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Post by zipp on May 26, 2009 23:11:29 GMT
The first thing Mowyer was aware of was a terrible smell like burning wool. Shortly after she realized that her left cheek was numb and her right shoulder burned like it was on fire. She could taste blood. Groaning involuntarily, she moved and a sense of gravity rushed upon her in a sickening wave of dizziness. She was lying on her side. She pushed herself gingerly to a seated position and opened her eyes.
She was in a large room made mostly of stone, with marble pillars rocketing towards a ceiling nearly fifty feet above her head. The whole room was lit with torches, clearly illuminating a scene of carnage. Bodies were spread throughout the room. Most of the bodies were clearly victims of the plague, marked by their boils and missing pieces of flesh. Others, however, were remarkably clean of any signs of illness. These bodies held weapons in dead hands and were dressed in clothes clean except for the blood from their mortal wounds. Here and there little fires burned where a pile of bodies had been set ablaze. Chunks of stone littered the floor where pieces had been ripped out of the wall.
Mowyer stood to get a better look at the room. At least thirty bodies lay dead upon the floor. She felt suddenly sick and stumbled back, bumping into something hot enough to burn her skin through her clothing. Yelping, she leapt back and turned to see she'd run into what had once been a portal. The spires and circles that made up the bulk of its design had fallen away, and the whole thing was glowing with heat. It was attached by wires to a large box, over which was slumped a dead woman, her blond hair stained red by blood, the result of a blow which had ripped off her nose.
Beyond that was a body in armour. She recognized the armour instantly. It was Aram, the Sommerlund Knight. He was laying face up on the floor, with his pack laying unopened next to him. She strode forward and then blanched. Inside the armour were the remains of the knight. It looked as if he'd been simultaneously cooked and fused to his armour. She couldn't tell where his face ended and his helmet began. With a rush, the events of the last hour rushed upon her.
"I fear we're the only ones who made it."
The voice startled her, though a second later Mowyer recognized it as belonging to the priest. Indeed, Owain was rising from one of the bodies.
"I thought you were dying," he said. "As you came through the portal, there was an explosion. I'm not sure what happened. I don't understand this technology. But you were flung from the machine as it happened. You were breathing so slowly, I thought it was only a matter of time. You should be careful. Your face was badly burned by the explosion. And that arm can't be feeling too well, either. Gregor's nowhere to be seen," Owain added, with a grimace.
Mowyer gingerly reached a finger to her cheek, where her tattoo had been. Her finger felt wrinkled flesh. She laughed suddenly, briefly. It was funny to think that with everything that had just happened, she was wondering how bad she looked.
Okay, welcome to the next scene. Everyone should start checking their boards at this point. I can't promise I'll get everything up right away, but by the end of tonight, EVERYONE will have something on their boards to attend to.
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 5:46:08 GMT
Mowyer's hand then slowly fell from her face to her dagger. "I feared Aram would be dead, when I realised Gertwiller went through with him. So where is Gertwiller?" she asked. Mowyer pulled her dagger out and took an unsteady step backwards. "is corpse should be fused with Aram. You should be asking abut the man or commenting on his death now, as his life concerned you so."
She raised her dagger and took another sideways step, grimacing as she had to step over the body or Aram and smell the burning stench.
"I was left alone with the screaming woman and she inflicts a great would n me and then suddenly she lets me go?" ss Mower, her voice gettign higher. "Something is not right here! Am I inside my own head being tortured by that creature still, or am I inside some madness concocted by yourself or Gertweller?"
Mower gestures determinedly to Owain. "Explain yourself! Explain who you are! Explain where Gertweller is! Explain what your group was doing and why I should trust you infact why I should trust anything about this nightmare since I stepped from the other portal!"
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 7:00:59 GMT
Owain seems unruffled by Mowyer's outburst. He has been through too much terror already to be much affected by a panicking woman. Slowly and clearly, with a note of tiredness, he says: "Calm down. You should trust me if you wish to survive another day in this madness, which as far as I can tell is no illusion though I can guarantee nothing. Something in Oasis already caused my group to experience a powerful waking dream, soon before we arrived at the house where we met. "As I believe I have already told you, my name is Owain. I am a servant of Ishir, may Her radiance guide us. I am also a healer, sent to bring an end to the plague if it is within my power." Owain reaches into his pack and presents Mowyer with his official letter from the King of Sommerlund before continuing. "You know more about these portals than I. You say two men went through together and that the portal would treat such as one flesh, yet before us, as far as I can discern, is one corpse and what is left of one suit of armour. My first question is this - just because Aram was inside the armour at the time of teleportation, does that mean these are his remains before us? Or might this be Gertwiller? As you can see, there is little left to identify. "I have more questions to ask. Who, exactly are you? What is the significance of the tattoo you wore on your face? You can explain as I tend to your wounds. We shall see if Aram - or whoever this is - had any laumspur. They won't need it." Keeping his eyes fixed on Mowyer, Owain moves over to the discarded backpack and opens its contents on the floor so that she may also see what is there.
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 13:18:23 GMT
Oh sure, NOW Owain acts sane again! Heh, nicely described reason for being so calm.
Mowyer glowers at Owain. "I am sure the Council did not request the King's prescence here, and certainly it would not have been for just one healer of no reknown." However, talk of Aram distracts Mowyer and she relents.
"The magic of the portals is subtle, and I am not definitively knowledgeable on it. Tales said it could fuse two people together, or break the portal altogther. Your conjecture could be true - this dead man here could be Gertwiller, and Aram could have been displaced from his armour as I do not recall the two going through at exactly the same moment. I hope this is the case."
Never occured to me - nice one.
"As to who I am, and my markings, you would not understand. You are not of Oasis, and I am. Therefore, I think I have more right to know why you intrude on our city, and less incination to answer questions until you can prove yourself. This is a strange time, and I have an important mission I will not compromise to false 'friends'."
Mowyer gives Owain an appraising look, but relents slightly. "I need to find a person once of Oaisis called Sera Veshin. She once held sway here, and it is very possible she is behind this plague. If you are really here to aid the plague, then we must find her - I cannot imagine what I see here has any natural cause." She shudders greatly.
Mowyer looks with interest as Owain opens Aram's backpack. Two thoughts strike her. "What did you find in Gertwiller's pack that set you so against him?" she asks. While trying to keep an eye on Owain, and turning herself partially from his gaze, she then follows up her second thought by looking into the contents of her own side pouch, drawing something to the light at her side.
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 14:33:03 GMT
"Plague respects no lines on a map," replies Owain, "and Oasis is but a few days' ride from my homeland's capital. Think what would happen if the disease reached that city - and its port. "My order called for one volunteer for this task and here I am. My mission is secret. You can imagine the terror that would sweep across Sommerlund if news of this plague became common knowledge. The people already verge on panic while it is but a rumour. "As for Gertwiller's pack, he had the teleporter crystal of course, which is suspicious enough, but he also carried other items I am sure belonged to Right-handed magic. However I wanted to give Gertwiller a chance to prove his innocence, and tried to take him prisoner. The items may have been slipped into his pack, after all. "Who is Sera Veshin, and what do you mean to do when you find her? Is she connected to the Cenerese?"
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Post by zipp on May 27, 2009 18:40:59 GMT
Owain and Mowyer, roll mental.
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 18:51:00 GMT
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 18:55:55 GMT
Mental roll as requested! (1d20=18, 1d20=3, 1d20=20, 1d20=18)
Well, would you look at those. Those seem like some nice rolls. Yes they do. "Perhaps the mage you came with is the right-handed villain?" says Mowyer, looking around and letting her dagger droop slightly. "After all, he seemed to run rather fast and not wait for his companions. And besides, both yourself and Aram seemed to be rather distraught on the other side of the portal, and effect you seem to have lost now." Mowyer does look at the priest regarding his reference of the Cenerese. "I have heard of no such union. No true Daughter of Oasis would sully themselves so, no matter their desires." For some reason Mowyer pauses and shudders, but moves on. "As to what shall happen, that is between one Citizen of Oasis and another." Mowyer perhaps realises she is being too confrontational given the circumstances. "If it gives you comfort, my first imperitive is to talk to her. Much goes on in the city that is strange. I do not seek to make enemies any quicker than I seek to make friends until honest truth is revealed." Mowyer looks back at the body in the armour. "Gertwiller was wounded in the face, Aram was not to my memory. Can you make out any nail marks in the face of the corpse?" She also looks intently at the backpack items revealed by Owain's search.
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 18:57:20 GMT
Nice one Owain! Oh, bugger, a natural 1. Still, the 20 balances it, so you still got a frickin' sweet pass and maybe a second there. Added to mine, we're golden! Or dead...
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 19:03:10 GMT
A 20 counts double, but does a 1 cancel success? Either way, we should probably pause our IC chat until Zipp reveals the contents of the pack and whatever prompted that roll.
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 19:34:03 GMT
I've had a natural 20 be canceled by a natural 1 in a skill check I believe, or maybe that was someone else
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Post by zipp on May 27, 2009 20:05:54 GMT
I think Mowyer has yet to give you her name, right? She will forever remain, The Woman Who Used to Have a Tattoo.
Owain looked closer at the skull. Indeed, there were several deep scores in the bone.
"Had I known of the Screamer's strength, I may have fled like the mage," Owain said, pointing out the marks. "This indeed appears to be Gertwiller."
There were other strange things about the body that he wasn't so sure about. In the armour were little indentations containing what looked like white bone covered in sticky mucus. Other indentations existed, but lacked the bone pieces, and instead were just deep holes in the armour. Thinking about the plague, Owain didn't touch the pieces, but he looked around and saw large chunks of splintered bone embedded in the floor nearby. Something had happened here involving those splinters, but he couldn't tell what.
Turning to the pack, Owain remembered something else. The Knight Aram had not had a back pack with a flowery motif stitched upon it. Mowyer had also noticed the motif and pulled Owain back from the back pack.
"I recognize this design," she said. "This is what we call a 'trap-pack.' There's a catch somewhere on the bag, a loose string you pull. If you don't pull that, when you open the bag... well... it's not pleasant. But it must contain something valuable to be so protected."
Good rolls. I put a lot of information in this post to reflect that. The 1 is only dangerous on a failed roll. In this case you both pass without enough left over to ask about one further thing in the room, either getting more information on something I've mentioned or a new object of interest. Little questions, like are there any weapons laying around? are free.
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 20:11:51 GMT
"Unpleasant, as in lethal? Perhaps I could just poke it with my staff and trigger the trap harmlessly" asks Owain, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he looks around for Aram's sword. If it is not here, the knight must have taken it.
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Post by Mowyer Pax on May 27, 2009 20:40:30 GMT
"If you do that, please do so out of range of me," said Mowyer with humour. "As I said, if you find the pull string you should have nothing to fear."
Mowyer leaves Owain to examine the bag, looking to the dead body to see what Owain saw. She crouches down, apparently lost in thought on it.
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Post by Brother Owain on May 27, 2009 21:16:10 GMT
What's the DC on the SKILL roll to spot the pullstring?
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