Drusia's teleport-stab maneuvers brought the fighting galdy pack down to exactly -- none. Udo grinned viciously. If there was anything better than a hot elf chick, it was a hot elf chick with a glowy sword. And if there was anything better than a hot elf chick with a glowy sword, it was a hot elf chick with a glowy sword in action, stabbing the enemy in the back. And if there was anything better than that...trick question! There wasn't!
One or two galdy were still alive but wounded. Udo dispatched the ones he could reach with his spear. Then he turned to see how his companions were getting on. His magical exertions had not tired him much, and he had plenty of fight in him for the dangers that lay ahead.
For Drusia's benefit and Khoo's, he said, "We saw one of those with a Ralkin agent back in Port Lorrel. I think they use 'em like familiars or something. So there might be one nearby. And if there is," he said to the trees, "I'd just like to say that Ralkin suck donkey dicks! Like, constantly!"
The Southern Continent (part 2)
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Alberich
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
Tamina, panting a little from her exertions, leaned forward and prodded one of the corpses with the end of her bow. It rocked gently with the intrusion, but made no other movement.
"These weren't summoned." Tamina said. "Summoned creatures crumble to dust when y' kill 'em."
"They're native to this area." Alleece added, still pivoting to check if any other nasties were on the way. "Well... usually a little farther south but, close enough."
"Might've been drawn here from being used by the Ralkin." Tamina theorized. "Animals get pulled to the summoner 'nuff times, they could have an... umm..." She tapped the back of her head. "...a back-of-mind bond? Migration maybe? Anyway, s'a good sign we're getting close. Hopefully be clear from here on."
The expression on the native's face showed she was anything but confident of that.
"These weren't summoned." Tamina said. "Summoned creatures crumble to dust when y' kill 'em."
"They're native to this area." Alleece added, still pivoting to check if any other nasties were on the way. "Well... usually a little farther south but, close enough."
"Might've been drawn here from being used by the Ralkin." Tamina theorized. "Animals get pulled to the summoner 'nuff times, they could have an... umm..." She tapped the back of her head. "...a back-of-mind bond? Migration maybe? Anyway, s'a good sign we're getting close. Hopefully be clear from here on."
The expression on the native's face showed she was anything but confident of that.
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Graybeard
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
Khoo blinked and looked around. He'd been in a normal conversation, and then suddenly someone was shoving him into the center of the circle of -- whatever they were. "Kobolds"? That sounded right. And then, from the sound of it, a melee broke out, but he was still trying to get his bearings rather than figuring out how he could help. By the time he knew what was going on, it was all over. The dead creatures were apparently attached to those sinister "Ralkin" in some way, but that was all he'd been able to gather from the excited chatter in the aftermath of the melee.
"Uh, what were those things?" he asked whoever was in range, counting on his Translation spell to do the rest.
"Uh, what were those things?" he asked whoever was in range, counting on his Translation spell to do the rest.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
OOC Khoo doesn't need a translation spell atm, Alleece speaks pretty good human too./OOC
"Galdy." Tamina replied as the group resumed their journey. "Predators, attack anything in big enough numbers. The Ralkin use 'em, got altered by magic a long time ago." The kobold mage stopped and scuffed a circle in the earth for the waiter to look at. She drew a few lines inside the shape, to illustrate her point.
"They draw symbols like these, make a connection to one and... umm... draw it through. Then they control it."
"And they've used worse than them." Alleece added, thinking back to what she'd seen in Grendell a month ago. "We should keep quiet from here on."
An hour passed with nothing but the sounds of the jungle to keep the group company. The heat seemed to grow more oppressive as the travellers got deeper into the strange continent. Once in a while a fresh, alien sound pierced the air as the ground shifted to a steady downward incline, the shadows grew thicker as the sun rays became more and more obstructed by the canopy overhead. What was left was a dark green glow that seemed to penetrate everything around it, the seeds and motes floating in the air created the illusion that they wading through some primeval, algae choked sea.
The kobolds led the group to a bowl in the earth that was framed by a cleft of high rising rock. A earthen mound at the edge of the bowl was the centre of the picture. At a glance it might've been dismissed as part of the natural landscape. But, as Tamina pointed, her companions saw a stone door several feet into the mound, the edges of stone blocks overgrown with vegetation that declared it an artificial construction. Before it, was an almost perfect circle of blackened earth. Tamina winced as her eyes fell upon it.
"There's the temple." She said, hurredly switching her attention back to the nearly-hidden door. "Goes underground pretty far."
"Galdy." Tamina replied as the group resumed their journey. "Predators, attack anything in big enough numbers. The Ralkin use 'em, got altered by magic a long time ago." The kobold mage stopped and scuffed a circle in the earth for the waiter to look at. She drew a few lines inside the shape, to illustrate her point.
"They draw symbols like these, make a connection to one and... umm... draw it through. Then they control it."
"And they've used worse than them." Alleece added, thinking back to what she'd seen in Grendell a month ago. "We should keep quiet from here on."
An hour passed with nothing but the sounds of the jungle to keep the group company. The heat seemed to grow more oppressive as the travellers got deeper into the strange continent. Once in a while a fresh, alien sound pierced the air as the ground shifted to a steady downward incline, the shadows grew thicker as the sun rays became more and more obstructed by the canopy overhead. What was left was a dark green glow that seemed to penetrate everything around it, the seeds and motes floating in the air created the illusion that they wading through some primeval, algae choked sea.
The kobolds led the group to a bowl in the earth that was framed by a cleft of high rising rock. A earthen mound at the edge of the bowl was the centre of the picture. At a glance it might've been dismissed as part of the natural landscape. But, as Tamina pointed, her companions saw a stone door several feet into the mound, the edges of stone blocks overgrown with vegetation that declared it an artificial construction. Before it, was an almost perfect circle of blackened earth. Tamina winced as her eyes fell upon it.
"There's the temple." She said, hurredly switching her attention back to the nearly-hidden door. "Goes underground pretty far."
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on October 26th, 2012, 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Alberich
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
Underground! Fearsome and scary - yet somehow fitting and traditional. Udo spoke.
"We humans can't see in the dark - Khoo, can you do a light spell when we get in there? Also, if your hands are free, could you do the map?" He reached into a pocket for pencil and paper. And dropped a couple of dice by mistake, which he snatched up.
To Tamina he asked, "Any idea what made that blackened circle I see in front of the door there? Magic trap or something?"
And to Drusia he asked, "Anything we should watch out for in these old elf temples?" The only thing he knew was that if you fell in a pit with Senilis pictures on one wall and Anilis pictures on the other, that you should get out of there quick as hell. But he was pretty sure that story wasn't even canon.
"We humans can't see in the dark - Khoo, can you do a light spell when we get in there? Also, if your hands are free, could you do the map?" He reached into a pocket for pencil and paper. And dropped a couple of dice by mistake, which he snatched up.
To Tamina he asked, "Any idea what made that blackened circle I see in front of the door there? Magic trap or something?"
And to Drusia he asked, "Anything we should watch out for in these old elf temples?" The only thing he knew was that if you fell in a pit with Senilis pictures on one wall and Anilis pictures on the other, that you should get out of there quick as hell. But he was pretty sure that story wasn't even canon.
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Drusia
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
And to Drusia he asked, "Anything we should watch out for in these old elf temples?"
I shrug. "Not really," I say. "When my people retreated to Praenubilus Astu, we took our valuables with us. No reason to trap a temple if there's nothing inside. At worst, it might have some weak floors or ceilings due to erosion. I'm more worried about what sort of surprises the Ralkin left for us." Because leaving traps seems to be just their style, and I imagine they'd want to catch any Kobolds - or Elves - who came sniffing around their old base.
I frown. It has been centuries since I went up against an opponent with the wherewithall to set magical traps. I'm likely a bit rusty.
"Are any of you trapsmiths?" I ask the group hopefully. I can do it, but I'd rather not die because I'm a bit out of practice.
-- Drusia
I shrug. "Not really," I say. "When my people retreated to Praenubilus Astu, we took our valuables with us. No reason to trap a temple if there's nothing inside. At worst, it might have some weak floors or ceilings due to erosion. I'm more worried about what sort of surprises the Ralkin left for us." Because leaving traps seems to be just their style, and I imagine they'd want to catch any Kobolds - or Elves - who came sniffing around their old base.
I frown. It has been centuries since I went up against an opponent with the wherewithall to set magical traps. I'm likely a bit rusty.
"Are any of you trapsmiths?" I ask the group hopefully. I can do it, but I'd rather not die because I'm a bit out of practice.
-- Drusia
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Alberich
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
"Are any of you trapsmiths?"
Udo shook his head. He'd never been assigned to Sorcerous Trap Disposal. Too bad - they were a well respected command. The Tsuirakuan Army was proud of its STD's.
Udo shook his head. He'd never been assigned to Sorcerous Trap Disposal. Too bad - they were a well respected command. The Tsuirakuan Army was proud of its STD's.
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Graybeard
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
"Are any of you trapsmiths?"
Khoo just about choked on his guffaw as a memory came rushing back.
Word around Sashi Mu, as at many institutions of its kind, was that the professors of thaumatic chemistry were always the ones who had the best booze. Of course, they didn't call it booze; rather, the colorfully labeled bottles were just "reagents" to be used in the laboratory. That didn't fool anyone, however, particularly in light of the numerous magical and mechanical traps on the cabinet where the "reagents" were stored, traps that couldn't be found anywhere else in the store room. (That the traps might represent some kind of aptitude test, rather than a deterrent to ... use, was something that would only sink in on Khoo years later.)
And so it was that Khoo and one of his friends in the pilot program, a rough and hairy youth named Wu Teng-Lek, found themselves inside the store room well after hours one fine Friday evening, on a foraging mission for the student party the following night. Defeating the lock on the door was easy enough; Wu was a great deal more adept with Conjuration magic than he looked, and he'd been into the room often enough to know exactly what kind of key he'd have to fabricate. Most of the traps on the cabinet fell easily to their combined efforts as well. But there was one last gimmick that was proving recalcitrant. Part of the problem, Khoo reflected, was that the spell was resistant to their Divinations. It would be all but impossible to counter the thing if they couldn't figure out what it was.
"Are we just going to have to set this thing off?" Wu asked. Rumor from the grad students was that the traps weren't lethal, they were intended to intimidate and embarrass (and alert the faculty that something had gone on) rather than just drop a trespasser in his tracks. That would be unpleasant, but they'd consider putting up with it for the sake of the "reagents."
"I dunno," Khoo muttered, keeping his voice down; he thought he'd heard a security golem clomping down the hallway -- and the noise gave him an idea. By the time the heavy footfalls had passed, the idea was fully formed in his head; now if he could just form it in the store room...
"Give me that bottle of talcum powder over there," he told Wu. The other boy gave him a puzzled look, but complied as Khoo explained. "I'm going to need a little physical substance for this. Magical force can't do everything." He uncorked the bottle and shook a fair portion of its contents into the air, at the same time casting the same Wind Sprite spell (if in rather less polished form) that he would later use to break the doldrums on the way to the Southern Continent. The magical force took on a physical form from the swirling powder, and Khoo smiled in satisfaction.
"Now we back up and let that thing trigger the trap," he told Wu with pride. "Wonderful!" his companion said, slapping him on the back (an experience not unlike being slapped on the back with a steam shovel), and they retreated to let the sprite do its work ... and only then did the two realize why they hadn't been able to figure the trap out. It wasn't a magical trap at all, apart from the sensor ... but a chemical one.
As the sprite struck the trigger, pure, undiluted essence of skunk oil squirted out of the cabinet in a haze.
Both young faces contorted in the customary reaction to what they were smelling, but Khoo still felt some satisfaction; the foul odor would now hang in the air, rather than all over their clothing as the trap intended, and it would dissipate soon enough. "Mission accomplished," he started to say ... but then he became aware of a small oversight.
The force of the skunk oil had been expended on the wind sprite; that was the whole idea, after all. What was not part of the plan was that it had forced the magical construct backward ... where it, and the foulness that it now carried, was sucked into the building ventilation system.
The stench in the store room dissipated, but it was only seconds later that it was replaced by a far more pervasive malodor coming out of the air vents ... and not just in the store room, but in the whole eff'n building.
Their illicit "reagents" in hand, the two young men sprinted for the exit, the gagging and retching noises of thirty other students who'd been working late in the library and classrooms and labs ringing in their ears.
"A little," Khoo answered, his mind returning to the present.
[OOC: Any resemblances between this and a certain -- event from my own time as a chemistry grad student are purely coincidental. Really. Trust me.]
Khoo just about choked on his guffaw as a memory came rushing back.
Word around Sashi Mu, as at many institutions of its kind, was that the professors of thaumatic chemistry were always the ones who had the best booze. Of course, they didn't call it booze; rather, the colorfully labeled bottles were just "reagents" to be used in the laboratory. That didn't fool anyone, however, particularly in light of the numerous magical and mechanical traps on the cabinet where the "reagents" were stored, traps that couldn't be found anywhere else in the store room. (That the traps might represent some kind of aptitude test, rather than a deterrent to ... use, was something that would only sink in on Khoo years later.)
And so it was that Khoo and one of his friends in the pilot program, a rough and hairy youth named Wu Teng-Lek, found themselves inside the store room well after hours one fine Friday evening, on a foraging mission for the student party the following night. Defeating the lock on the door was easy enough; Wu was a great deal more adept with Conjuration magic than he looked, and he'd been into the room often enough to know exactly what kind of key he'd have to fabricate. Most of the traps on the cabinet fell easily to their combined efforts as well. But there was one last gimmick that was proving recalcitrant. Part of the problem, Khoo reflected, was that the spell was resistant to their Divinations. It would be all but impossible to counter the thing if they couldn't figure out what it was.
"Are we just going to have to set this thing off?" Wu asked. Rumor from the grad students was that the traps weren't lethal, they were intended to intimidate and embarrass (and alert the faculty that something had gone on) rather than just drop a trespasser in his tracks. That would be unpleasant, but they'd consider putting up with it for the sake of the "reagents."
"I dunno," Khoo muttered, keeping his voice down; he thought he'd heard a security golem clomping down the hallway -- and the noise gave him an idea. By the time the heavy footfalls had passed, the idea was fully formed in his head; now if he could just form it in the store room...
"Give me that bottle of talcum powder over there," he told Wu. The other boy gave him a puzzled look, but complied as Khoo explained. "I'm going to need a little physical substance for this. Magical force can't do everything." He uncorked the bottle and shook a fair portion of its contents into the air, at the same time casting the same Wind Sprite spell (if in rather less polished form) that he would later use to break the doldrums on the way to the Southern Continent. The magical force took on a physical form from the swirling powder, and Khoo smiled in satisfaction.
"Now we back up and let that thing trigger the trap," he told Wu with pride. "Wonderful!" his companion said, slapping him on the back (an experience not unlike being slapped on the back with a steam shovel), and they retreated to let the sprite do its work ... and only then did the two realize why they hadn't been able to figure the trap out. It wasn't a magical trap at all, apart from the sensor ... but a chemical one.
As the sprite struck the trigger, pure, undiluted essence of skunk oil squirted out of the cabinet in a haze.
Both young faces contorted in the customary reaction to what they were smelling, but Khoo still felt some satisfaction; the foul odor would now hang in the air, rather than all over their clothing as the trap intended, and it would dissipate soon enough. "Mission accomplished," he started to say ... but then he became aware of a small oversight.
The force of the skunk oil had been expended on the wind sprite; that was the whole idea, after all. What was not part of the plan was that it had forced the magical construct backward ... where it, and the foulness that it now carried, was sucked into the building ventilation system.
The stench in the store room dissipated, but it was only seconds later that it was replaced by a far more pervasive malodor coming out of the air vents ... and not just in the store room, but in the whole eff'n building.
Their illicit "reagents" in hand, the two young men sprinted for the exit, the gagging and retching noises of thirty other students who'd been working late in the library and classrooms and labs ringing in their ears.
"A little," Khoo answered, his mind returning to the present.
[OOC: Any resemblances between this and a certain -- event from my own time as a chemistry grad student are purely coincidental. Really. Trust me.]
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
"Any idea what made that blackened circle I see in front of the door there? Magic trap or something?"
Tamina shook her head at Udo's question.
"It's a summon... err... was a summon."
There was a suggestion of faint lines in the ruined earth. The sheer size of the thing (fifteen feet across) implied what had crawled out of the ground had been much larger than the venomous creatures the group had fought against, larger even than the dropla they'd encountered earlier in the day.
"A matriarch." Alleece supplied. "You never normally see them above ground."
"Have to be stupid to go looking for one." Tamina added, then, recalling the mention of traps. "There was a boulder thing inside. Fell from the ceiling, nearly crushed me. Didn't see any other traps but... was kinda busy at the time."
After a few minutes wait for Khoo to put his levitation to use to get a good look of the surrounding area and sketch a map (OOC Hope you don't mind me hijacking Khoo for that Grey./OOC), the five travellers pushed the stone door open and descended below the earth.
The corridor was faintly illuminated by the stream of sunlight which struggled past the door. Burned out torches fixed along the wall (just wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder) and footprints in the dust indicated the temple had been occupied recently. As the light faded magic illumination took it's place, picking out crags in the eroding stone along the straight path.
Some two hundred feet down they came across a lump of twisted metal and wood next to a broken section of the wall, it was a long, thin object with screws embedded in the cracks near it.
"One of Jaime's rifles, used it to block the stone, broke a weak spot in the wall." Tamina explained, then the implication of the statement, coupled with the absense of the stone, struck her. She began hurrying downwards, gritting her teeth at what she expected.
Her companions caught up less than a minute later to find the kobold standing at an elaborately carved doorway, at least, that what they would have seen if the boulder wasn't blocking the way, only a crack in the corner of the doorway was visible. The room beyond was dark.
Tamina made a frustrated noise, channeled and punched the bare rock. The flash of mana discharging from her fist caused the progress blocking object to rock slightly, but remain in place.
"Need to get through." She said impatiently. "Answers are on the other side!"
Tamina shook her head at Udo's question.
"It's a summon... err... was a summon."
There was a suggestion of faint lines in the ruined earth. The sheer size of the thing (fifteen feet across) implied what had crawled out of the ground had been much larger than the venomous creatures the group had fought against, larger even than the dropla they'd encountered earlier in the day.
"A matriarch." Alleece supplied. "You never normally see them above ground."
"Have to be stupid to go looking for one." Tamina added, then, recalling the mention of traps. "There was a boulder thing inside. Fell from the ceiling, nearly crushed me. Didn't see any other traps but... was kinda busy at the time."
After a few minutes wait for Khoo to put his levitation to use to get a good look of the surrounding area and sketch a map (OOC Hope you don't mind me hijacking Khoo for that Grey./OOC), the five travellers pushed the stone door open and descended below the earth.
The corridor was faintly illuminated by the stream of sunlight which struggled past the door. Burned out torches fixed along the wall (just wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder) and footprints in the dust indicated the temple had been occupied recently. As the light faded magic illumination took it's place, picking out crags in the eroding stone along the straight path.
Some two hundred feet down they came across a lump of twisted metal and wood next to a broken section of the wall, it was a long, thin object with screws embedded in the cracks near it.
"One of Jaime's rifles, used it to block the stone, broke a weak spot in the wall." Tamina explained, then the implication of the statement, coupled with the absense of the stone, struck her. She began hurrying downwards, gritting her teeth at what she expected.
Her companions caught up less than a minute later to find the kobold standing at an elaborately carved doorway, at least, that what they would have seen if the boulder wasn't blocking the way, only a crack in the corner of the doorway was visible. The room beyond was dark.
Tamina made a frustrated noise, channeled and punched the bare rock. The flash of mana discharging from her fist caused the progress blocking object to rock slightly, but remain in place.
"Need to get through." She said impatiently. "Answers are on the other side!"
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on October 26th, 2012, 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Alberich
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)
Udo looked over the eight hundred pound rock. "I could smash it," he said, tapping his staff, "But I'd rather save my juice in case there's a fight on the other side. This thing's round for rolling - so we could push it out of the way, get some debris under it so it won't roll back, and save the magic for later." Laying down his staff and spear, he gave an experimental push to the side, to see if there was anything wrong with this plan.