katoomba ♔ while I formulate denials of your effect on me

[moonheart]

♬ Watching You Go - Ghosts

WHO || Alanna, Jaime, Faith, Fiona, Jordan, Adi [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a shady temple of Mystra.
WHERE || Katoomba, Australia
WHEN || July 24th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The Knights take off for Katoomba, Australia, to investigate a tale of a temple to the goddess of magic Mystra that was erected very suddenly and mysteriously, seemingly unknown to other Mystran clergy in the world.  A bizarre tale of a cleric being chased out with gunfire, and a missing bookseller with a connection to the church have left Wynn worried about what might be going on within the walls of the temple.  It is constructed a short distance from the actual city proper, up the river.  

Comments

[lionbrave]

[Jaime's knowledge check of 9 means he's got nothing too, but that could be because he's still a zombie. He keeps moving blankly forward.]

[wishuponadjinn]

[Jordan doesn't glance at Alanna as she sidles up next to him, and doesn't spare a glance for the broken remnants of Mystran worship either, instead following fembrys faithfully as commanded.]

[moonheart]

[ the far door leads to a hallway where familiar-looking statues flank a central path down the wide passage. like the ones on the step, they are carved from a coal-like stone, and rough depictions of a female human. fembrys gestures for them to stop here, and there's the sound of the door on the far end being unlocked.

a strange looking woman emerges, pocketing the key. her long black hair trails behind her, a long, ugly scar running down her face from over her eye to her chin, leaving that eye clouded and blind. she glides forward, looking between them all as fembrys bows his head slightly in respect.

"Good work, my Fembrys." he seems to lap up the praise like a dog, his eyes brightening with pride, and shoulders squaring a bit, but her lips pull down as she actually examines the gathered. her voice is somewhat raspy, and she adds: "Although we shall see how much use this lot is." she paces in front of them, looking each one from head to foot. "How many of you are spellcasters? Speak the truth."

fembrys nods, encouraging those under his thrall by adding: "Yes, do as Lady Arthas orders you, as if I had asked."

faith manages to avoid the urge to glance at her comrades, lifting her chin and saying in a dazed, unaffected voice: ] I am. [ nat 20 bluff B) lady arthas looks to her, pursing her lips and humming to herself thoughtfully.

"Good. Very good. Any others?" ]

[missindependent]

[ with a knowledge: religion check of 22, fiona recognizes the vandalized statues as former effigies to mystra, and she smiles as she considers them, moving to run her fingers along one of them as they pass. she seems oblivious to the idea these sculptures where purposefully defaced, rather assuming this is just the work of time and poor, damp storage conditions. ] It's a shame, they must have been so beautiful. [ she mumbles to... no one in particular.

as they file in and stand in front of the scarred woman, fiona continues glancing around curiously, as if the mysteries of the universe must be in this very room. when faith speaks up, fiona eyes her uncertainty, but, luckily for faith, she can not recall whether faith really is a spellcaster, or not (wisdom 6).

she shrugs, turning her attention back to the lady arthas, instead. ] Me! I'm a spellcaster, as well! A self-educated sorcerer, but a powerful one, nonetheless. [ she, too, is beaming up at the woman proudly as she speaks, and then she turns expectantly to the only other member of their team she knows is a spellcaster: jordan. ]

[wishuponadjinn]

[Jordan is looking at Faith pretty much just like that, but he says nothing, instead smiling as he looks over to Fiona first, then to the Lady Arthas.] I too wield magic, my lady.

[moonheart]

[ "Ah, wonderful." her eyes glint darkly as she turns to regard jaime, alanna, and adi. "And you others?" ]

[mining]

[ Adi vaguely recognizes the various items (religion 13). Although his brow furrows in thought, he keeps quiet, distracted by Fiona's absent musings. When they finally come to a stop and Fembrys introduces Lady Arthas, he doesn't bother to hide his interest; they're supposed to be enthralled anyway, right.

He briefly considers lying, but thinks better of it by the time her gaze settles on him. Jaime might take care of that, anyway. Adi considers her a moment, curious, then nods. ] I am.

[trebond]

And I as well, my lady.

[ Noticing Fiona's glance, Alanna decides it's probably safe for her to look at Jaime now. Except rather than the expectant look of considering another caster, she seems to be searching for whether the compulsion Fembrys laid on them extends to Arthas' demand of the truth. ]

[lionbrave]

Not I. [Jaime intones, sounding disappointed. He's never particularly wanted to do magic, but he feels like he's letting Fembrys down. He wants to be useful!]

[moonheart]

[ "Nor I," comes a mini chorus from those other npc petitioners. arthas looks at all of them with a dissatisfied frown before snapping her fingers at fembrys.

"Very well," she says. "Those who are, you're to come with me, to receive the next level of Mystra's Sacred Trust. The rest of you - I dispose to Fembrys' care, to do with what he will." she turns, and opens the door behind her, moving into the hallway beyond. fembrys rubs his hands together, looking strangely gleeful and follows, expecting them all to do the same.

faith casts alanna a concerned look, mouth pursed together. this was not a part of the plan. 8(

the wide, utilitarian hall beyond is flanked by several doorways, and the two on the north wall are particularly large. two torches burn in iron sconces, one on the north wall and one on the south, providing the only illumination here.

the south end of the hall contains a great circular disc of darkness - bordered by deep purple stone. despite the light thrown off by the torches, the disc seems to reject any light whatsoever - as if it were a void that were devouring any of it that came nearby. characters looking on it can make a knowledge (religion) check... faith certainly freezes in place when she sees it, shoulders tightening, and an unsettled look appearing in her eyes. ]

[trebond]

[ Her lips part, Jaime's name ready on her lips. Rather than reveal herself, she closes her mouth, looking away from him and to Faith instead, communicating her worry soundlessly. They can't leave him like this.

Moving down the hall with the others, she glances back over her shoulder—so frequently that she notices the great disc last. Turning back towards it, Alanna's violet eyes grow wide with instant recognition.

Shar.

This is no temple of Mystra at all, not with something like that buried inside of its walls. Her hand twitches and tightens on her sword, but she does not draw it. Not until she knows what they need the petitioners for. ]

[moonheart]

[ lady arthas walks right towards the dark disc, as fembrys scuttles towards one of the two doors on the left, unlocking it. the foul odor of rotting flesh assaults them as he opens the door, gesturing for jaime and the other random people to come in. a variety of well-stocked torture equipment can be glimpsed in the cold stone chamber: racks, iron maidens, stocks, and other machines of pain. ]

[lionbrave]

[Jaime sees nothing wrong with this situation! Are we having a party? :) ]

[missindependent]

[ fiona instantly recognizes what this dark disc represents (know: religion 27), and that does cause her to second-guess her earlier blind curiosity (will save 23). she isn't interested in whatever secrets shar may wish to bestow upon her, because she's pretty certain they'll all end in death and destruction 8| ]

[moonheart]

[ fiona's effort of renewed will finally breaks the hold on her, and faith casts a worried glance at the others as jaime starts for the door. she uses correspond to mentally forge a passive mental link to adi and alanna - separate links, so they unfortunately can't hear each other, but both can hear her.

We can't leave him here... Do you think we could take them?

her eyes dart nervously towards jordan, and then fiona, still uncertain about fighting them. she does, at least, have fiona's bottle, although the thought of using it to command her best friend is more than a little off putting. ]

[trebond]

[ We have to try.

Alanna doesn't wait any longer, or for the chance to hear a response. Instead, predictably reckless, she draws her blade. The good news is: hold person is a second-level spell. And she prepared it, because Alanna likes to prepare for peaceful resolutions as much as bloody ones.

She'll start this battle by casting it on Jaime to keep him from going inTO THE TORTURE ROOM. And from fighting them once shit hits the fan. The will save to negate it, however, is only 14. :( ]

[lionbrave]

[Too bad Jaime got a fucking nat 20 I guess he's gonna start moving even faster :| yay torture?]

[missindependent]

Hey, wait! This is not what we signed up for!

[ leave it to fiona to... state the obvious, but she sounds legitimately outraged by this turn of events. she casts a quick look to those immediately beside her, as if she can't be the only one frustrated here. looking that way, she immediately recognizes alanna's spell (spellcraft 26), and follows the woman's line of sight to jaime, over there, walking to his imminent demise (wisdom 17).

well, she's had enough of this not-funny prank, and she's ready to light these bitches up - but not before enacting her very scary frightful presence (free action; dc 20; for 10 rounds). that's what y'all get for pissing her off x(

taking a step back to line up her shot, she holds out her hands: one points toward lady arthas, and the other is directed toward fembrys. she mutters something under her breath, and a smooth ray of acid springs forth from each of her palms, simultaneously, aimed at their two assailants (scorching ray [acid]: ranged touch atk [lady arthas] nat 20!! acid dmg 24 [caster level check vs sr?? 28]; ranged touch atk [fembrys] 18, acid dmg 10 [caster level check vs sr?? 22].) ]

[moonheart]

[ with a nat 20, lady arthas doesn't seem shaken, but fembrys got a 19, so despite his best efforts, he's freaked. lady arthas doesn't have any spell resistance, and that more than hits her touch ac, coating her in burning acid, and prompting her to let out an enraged scream. fembrys is just as coated, and while their skin bubbles and steams. ]

[lionbrave]

[Lalala still skipping towards the torture room aren't you glad you all waited so long for this trash tag.]

[missindependent]

[ now that she has the bad guys effectively distracted, fiona will take a moment to cast mage hand on the door to the torture chamber, attempting to close it, in hopes of eliminating that awful smell ... oh, and also to save jaime from himself. ]

[wishuponadjinn]

[Following Lady Arthas along blindly he notices the disc, immediately recognizing it as belonging to Shar, and everything that could possibly entail (Know:Religion Nat 20). The sight of Shar's symbol in this supposed house of her opponent, something snaps in his mind, bringing him out of his zombie-like trance in a snap (Will Save 23).

His mouth drops open, realization dawning as the scene unfolds around him in a series of snap-shots before his instincts kick him into gear. Alanna with her bared steel, Jaime marching into the room of rotting corpses, and lastly Fiona spurting acid from her fingers. Her magic triggers something in him, like the big red button being pushed on a nuclear reactor. He had to do something before the rest of the team thought he was still in happy trance-land.

Movements fluid like silk in water with actions that are simultaneous and coordinated like a dance, first his bottle is put into his coat pocket, then his hands come up and out, bands ringing in a high tone. The fall of glitter surrounding him obscures him from view for a few brief moments before a massive blast of wind swirls it up and away from him to reveal that Jordan has...grown. To about 10ft tall, to be exact. His waist tapers into a thick, green glittering mist, and as the wind blasts away most of the glitter surrounding him he snaps his fingers, a large scimitar appearing in his hand.

Unfortunately him changing into his true form has limited him as to what he can do for the remainder of his turn, since that took at least six seconds to do. So for now he will just ~hover~ there in the middle of the room in all of his ten-foot glory, blue eyes glowing creepily as his bands continue to ring just on the edge of hearing. Look who's back, bitches.]

[lionbrave]

[Unfortunately I'm guessing Jaime's will save of 16 just isn't gonna wake him up so he's gonna try and open that door again because damnit you guys he was really excited about all the torture! And if it opens easily, he'll keep on going in.]

[moonheart]

[ it does open, so off jaime goes into the torture room. ya...ay...

faith takes a single step back, eyes widening at jordan's display, but then gets it together enough to try and launch a psychic battering attack at lady arthas. the powerful magic user makes her will save but still takes 16 dmg, staggering her back towards the far wall. ]

[mining]

[ It takes Adi a second to drag his attention way from Jordan, but as soon as he does he books it after Jaime. Unaware of the failed attempts to delay his course with magic, he still goes for a more direct approach, getting between Jaime and the rest of the foul smelling room (without looking at what's in it, which probably isn't clever, but no thanks).

One look at Jaime's face makes it obvious talking is probably a waste of time, though, so after a quick, ] Sorry, mate.

[ He takes a swing at his face with his free hand (atk 18 and if he fails to punch a zombie this is going to be super embarrassing. also oh right A WHOPPING 3 DMG if it hits). ]