The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[Krsqk]

[ooc: rrrrrgh_I_did_it_again ]

[ July 23, 2003, 07:59: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[Krsqk]

Arthur quickly checks for any signs of life.

Arthur "It seems our three friends have a few comrades around. I'd guess that there are parallel tunnels on either side of us, with a connecting tunnel running perpendicular through them." He pauses, then adds something to the spell. "In fact, it resembles a barracks, although only ten or twelve people are here right now. Jack, please verify this, but the three are running to our left, and five more are running alongside us in their general direction. There are two more farther to the left and stationary. I'm getting the delay from there, so I'd guess it's the psi and possibly a bodyguard. I can't tell exactly what, but it doesn't seem human."

[ July 23, 2003, 08:01: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack checks the life detection spell he is maintaining.

Jack "I've got the same readings. Of course, I should; it's the same spell at its core."

Sounds of battle can be heard down the hallway as the golem engages the soldiers at the end of the hall.

John "We could use some invisibility here, D"

D "Sure."

D makes the party invisible, then pulls out a small crystal ball and starts scrying.

[ July 23, 2003, 08:14: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[thanks to Jack for post-extending stuff]

a few minutes, and much tension, later...

D "i have there location."

Jack "i'm teleporting now. please fasten your hands together and put your bodies in an upright position. in the case of an emergency, scream as you go down the swirling vortex. please keep your appendages inside the dimensional effect at all times. thank you and have a safe ZAP."

ZAP!

as the party teleports in, they can see a round room with no one in it. and then a loud roar come from behind them.

ooc:[i was laughing while i was doing this. i'm at the weird part of tired.]

[ August 03, 2003, 02:06: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

At the sound, Jack calmly turns around, and sees what looks like a giant black bug. Its four legs clatter on the ground as it moves its two jagged arms to bring a half-eaten deer carcass up to its clattering mandibles, which make short work of the deer remains. The creature's antenna wave around momentarily, then it roars again. A woman's voice can be heard:

Woman "Oh do be quiet; nobody's here. If someone was, I'd know about it."

At that, the creature stops roaring, as though the voice held power over the creature. The woman steps into view from behind the creature; she is a shapely lass, wearing a fancy blue dress and a silver tiara.

ooc:[Good thing we are invisible to both sight and Psionics, isn't it? I'm thinking a giant black preying mantis, that roars.]

ooc:[Yes, that is a wierd point of tired.]

[ July 23, 2003, 10:01: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

[ooc: assuming the psi/pet/hallway/entrance are behind us, I am going clockwise around the room.]

Arthur decides he would rather examine the room than the roar. It appears to be a combination armory and storage room. Next to the party are two sets of heavy, oaken, free-standing shelves. One is filled with comestibles and potables, the other with large cloth sacks. A well and a pump are next to the shelves. Further around are rows of racks for swords, spears, helmets, shields, and crossbows; most are empty, although a few weapons remain. A barred door beyond the racks leads to a cell. Completing the circle is a wooden doorway; the door is ajar and appears to lead to someone's private quarters.

Arthur finally turns to look at the beast, backing up to get a little more room as he does so. His foot catches in something as he turns, and he looses his balance, crashing into the nearest shelf. It rocks wildly, sending a massive keg crashing to the floor and soaking the party. Arthur attempts to stand up amidst a rain of vegetables but slips on the floor, now slick with foaming ale. He falls against the second shelf, which creaks loudly as it tips, then stops on the verge of falling. Before anybody can breath a sigh of relief, a shelf breaks, sending the entire unit crashing toward the party. The bags in the middle are carried with the shelf, which falls out from under the two on the top. Arthur rolls out of the way, while the others quickly step back. As the shelf hits the floor, it flips forward over the sacks on the floor. The two sacks from the top shelf are just catching up, and are catapulted directly at the party. Narp manages to catch one with a large knife and the other with his shield, causing them to burst and spewing flour over the entire party.

Damping flour.

Arthur finally manages to stand up, his foot still stuck in the bucket into which he was teleported.

[ooc: YAY! Time for some real fun! ]

[ July 23, 2003, 22:42: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack hears the commotion, and turns around just in time to see the flour coat him. He looks down at himself, and notices he can see himself.

Jack "Hmm. Well, that's annoying. Ahh well; that's what capacitors are for...."

ooc:[The capacitor was inside his robes; neither the capacitor nor Jack's link to it would have been immediately affected.]

Jack squints, and and the flour on him can be seen to glow a brilliant green as Jack overloads it and the flour degrades into sand. The glow spreads out, forming an tight ovoid around Jack, where it clears considerably, flashing occasionaly as a little of the flour still in the air comes into contact. It quickly becomes clear that Jack is continuously supplying the shield, as it doesn't dim.

Jack "Now for the rest..."

At this point, the giant bug and the woman start to move on Jack, but suddenly find that they have more important worries when Jack casts his next spell; the other party members recognize it as a variation on the spell Jack used to retrieve John's ring. It has the same light bending characteristics, but this one doesn't have a quiet black dot at the center, and doesn't take nearly so long to form. No, this one forms instantly, and has a black sphere the size of a melon at its heart. The sphere forms touching the edge of Jack's shield, and the spell's true effect becomes apparent as everyone feels a strong tug towards the sphere, and everything starts rushing towards it; the swords, spears, helmets, shields, and crossbows from the rack, the comestibles and potables from the shelf, the large cloth sacks, the fragments of shelving, the dust and the very air in the room all rush into Jack's dark sphere. The only one in the room completely unaffected by it is Jack himself, safe in the shield he built.

ooc:[Any other objects weighing less than about 50 lbs that weren't well-secured would have flown into the sphere as well; a good grip (Narp's sword and shield, for example) counts as well-secured.]

After just an instant, the room is cleared, and Jack closes his hole in reality. Air rushes in through the open doorway to fill the void, ripping the doors off their hinges and howling like a banshee for a few seconds. Then Jack calmly turns back and smiles at the bug.

The bug starts to run out the open door, but a look from the woman stops it cold.

Jack "Sorry about that everyone; I couldn't figure out how to get the shielding around you properly because of the flour. Don't worry; we can get everything back; I sent it all to John's workroom."

John "All that damping flour in MY WORKROOM!?"

Jack pounds a fist into his palm.

Jack "I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry about that. I can help you clean it up later if you like."

ooc:[Some of the damping flour would have become ground into the cloth in the room; John, Arthur, and D still have some cleaning up to do before they can cast spells unencumbered by the dust.]

[ July 25, 2003, 18:24: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]