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I meant before the rest of us went up! By all the mighty gods, how thick can she be? No use in scouting the area once the rest of us are already there. Yix understood -- and they think humans are smarter than four-legged creatures?
Achkby doesn't seem eager to queue for the climb, and ascends toward the end of the group. While he's pleased to be back on familiar ground, he rather wishes it wasn't frozen. He's from the south, after all, and while they had snow, it was nothing like this.
"Which side are we on?" he asks suddenly.
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(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
The biggest problem with the alignment system is that it encourages us to choose.
Adalmar has already oriented himself by the movement of the sun. The ranger assures Achkby that they are all still on the western shore of Lake Ashane and haven't miraculously crossed under the Lake. In fact, the very idea of such an underground lake crossing strikes the ranger as quite humorous.
...
A quick survey reveals no signs of nearby life other than the seabirds in the sky.
A clatter of stone catches Aeroz's attention. The elf hisses a warning to everyone else, and calls their attention back to the sinkhole.
A misshapen crooked figure moves in the shadows at the bottom of the pit. Someone or something appears to have followed you out from the Underdark ...
"That's because large flying targets are rather obvious and ..." She stops at Aeroz's warning. Glancing down the sinkhole reveals some...thing, probaly not a "someone." Tiriel quickly reels in the rope hanging over the lip of the hole.
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He may have been slow to move over to the edge of the pit but when he did, those opal eyes began to burn with more then a little bit of anger and he cracked his fingers slowly. And when he spoke, it was much like Lumpy's gravelly voice.
"Unless your a misshapen and grouchy half-orc, you have about three seconds to convince not to turn you into a living lightening rod. Now waggle that tongue of yours if your able!" He snapped out even as he pulled his spellbook out from his belt.
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I will be gone from the second to the 11th and be without any computer access. Games and recruitment will obviously be on pause. Warriors & Wuxia: A community world-building project focused on low-magic wuxia/kung-fu action using ToB.
Katrin highly doubts that the misshapen figure in the sinkhole is Lumpy, and she draws and loads her crossbow, although she does not aim at the figure, at least until she is certain what it is.
- Feud, the: The 'secret' plot to do something to BlackFox for some reason no one seems to really recall. Accusations of a government cover-up concerning the Feud remain unsubstantiated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoseki
Hoseki looks between Blackfox and El Jaspero. "...I think the Elemental Plane of Fire has frozen over."
The figure's head snaps up at the appearance of voices upon the sinkhole's rim, eyes glittering darkly in the shadows. It roars a belligerant response, not initially apparent as words over the great distance,
"Don't think I can't hit yer ugly mug with a rock from here, mage! Quit messing around!"
Ahh, the sound of party members bickering in the morning. The sound of home... you know, that's kind of disturbing once Lissa thinks about it. She tries to calculate how long she's been on the road now as she wades through the snow. Two years? Maybe three. Too long, at any rate. I hope my home is still there when we're done... Lissa firmly pushes away such gloomy thoughts into a dark mental corner.
Upon spotting the figure, Lissa swiftly crouches behind a rock and aims her crossbow, squinting into the darkness. "Hey, that looks kinda familiar... LUMPY!" Then she frowns. "How do we know you aren't that blob-thingy trying to come up and eat us? It disguised itself as you before!", the gnome shouts down. "Tell us something only the real Lumpy knows!"
Nonplussed, the figure folds its arms, roaring back a response to Lissa's query
"Lessee, I been torn up by more different sort of things in the past few months than I have in the entirety of my life prior ta them. Lemme know when ya've got enough!" He begins to recite a list, business-like,
"Drow, driders, zombies, statues, ghosts, demons, hydras, a troll, skeletons, vampires, bats.. BATS, and one overlarge fish with a propensity fer giving me a headache. That cover it? Or how about: My birth name is Edgar. Ask the elf!"
"The fish could have easily found that out! Here's one the it probably wouldn't have thought of: What was the name of that weird city in the underdark that had that shadow forest? Answer that and I'll be damn sure it's you." Aeroz calls out to Lumpy.
Tiriel looks in confusion between Aeroz and the could-be-Lumpy.
"Callos, what we saw back in the cave, that was an illusion right? Because those fish-things don't look like they could climb ropes... but half-orcs can."
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Interestingly, the fact that Lumpy can't remember the name of the gloaming city reassured Aeroz more than if the half-orc actually had been able to retrieve that trivia from his cortex.
The elf nods to Khazrael, and soon the rope is lowered back down into the pit and Lumpy is warmly reunited with the group.
The half-orc notes the missing party members - Fizahn, Thokk, the lizardman, and Yix - without comment.
Once all are reassured that Lumpy is indeed well and himself, you turn your attention again to the two towers - the closer one to the north, and the farther one to the south. Lumpy peers over the edge of the cliff. The frozen lake lies hundreds of feet down. There is no obvious path down to sea/lake-level.
There was an almost rakish smile on his face when the half-orc was pulled out of the pit, even if he was more then a little bit suspicious behind the expression. After all how couldn't he be? But it didn't keep him from welcoming the fact that another one of their number had in fact returned to them. And from having a little fun at Lumpy's expense.
"Who are you calling ugly, ugly? It's nice to see you again though Lumpy, how'd you escape by the way?...And you won't mind me scanning your mind...just to be sure, will you?"
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I will be gone from the second to the 11th and be without any computer access. Games and recruitment will obviously be on pause. Warriors & Wuxia: A community world-building project focused on low-magic wuxia/kung-fu action using ToB.
Khazrael nods to Adalmar. "We might also be able to see the advancing army, if they're close enough. It could be important to know what they're doing."
Though at first Elthan seems to cheer up at the mention that one of their friends had survived, he quickly returns to his former state upon confirming the identity. When Lumpy reaches the top, Elthan does his best to avoid eye contact, hiding his face whenever he feels Lumpys gaze.
With his head down, he faces the nearest tower and thinks out loud. "It would make sense if one of them had a way down."
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Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by erikun
Aww, a griffin! Cute!
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Originally Posted by Collin152
Heyheyheyheyheyhey.
If griffin-hugs are going around, I want in on them!
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Avery: What are you, some kind of grammar nazi?
Millie: Yep. I've just invaded Grammar Czechoslovakia and duped Grammar Neville Chamberlain, and now it's off to Grammar Poland and Grammar World Conquest!!
Achkby, too, is pleased to see Lumpy again. If nothing else, the half orc is imminently reliable, and his disappearance had been nearly as discombobulating as Yix's.
"I suppose maps would be too much to hope for..." he says as they begin the trudge toward the tower.
__________________ DON'T PANIC
(Arthur Avatar by the Losar.)
GO BLUE
The biggest problem with the alignment system is that it encourages us to choose.
- Feud, the: The 'secret' plot to do something to BlackFox for some reason no one seems to really recall. Accusations of a government cover-up concerning the Feud remain unsubstantiated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoseki
Hoseki looks between Blackfox and El Jaspero. "...I think the Elemental Plane of Fire has frozen over."
"LUMPY!" A small leather-clad projectile hurls itself at the half-orc, enveloping one of his legs in a ferocious hug. "Omigods I'm so glad you're not dead! We thought for sure you were, I left the offerings for the dead and everything!" Fortunately for Lumpy, Lissa gets her act together in fairly short order and releases his leg, beaming up at him before resuming her watch for approaching enemies.
Hearing Callos' comment about mind scans, Lissa gives the necromancer a mischievous grin- something that's been all too lacking in the past few days. "Oh ho, you want to scan our minds, do you? Go right ahead, I'm sure you'll like today's mental image even more than you did the last one!" She bursts into giggles at the thought.
Lissa nods in agreement with the plan to head for a tower. "Good idea, Adalmar. If nothing else, it'll give us somewhere to hole up if those vampires show up again." She rubs the back of her neck uneasily. "Speaking of which, have any of you magely types come up with an idea for getting this evil rune off of me?"
Lumpy seems unscarred in every sense of the word, neither his already-marred visage or taciturn nature damaged by the encounter in the caverns. He is quick and to the point in dealing with the greetings and concerns of others, only accentuating the urgency of their position,
His response to Callos is perhaps the longest, "I didn't escape on account'a I weren't never caught. Never caught the dwarf though, and once the fish started handing out headaches what'd make yer nose bleed, I cut my losses. Just took me longer ta circle back around and find yer trail. And I do mind, a lot. Take my word or don't, but I submit ta nothing no more than ya'd submit ta me torturing ya. . . Just ta be sure."
Inititally, he has no words for Lissa, though he seems to have to resist the urge to pat her on the head when she grabs him. Afterwards, he presses a gold coin into her palm with a knowing nod, "I appreciated the offer, but don't count me out yet."
His final point of business addresses a concern not voiced, but one that hung in the air like a fog around them,
"The tower'll do fer now, long as we ain't hanging about too long.A quick hole-up." A hard eye turns to Elthan, "We got sorting out ta do before we go any further."
A critical look was in his eyes as the wizard looked over Lumpy with just a little hint of suspiscion in his eyes but gave a slow nod. After all, just how had he managed to avoid the fish abomination's mental attack and make his escape? Not that he didn't think the half-orc could do it...just that it didn't seem very likely. Maybe all he'd have to do is keep an eye on Lumpy in the future...like he should have with Elthan. A slight pang of guilt fluttered through him but it didn't keep a rakish grin from coming to his face when he looked over to Lissa.
"Don't tempt me Lissa. I'm sure the world would love to know more about gnome/halfling relationships...could probably even make a couple good book deals on it if I market it right. Heh, well that'd definitly be one way to get some gold in my pouch."
However the statement from Lumpy caused him to whip his head around to look at the misshapen half-orc and shook his head. "No. No, we don't. I trust the fact your not mentally dominated, you'll have to trust me with what Elthan did and how to fix it. Of course thats assuming its still the same as when I last was told about it."
__________________
I will be gone from the second to the 11th and be without any computer access. Games and recruitment will obviously be on pause. Warriors & Wuxia: A community world-building project focused on low-magic wuxia/kung-fu action using ToB.
There isn't enough rope to make a direct descent down the cliff face. Plus the party could probably use another night of rest before tackling the frozen Lake.
It is some hours past noon, Adalmar reckons. The party decides to head for the northern tower, which appears to be closer than the one to the south.
The trip there takes longer than one might have expected. The tower is much larger than it first seemed from a distance. It is almost dusk by the time you reach the tower. The ancient stone is bathed in an orange-red light from the setting sun to the west.
The walls are sheer and featureless, with no visible windows. There is also no obvious door.
As the sun begins to disappear over the horizon, the temperature drops noticably ...
Despite the freezing temperatures, Khazrael doesn't put on any extra clothing. He barely seems to notice that the icy wind should be chapping the skin clean off of his bare arms. While the group surveys the tower, he munches on a handful of snow to stave off thirst.
"I can scale the side and look up top. Or I guess I could cast my climbing spell on Lumpy. Anyone else have any ideas?"
"I recall my father once telling me that some of the most cunning and intelligent architects would put place escape routs and back doors in the most obvious of places."Aeroz states as he moves forward and knocks on the obelisk.
"This is still going under the assumption that this is a dwelling or a lookout. It could just be a glorified lawn decoration for all we know. It could even belong to Sethra or one of his cronies."
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Re: The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide
Trog's Rendition of me, complete with a shirt reminding me who I am!
