. "Lights. Darkness helps our foes more than it helps us. And stand ready."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika swears silently. Whatever Tryntha said, it wasn't meant for the dog-creature... which probably meant she had some suspicions about it as well. If Elthan and Tryntha didn't trust the creature, then the creature was. indeed, very likely to be untrustworthy.

Anika is having the same thoughts as Damian, as she slips her hand under the flap of her Handy Haversack, and pulls out her everburning torch, conveniently right on top. She passes her hand over it and the flame appears suddenly. Heh. That was fast... not even a flicker. I'm getting better at this...

((EDIT: Just realized Anika doesn't have free hands... but there are other torches going up... DR, you can rule this whatever way you want.))

[Naleh]

Retay

Retay, too, slips a hand into his haversack and pulls out a lit torch. He tosses his onto the cavefloor so he can continue to use his greataxe.

A talking dog?! Magic, Tryntha talking tongues... This is not normal. His guard raised again, the barbarian steps forward a little to make sure he is at the front of the group (bar those darksighted ones who have approached the creature).

[Koji]

Khazrael

Seeing the lone creature, Khazrael looks over his shoulder to his allies. He says, "Let's get some light. It might not be alone, and we can see in the dark, unlike you humans. This could easily be a trick."

He turns back to the canine.

"What are you, and why are you down here?"

[namo]

Adalmar

He replies in Rashemi : "Understood."

With some torches in the open again, he does not use his own and approaches the creature, his sword lowered in a deceptively non-threatening manner - he'd only need to bring it up to slash at a foe.
Addressing the group, he asks : "This should remind us of the Underdark..." It's the best way to warn his companions without letting the creature on - that he can think of.

He comes to a stop next to Tiriel, muscles at the ready.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

Underground, why did it have to be underground? Recent mishaps in the Underdark and such withstanding, Callos wasn't the most calm person beneath the ground and he actually looked down right...twitchy for the journey until they come across...something. The lights went out and his blood went cold as ice but he remained at the ready.

If it attacks, kill it and kill it quick. Don't stay down here long, kill it quick. Was the thought being repeated over and over through his head, and as a precaution he pulled out his own spellbook to the ready as the lights were pulled out.

[Dr._Bob]

Torchlight floods the tunnel, casting deep shadows along the irregular passage. Everyone squints and blinks until your eyes adjust to the light again.

Anika remains hidden out of sight, not more than 10 feet from the animal's flank.

In the light, the dog-wolf looks even smaller and less threatening than before. Those without darkvision are surprised to see that the speaking intruder looks like a mangy lapdog.

The dog lowers its head in a submissive posture. "I mean you no harm. I am just trying to find my way out of these tunnels. My name is Zeodoras."

You sense no deception in its words. As best you can tell, it speaks the truth.

Several of you quickly take up defensive positions to prevent an ambush from ahead or behind. Peering into the darkness, those of you at the periphery see no signs of others. The dog appears to have been traveling alone.

[Koji]

Khazrael

This is weird. Too weird to be a trick, but...

Khazrael looks to the others and says, "Anyone got a rope? We can loop it around his neck and keep him on a leash for the time being. If he's really stuck down here, we should help him."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Taking a few careful steps back once the lights come up, the priestess wants to make room for those who are better prepared and skilled at fighting this thing if it comes to it.

The ruse all but gone, she throws caution to the wind and asks of the strange creature,

"Why do you hide your true shape behind some kind of illusion? Or do the horns tend to frighten away your prey before you can get close enough to them?"

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's stoic demeanor shows the slightest hint of a grin when Tryntha confronts the unexpected guest, and he sidles over and whispers to Khazrael, not wanting to give the 'guest' any additional information. "In any case, we can't take him with us. If he is being honest, we're not heading out of here, we're heading in."

With a swift motion, he lets one of the daggers in his hand drop to his fingertips, ready to be thrown. And if he is a foe, he's in for a nasty surprise. Undead may not have weaknesses in their bodies, but demons definitely do.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel looks at Tryntha blankly. "What horns?"
Okay so a talking dog is weird, but really, if it's a trick, it's a pretty poor planned one. After all, I think anyone would be suspicious of a talking dog... right?

[Dr._Bob]

The dog looks at Tryntha's masked face then sighs and transforms into a small demonic winged figure, standing less that 2 feet tall.

Zeodoras hold out his hands placatingly. "Please, I mean you no harm."

[Matticus]

Grynde

He doesn't openly show hostility towards the small newcomer, although his feeble mind is whirring, and he looks over his shoulder a little nervously.
Dropping hi torch to the ground, he sheathes his sword before reaching into his pack and pulling out a bow and a quiver of regular arrows. He does not knock an arrow, however.
Whether it means us harm or not, this Zeodoras is a demon, so I can't take any chances...

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Oh." Tiriel says after the "dog's" transformation.

"Okay, no one do anything rash. Please." addressing the short, horned, figure Tiriel asks "How did you get here?"