Pokethulhu - Someone's Chewing on My Parents

[Elrosth]

Pokethulhu - Someone's Chewing on My Parents

Parent-teacher conferences aren't usually high on your list of great things to do on a friday night, and yet here you are, boredly wandering the gaping corridors of the Muskratonic Educational Hall (or MEH). Idly shuffling along the indoor cobblestone floors, aimlessly staring at the stone-and-mortar walls and the strange architecture of the school, you sigh. What most adults find unexplainably unsettling about the halls you simply know as just the place you walk from one dull class to the next. Technically, you should be in the Hall, not the halls, but you managed to slip away before things got too boring. The grownups were doing all the talking anyway. You notice a few other kids had the same idea. Just as you all start gravitating towards each other, there comes a scream from the Hall (thats the capital Hall, with the parents, remember?). This is followed by many more screams, and a lot of slamming and breaking. A terrifying, gibbering screech rises above the rest of the voices, certainly unable to be emitted from any human throat.

Hesitantly, you look to the other children next to you, unsure of what to do. Just as the group voicelessly seems to come to the consensus to run in, the school librarian Lumli is thrown through one of the double-doors to the hall, and tumbles halfway down the wide stairs. Through the open door you catch a glimpse of utter chaos. People screaming and running in every direction, some trying to climb straight up the smooth pillars of the hall and failing. Bodies ripped asunder in manners unlike anything you've seen on the crime shows you watch on TV. Strange splotches of a quivering goo covering various objects and areas. And some sort of hulking creature who your eyes (or perhaps your mind) seem unable to look at with anything other than your peripheral vision. The doors swing closed again, and you all run to help Librarian Lumli. Halfway there though, the doors slam open again, and a giant, barb-covered tentacle whips out, picks up the librarian, and pulls her back in. Frozen in place, you hear the screaming cease with a strange pulse that gives you a pain in your head, like you'd just eaten ice cream too quickly. After a moment your vision un-blurs, and you hear a faint shuffling towards the back of the room.

(OOC: Roll a sanity check and enjoy the game.)

[Colt]

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OOC: How many Shining Dodecahedrons should I roll? I'll just roll three and number them, and you can take however many you need. Though with my 2 San, I doubt I'll make it...
1. (1d12)[9]
2. (1d12)[12]
3. (1d12)[10]

As Steve suddenly regains clarity, he yells, "Gerald? Are you ok?" He frantically runs his hands over his face before finally calming down. "Oh good, I thought I had lost you!" He then calmly looks around the hall to figure out what just happened.

[Minchandre]

West

West hated school. He hated the classes, so dull and monotonous. He hated the teachers, who hardly knew arithmetic, let alone the intricacies of higher mathematics and the other-dimensional. Most of all, however, he hated the other children. All older and bigger than he was, the other children mercilessly teased and beat up the quiet, bookish West; they mocked him for his lack of a name, they mocked him for his odd speech, they mocked him for always knowing the answers, and most of all, they mocked him for being different. Damn his father for insisting that he attend school, "Like a normal child." Who cared for normality? The libraries and laboratories of the university had always been enough for him in the past.

Our young hero sulked through the hallways as was his normal wont, trying not to grimace at the thought of his father attempting to interact with his teachers. West had stuck around to watch Dr West begin a conference with Mr Akeley the chemistry teacher. After the doctor had begun to explain his work, and the teacher to adopt the normal, glazed expression, the younger West academic had wisely taken his leave.

Interrupting this most excellent sulk, however, was a scream, followed by a whole slew of other exciting activities. Screaming and gripping his head, West tries to blot out the foreign geometries and strange substances. After a few moments, he manages to get everything under control - after all, this is as bad as Mom was, right? - and begins running back towards his father's last known location.

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Sanity is lucky!

1. (1d12)[3]
2. (1d12)[5]
3. (1d12)[2]

EDIT: To reflect success!

[AetherFox]

Ted wandered the halls for a while before meeting up with the others, reluctant to return from the 'bathroom'. When paranoia breaks out among the halls, Ted follows wiht the others, not to disturbed, but trying to make sense of it all. When he realizes the librarian has been killed, he blackes out, staing at the doors is shock, then regains his composure and truns twards the others expectantly.

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What colt said.

1. (1d12)[5]
2. (1d12)[11]
3. (1d12)[2]

EDIT: Depends how hard of a check this is...

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Sorry, use three dice. And all of you have passed it so far. Its weaker since you were farther away and in another room. Also, as far as I can tell GimliFett posts at work, so I'm guessing he won't be on till sunday. If thats the case, thats ok, I'm gonna proceed with him being in the bathroom when this happened. Ted, you saw him in there.)

As the chaos subsides, the three of you find yourselves standing in front of the main doors to the Hall, ominously cracked open just so. Despite your bold charges, you each feel a sense of dread overpower your adrenaline for just a moment. The terror subsides just as quickly as it came, but also brings a new sense of clarity as you wonder what your purpose is now. Are you really planning on charging in after what seems to have overpowered literally hundreds of people by yourself? (OOC: sily question) Furthermore, you may or may not even know the people standing next to you, also seemingly willing to risk their lives to delve into this mystery.

You regain your composure quickly enough, and everyone seems very anxious to both enter the room and, at the same time, leave the whole building. You all want to find out what happened, if only someone else would be the first to go in.

You each look to the other two. So, you all ask silently, who will it be?

[Minchandre]

West

Looking to either side at the relative strangers, West then looks ahead at the Hall (of Horrors!).

For a moment, he considers what he's doing there....until he considers how much being an orphan would suck.

Boldly, he steps forward.

[Elrosth]

With fresh resolve, you slowly push the door open. Before you is, quite simply, a mess. Tables and chairs have been fractured into splinters, and there even appears to be a chair hanging from the rafters. In various places around the room, a noxious goo coats the area. What most surprises you, though, is the lack of bodies. From what you heard, there should be dead people all around. There is blood visible, again not as much as you'd expect. But where it is, it coats just as thickly and dramatically as the noxious goo. Bodies, though, are entirely in absence. In the back of the large Hall, the door to the janitor's closet is shattered open. As is the frame to the door. As is a portion of the surrounding wall. Around the remaining wall is another coat of the noxious goo.

[Colt]

Steve slowly walks forward, And peeks into the room, stares for a second and then says "It went through the closet, and so should we.", Then, he walks resolutely across the room towards the closet.

[AetherFox]

Ted looks around nerviously, and begins to speak; "Uhh...Guys... I don't think we should..."
As the others walk in, he realises it would be worse to be alone. Reluctantly, he steps in the room.

[Minchandre]

West

West looks cautiously around the room. "Well, the lack of any bodies is certainly disturbing. While I am certainly loathe to do so, it seems that investigating the closet is likely the most productive path." Sighing, he follows Steve.

[Elrosth]

You all approach the recently renovated doorway. In addition to the noxious goo smell permeating the Hall, this room is awash with various cleaning chemicals, as well as a sundry supply of some of the more dangerous materials for chemistry class. Trash bins, mops, boxes and brooms are strewn about the room. In one corner, where you assume a furnace once stood (judging by the broken wall hinges that seem to match the metal strips on the broken furnace in the other corner of the room) is another gaping hole. This hole, however, has an archway built behind it. Though there is plenty of rubble broken down like the last hole, it was apparently a false wall hiding the passageway beyond. The steep, worn, ancient winding staircase descends into blackness, and faint noises can be heard echoing from a great distance below. Whether or not some of the noises are screams you can't tell, but your imagination makes all haste to assign exactly what they are, and what they mean.

[AetherFox]

Ted keeps his distance from the staircase, hoping somehting will hapen so he wouldn't have to go down. "Heh, I always said school was a stairway to Hell. I wasn't being serious though!"

[Colt]

Steve mumbles to himself for a second before saying, "Well, Gerald thinks this is the only shot we have at saving the people. Are we all ready to go down?"

[Minchandre]

West

West looks askance at his companions once more, keeping his silence for now. By way of communication, however, he simply takes a deep breath, steels himself, and walks down the stair.

[Elrosth]

As you descend into the inky blackness, you notice a patch of not quite so inky blackness ahead. Drawing closer, you notice the light source seems to be eminating from a crack in one of the stairs. You briefly consider that it might've been smart to bring a light source, as general wisdom would dictate on any trip into inky blackness. Only briefly do you consider this, though, as in the next moment the crack widens rapidly, and light spills out from under the floor, illuminating the horrible insectoid creature shoving aside the rubble. From behind you, another light suddenly manifests as a second similar creature simply phases through the wall. West, you recognize these creatures personally, and of course you all remember them from episode 233: The Burrowers Beneath Your Butt. That's right, you're surrounded by Dyzants.

The Dyzant behind you buzzes in a most unsavory way, making every nerve in your body tingle, and giving you the sensation that you're somehow upside down and spinning without moving at all. All around Ted, the very walls of reality begin collapsing. Meanwhile in front, the first Dyzant levels its twin stingers directly at West. As the begin to glow with a wispy, ethereal flame, West knows from experience that he has about two seconds to do something, or get a blazing sting to the face.

Will our heroes summon their thulhu in time to block the bugs? How will they rescue all the grownups from the terrible creature from the deep? And why do they make hot dogs in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight? Stay tuned to find out!

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Go ahead and post your actions, initiative doesn't matter. You each get one turn and then I go. Ted and West, you'll have to deal with the ones targeting you, Steve can pick either one.

[Minchandre]

West

Seeing the Dyzant in front of him getting angry, West does what anyone with Dyzant-related experience would do: he contorts his body into a passable approximation of the 6th Elder Sign, while reaching sneakily into his pocket. From there, he draws one of this shining dodecahedra, chanting all the while, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Dyzant wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

There is a whiff of brimstone and a keening just out of audible perception, and then West's own Dyzant appears before the throng. "Dyzant!" the young summoner shouts, "Diplomacize!"

[AetherFox]

Ted

Ted stumbles and hits he back on the stairs. Deperate, he grabbs a dodecahedron at random and chucks it at the monster, then remebers it actually contains a powerful being. When the goofy looking Kadath comes out, Ted yells, "Do something!"

[Colt]

As soon as Steve sees the Dyzant, he freezes, then suddenly grabs a dodecahedron out of his back pocket and throws it towards the Dyzant further down the stairs. He smiles evilly as his Nylarthopy appears. "This will be over quickly. Lick The Unknown!" He says, he voice suddenly a little deeper than normal.

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Due to weakness, I get an extra dice assuming these are normal Dyzants, so rolling 3 dodecahedrons to get something less than 5 (Nylarthopy's Strength)
[roll]d12[/roll]
[roll]d12[/roll]
[roll]d12[/roll]

[Elrosth]

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I don't think you can roll the dice in these threads, cause they're editable. I could be wrong, but I think we need to use something like Invisible Castle, the dice-rolling thread on this forum, or just have me roll the dice. You guys have any preference? Also, would you guys be ok with me rolling my attacks personally, or do you want me to post the rolls? This is a classic "behind the screen or not" question as a DM, just curious on your guys' preference.

With a fierce keening buzz, West's Dyzant emerges from the dodecahedron, only to take a Blazing Sting to the face.

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He takes three damage, and is now down to three health.

Quickly shaking it off, it angrily scowls at the opposing Dyzant (or at least as angrily as an insectoid face can scowl), and begins to diplomacize, launching it's own barrage of Blazing Stings and striking it square in it's pincered maw.

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Also takes three damage, and is now down to three health.

Meanwhile, the other Dyzant is closing in on Tim's Kadath. In a panic, as evidenced by the large sweatdrop manifesting itself on the otherworldly penguin's head, the Kadath begins running in place looking for a way out, and after managing to run into all 16 sides of the non-euclidean box he manages to wriggle his way out.

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The Dyzant rolls a 3, trapping your Kadath. Over the course of his turn, he rolls a 6 compared to his speed of 6 and escapes.

Steve's Nylarthopy unfurls it's horrible tongue and begins it's Lick the Unknown attack. Covered in slobber, the Dyzant emits a terrifying buzz, akin to half-drowned squirrel caught in a bug zapper, and tumbles down the stairs.

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A roll of 7 against the Dyzant's 3 hp means it's down.

Under the coat of ooze, the slobber-covered Dyzant hums, bringing a dull pain to your eardrums as it vibrates it's surrounding particles to an impossible frequency

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Burrow through Aether roll of 5, bringing your previous attack to 2 and leaving it with 1 hp.

and shedding the slobber as quickly as evaporating water on a skillet. Seeing the threat, the other Dyzant attempts to scare off the Nylarthopy. From deep below the group, in that inky blackness I mentioned awhile ago, blasphemous shapes manifest all around, swooping in towards the Nylarthopy.

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Shadow Puppets roll of 8 exceeds Nylarthopy's 7 hp.

The Nylarthopy swoons, twitching like a thing gone mad. It will clearly be unable to finish this match. If any compassion in your heart still exists for this thing, your only choice would be to allow it respite back within it's dodecahedron.

[Colt]

(OOC: I'm fine with you just doing the rolling... I don't know why my rolls didn't work, they usually work in IC threads, that's how I've always done rolls. Also, My Nylarthopy didn't get it's attack.)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Yuppers, I was gonna edit it once we figured out the rolling thing, I dunno why it didn't work either. If someone figures it out lemme know and we'll switch to that, until then I'll just roll for everyone. Above post edited to include your attack.)

[AetherFox]

(OOC: I'm good with that too. Also, I forgot to mention it, but my Kadath uses Brain Freeze on the guy that attacked him, if it's my turn. Also, does pretty much everyone in the world own Pokethulu, like in pokemon?)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: It's your guys' turn again, I've resolved combat as far as I can myself. Your Kadath spent it's last turn successfully escaping from the trap attack, that's why it didn't get to go. And not everyone in the world owns pokethulhu. Only kids can, first off, because adults effectively have a sanity score of 0. And of all the children, only some actually own thulhu.)

[Colt]

"Well that sucked," says west as he returns his Nylarthopy to its Dodecahedron. "Don't let me down Mobeot!," he says as he releases his Mobeot towards the Dryzant, "Eternal Loop!".

(OOC: Trap, 3 dice)

[AetherFox]

"Alright Kadath, now that you're out of his way, Brain Freeze!"

(Brain Freeze, 3 dice)

[Minchandre]

(OOC: Should I post a real attack? I was going for the zany feel of the cartoon, where handlers often issue irregular commands; I was hoping that Dyzant could achieve a peaceful solution with the other Dyzants)

[Elrosth]

(OOC: Yeah, he was gonna try that, but then he got shot in the face. So he switched to the George Bush definition of diplomacize. You can post attacks that aren't named correctly, but I might interpret them differently.)

[Minchandre]

Dael

"Dzyant! Return! Cthonyx, I summon thee! Icky Excretions!"

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Sticky, Trap, 3 dice

[Elrosth]

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Just a note on the rules about switching thulhu in a fight. You can switch at the beginning of your turn, so long as the thulhu isn't trapped, or injured to the point where it's hit points are below 1 and it is being forced to dodge (this means that if the thulhu passes out, you have to wait for it to make it's dodge attempt before you can pull it back). The new thulhu appears instantly, and can act immediately, but must use the Dodge attack on the turn it appears (aka it must use a speed attack, since it's unprepared). I'd reccomend looking up how speed attacks work, but for this time I'm fine with the regular attacks. Also, just so I'm clear on initiative, I'm going: 1) wild thulhu 2) trained thulhu 3) people. Anyone with opposition that falls into the same category rolls initiative. This means that if you're just fighting wild thulhu, I'm gonna go by post order, but when you fight a trainer I'll do initiative. Which, btw, is d12+thulhu's speed. Also also, as a followup to the diplomacize thing, I am sorry about the misunderstanding if you're miffed by my redirect. Spoiler notes are a good safeguard for next time.

Mobeot, a shimmering blue thread of pure cold, emerges from it's dodecahedron and swirls around the Dyzant.

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Roll of 5 succeeds.

A shimmer of blue can be seen in the Dyzant's honeycombed eyes as it repeats the last few seconds again and again. Half of the glow is coming from the swirling Mobeot, and the other half is drawn from the icy blast of Kadath's brain freeze on the other Dyzant. The Dyzant's exoskeleton turns a pale blue (making you wonder why an exoskeleton would react this way to cold), and it's head becomes completely encased in ice.

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Roll of 7 against 6 hp means it's down.

Meanwhile the first Dyzant is also being encased by icky, sticky excretions.

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Roll of 1 beats it's speed of 6. This means it's double trapped, but I think I'm going to use the double trapped houserule for this game. The double trap has to come from the same trap, but this second trap stops it from making it's escape attempt this turn, so each of you have the entire next turn to get either of your thulhu to make the second trap.

The Dyzant seizures, twitches, oozes and obsessively repeats it's last few movements, altogether not looking like it's in too good of shape. The second Dyzant

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Spends it's turn with a dodge, a roll of 5 restores it's hp up to 4.

bashes it's head against the wall until it breaks off most of the ice.

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And that'd be this turn. Post your next attacks. Good job on locking these guys down.

[Minchandre]

West

West is not surprised by his Cthonyx's success; after all, everyone knows that Dzyant are weak versus sticky attacks. "Excellent work, Cthonyx! Once more, with gusto!"

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Sticky, Trap, 3 dice