[ We find our heros coming out of a tunnel in the Underworld to see before them a sprawling city of tents lying in a large open area dimly lit by luminescent fungi on the cieling. The tents are large and, in many cases, quite tall, and there are herds of rothe' surrounding the gamp, evidently grazing on mushrooms there. ] [ Gratt has led them this far, and now they're just about here. What wonders await them in the Orog city? If any. ] [ Session Start! ] * HKenji looks over the "city" of tents. * Gratt leads onwards! * Ariake looks over it as she walks. * Seylin keeps going, looking over the tent city as well. * Istvan eyes the tent city, and rubs the warpick at his back, but relaxes after a moment and follows Gratt. * Patrick looks over the city of tents. He smirks and keeps walking. Nothing to see here, nope nope nope. * Alcinoe eyes the tents and clanks along, near the back of the group where she was most of the trip. * Gratt looks over his shoulder. "" * Will clanks along side of Alci. The city of tents just doesn't interest him that much. It looks like rather a lot of tents to have in one place. * Patrick smirks. "" * Gratt casts an eye back to Patrick. * Gratt points to a large tent in the middle of the mass. * Patrick grins. * HKenji frowns just a little. His tone makes it clear that what can be said about it isn't very good. * Seylin resumes looking over the city. * Alcinoe looks over at Will. "Ya have any idea what they're sayin'?" * Patrick smirks at Kenji. "Just because they don't live like you doesn't mean they're better or worse. Kind of like how we accept your own odd behaviors at times." * Istvan looks back at Alci. "There're about a hundred thousand people here, Alci, and they're nomadic." * Seylin looks back at Alcinoe. "There's about a hundred thousand of them here, and they're nomads, apparently." * Will shakes his head. "Absolutely no idea whatsoever." * Ariake raises an eyebrow. "Wow..." ... Yeah. Thanks. * Istvan eyes Seylin. "... outta my head." *grins* Oh wow. That many? * Seylin grins back. "Sorry." * Alcinoe doesn't seem much happier for knowing, but she clanks along. * Patrick grins at Seylin. "Have you been running around in people's heads without telling me?" ~_^ * Seylin giggles. "Maybe!" * Istvan turns back to Gratt. A hundred thousand, even if only a fraction of that number are warriors, is nothing to be trifled with. * Seylin mutters. "But you're the one who just said it wasn't so many." The two statements are not mutually exclusive, Seylin. * Istvan looks back at Alci and Will. "They occasionally fight with the Duregar and Drow, who raid 'em because they think they're easy prey, being 'dumb nomads'. They get corrected quickly and violently, apparently." You forgot effectively. That too. Ah bet, since they're still around. * Will nods. "Thanks for the translation Isty." No prob. * Gratt leads down into the tents! * Seylin follows. To the leader! * Patrick follows! * Istvan follows. * HKenji follows the yellow orog road. [ You reach the edge of the city! Orogs watch as you walk in, pointing and staring and remarking on the astonishing palor of your skin. ] <... well, yeah. Anything less obvious?> *grins* * Patrick chuckles. * Alcinoe eyes at the pointing Orogs. She might have darker skin than the rest of the group, and she might not understand them, but that doesn't mean she's got to enjoy it. * Seylin waves a wing slightly at the Orogs. * Ariake has followed! And is bowing politely to the Orogs. * Patrick just grins back. * HKenji ignores the orogs absolutely. * Gratt rubs his chin. * Will waves at the orogs, not knowing what else to do. * Istvan nods, then turn back to the others. "In terms of not pissing off the chief, Gratt just says to remember we're guests. So be politeish." * Ariake nods. "Of course." [ Eventually, you reach a large tent in the middle of the city. It's nearly forty feet tall, and the only entrance is flanked by a pair of exceptionally big orogs that stand there chatting with each other in a bored tone. ] * Istvan turns back to Gratt. * Gratt smiles. It's disconcerting. "You're welcome." [ One of them looks up and nods at Gratt. "Need an audience?" ] * Gratt nods. [ The guards nod. The taller of the two points at Istvan's armor. he says. ] * Gratt steps inside the tent. * Istvan looks proudish. His work gets recognition! * Gratt bellows loud enough you can hear him outside. "" * Patrick chuckles. "Don't get too full of yourself." [ The guards look at each other with a grin. says the shorter one. They chuckle over it. ] [ Meanwhile, there's a loud shout from inside. ] * Istvan half-heartedly shakes a fist at Patrick, then hears the shout, shrugs, and heads on in. * Gratt pokes his head out. * HKenji walks inside. * Patrick walks in as well. * Ariake follows. * Seylin heads on in. * Alcinoe shrugs and heads in. * Will follows in too. [ Gratt leads you back to a large chamber full of orogs. It has a map in the center on a collapsible table. At one end of the room, on a collapsible throne, sits a large scarred Orog with a headband bearing a large ruby. He eyes the lot of you as you come in. ] * Gratt gestures at the group. * Seylin bows/cursties/makes another appropriate gesture of respect. [ The chief seems amazed. ] * Istvan bows his head. Hail to the chief and such. * Ariake bows politely. * Alcinoe bows. To the chief, even. * Patrick does the head-bowing thing. * Will follows his teammates examples and bows. * HKenji bows slightly. [ he adds. You can't tell if he's being serious or not. ] * Gratt nods, smiling. [ He chuckles. ] * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Seylin whispers back. [ He waves his hands. ] [ ] [ ] [ ] * Istvan turns to the others. "Dragon lady came, killed, teleported away. Didn't give much of a reason, apparently." *pauses* "Think we should let him know that she's trying to organize a big invasion, and that he might be at risk?" * Patrick is too busy whispering to Seylin to respond. * Alcinoe nods. "Ain't no reason not to." * Will nods. "We should at least warn him." [ The Chief sighs and shakes his head. ] ... Kenji. GUESTS. * Patrick hears that then almost chokes. Almost. * Gratt blinks. * Seylin rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. [ ] * Gratt snaps his fingers. [ ] * Istvan blinks, then facepalms. "They can't accept our word because we're not members of the clan. I'm taking a guess here, but I think we're about to be offered a 'clan membership' test." Ohhh dear. I think you're right. * HKenji narrows his eyes. I wouldn't be surprised. Yep, there it is. * Alcinoe sighs. She looks around. * Ariake hmms. [ ] Test it is, folks. Specifics incoming. Odds are 3:1 that it's 'go slay so-and-so beast' or 'go get so-and-so artifact'. What about slaying a beast so we can get an artifact? [ ] * Gratt looks shocked. ... vampires. [ ] * HKenji gets a holy glow in his eyes. ... maybe bugs. Maybe vampire bugs. Not sure. * Patrick raises an eyebrow. "Kenji's lookin' weird again." Maybe he really doesn't like vampires? Vampires ain't good, test or not. <... what exactly is it you want us to kill? Bugs, or vampires?> * Will turns towards Alci. "Vampire bugs? Do those exist?" * Alcinoe thinks. "Uh. Ah don't see why not." Getting more details now... * Will hrmms. "I wonder how that started. Did a vampire decide to bite a bug or something?" Irrelevant. [ ] The undead will be slain. Might want to say that so he can understand it, Kenji. * HKenji frowns and rephrases. Okay, folks. We've got bugs sent out by someone or other, and lesser vampires running around with them. * Patrick looks over at Alcinoe. "Don't get me wrong, but can't ya do a better job undead killing if you have time to prepare yourselves first?" [ He holds out his thumb to demonstrate. ] Sounds like ya need some bug spray. * Alcinoe nods at Patrick. "Yeah. Ah can turn 'em just fine, though." * Ariake hmms. I can help too! * Patrick grins. Yes, the big guy wasn't ment to understand him. * Will looks at Patrick. "Bug spray?" Bug spray. ... oh, that's not good. Thumb sized bugs. Bite the orogs to death, then they rise as undead. That sounds very bad indeed... * HKenji turns and looks at Alcinoe and Will expectantly. So... do we wanna do this now, or do our magic people want some time to prepare spells? So it's swarms of thumb sized bugs? That might be tough... They are undead bugs, presumably. How such things came about, I do not know. I suppose I can always try turning them. When in doubt, launch fireballs. * Ariake nods, and smiles slightly. "I like this plan." * Will turns to Alci. "What do you think?" Or that Snow Cone spell... or anything along that line. 'cause swatting bugs one by one with my pick... not gonna work. * Alcinoe shakes her head. "Shouldn't be a problem. Burn 'em, turn 'em, ain't so bad." So, again... do we wanna do this now? Or wait a bit and prepare? Now.] * Ariake shrugs. "With those spells, I'm as ready as I'll ever be." There is no point in delaying any longer than necessary. [ ] Ah say we get 'em now. Ah don't wanna wait a day on this. I'm ready if you guys are. * Will nods. "Ok. I'm as ready as ever." * Patrick nods and grins. "Alright." Okay. *turns to the Chief* We will need wood. * Istvan nods. [ ] [ ] Oh, yeah. Underground, no trees. [ The Chief shrugs. ] * Gratt shrugs, too. ... whoops. [ ] ... okay, good. The people turned undead by the bugs can just be hacked to death... undeath... redeath... whatever. * Alcinoe nods. * Istvan turns back to the Chief. [ ] * Patrick nudges Seylin and whispers to her. * Gratt heads out of the cavernous tent., * HKenji turns and walks out of the tent. * Ariake bows politely, and then follows the group out. * Istvan nods and heads out. "And, apparently, we're headed for a dungeon." Big surprise there. ~_^ * Alcinoe watches him go, looks to Istvan, then ahs and nods. She heads after. * Gratt heads towards the Edge of Town. * Will follows Gratt out. * Patrick follows to The Edge of Towm. * Seylin heads along! * Gratt is smiling the whole way, actually. * Ariake follows! * HKenji is not smiling as he follows close behind Gratt. He's very, VERY focused. * Patrick is smiling! So it will be filled with magical traps and odd creatures. Very well. That's your cue to say "and possibly some loot", Patrick. Magical traps and odd creatures and possibly some loot, and... brass things? * Patrick grins. "Of course there will be loot. Do I need to say it?" ... okay. Former wizard lair. Guarded by what I'm guessing are brass golems. Oh, boy. Brass golems. How does that compare with the golems we fought last time? > * HKenji frowns and pulls his black headband down over his eyes and tightens it just to be safe. It doesn't seem to affect him much to have his eyes covered, though. There are few golems less powerful than the ones we fought. Few true golems, anyway. He's right. They shouldn't be too nasty. * Istvan translates that last bit for the others. "Maybe whatever killed the wizard is doing this? Or maybe he's not as dead as the Orogs think." * Will nods. * Alcinoe nods, too. She's frowning. You know, I wonder if it's that necromancer. [ You reach the edge of town! ] I don't know. It's possible... Ya might be onto somethin' there. It is his style. Unlikely. Construction of golems of any sort is a time consuming process. Right, Ariake? * Ariake nods. "With the techniques we know of, definitely." But he could have taken over afterwards. * Gratt points to a cave. He smiles. * HKenji doesn't wait, he heads for the entrance at a fair clip. * Seylin waves to Gratt. * Istvan nods at Gratt and draws his war pick. * Patrick heads in, pulling out his bow. * Seylin gets out her halberd. * Ariake cracks her knuckles. Seylin at the front. Right. Istvan, next to me. Ariake and Patrick, behind Istvan. * Ariake nods. Alcinoe and Will, behind them. * Patrick takes position. * Alcinoe draws her longsword. "Yeah, sure." [ The Dungeon awaits! ] * Ariake moves into place. * Istvan gets into position... * Will nods while drawing out his sword too. "Understood." Seylin, keep an eye out for traps. Of course. Ready? [ You reach the entrance to the dungeon! It's a big flat stone face with a little lime buildup along parts of it. Off to one side is a raised area with a lake and some open space. ] [ There appears to be no door. Just a hallway leading back from the cliff wall. The hall is twenty feet high and ten feet wide, allowing you to travel two abreast. ] Suppose. *pauses* Magic people, please note that, should I be swarmed with undeath-causing bugs, my armor is very fire-resistant, and I would in fact be rather grateful to have a fireball dropped on me. * Ariake nods. "Noted." The same applies to me. Excellent. * Patrick chuckles. "That *doesn't* apply to me." * Ariake grins. You're not in the front lines, Patrick. I must note that I am finding many of your gaijin magics quite useful in small scale tactics. That is somewhat blasphemous of me. * HKenji proceeds forward behind Seylin, hand on the hilt of his katana. * Seylin proceeds. Checking for traps! Very definitely checking for traps. * Patrick laughs. "I'm sure you're simply astounded." [ The hallway inside is lit by torches bearing blue-white flames. Lucky you. ] * Istvan walks on next to Kenji, war pick resting on his shoulders. "It'd be nice if this hallway was a bit wider... if something nasty comes, Seylin's gonna have a tough time getting out of the front line." Why? Just let her walk past you. [ Ninety feet in is a door; it stands ajar. ] * Alcinoe clanks along. She glances at the door. Seylin will step backward, and you and I will step forward. * Will clanks along too. "Alci. You are all buffed up right?" * HKenji readies himself as he approaches the door. "Seylin, pull the door fully open, and I will go through first. * Seylin slowly walks up to the door. "Okay." She checks it, too, while she's at it. I don't see any traps. Very well. Open it. * Seylin carefully opens the door. [ The door creaks noisily and melodramatically as you open it. The hinges are badly rusted. ] * HKenji darts through the door and out into the cwenter of the room beyond. * Istvan steps in after Kenji, war pick held ready, looking too and fro. * Alcinoe nods at Will. "Yeah. Much so as Ah'm gonna be before the fightin' starts." [ Inside is a room about thirty feet square, with a forty foot cieling. Three pillars line the east and west sides of the room - you are currently facing south, coming from the north. ] [ To the south is twenty feet of hallway, and then an intersection. ] ... okay, clearish. Kenji? Any advice for this? * HKenji holds up a hand. "There something at the intersection ahead. They will come from the sides. * HKenji motions for Istvan to come forward with him. Patrick, ready yourself. * Istvan nods, and goes foward with Kenji. * Patrick nods and smirks. "Like I wasn't ready before." He readies his bow on the intersection. Seylin, behind us. * Ariake prepares to cast, as well. Right. * Seylin gets behind Kenji and Istvan. * Alcinoe frowns. She looks like she wants to go in, but stays out. But if you notice any traps in front of us, feel free to mention it before we set them off. I didn't see anything yet. Everyone else advance behind us a bit? * Ariake nods, and does so. Guys? Yes? Right after the intersection... there are a couple of pressure plates. Thank y ou. ... good to know. * HKenji proceeds forward towards the intersection. Warn us when we're almost at the plates, Sey... Got it. * Istvan advances with Kenji... * Alcinoe tags along in back, apparently. Her player's confused. Alcinoe and Will, stay on rearguard. Be ready to reinforce the front line, but I want the two of you guarding against undead from the rear. * Will grips his sword tightly as he step in behind Alci. * Alcinoe nods. "Sure." [ On the east and west sides of the intersection are four-foot spheres of what appear to be brass. As you come into view of them, the tops of the spheres lift up, and a vaguely humanoid torso rises out of the sphere. It's left arm holds the top as a shield, and it's right arm sprouts a two-foot blade. they intone simultaneously. ] Lemme guess. They're sayin' they're gonna kill us now. Yup. ... should we back up into the wider room, Kenji? Ack! Retreat ten feet, no more. Sey?! Back off, guys! * HKenji begins backing up slowly, his blades suddenly in his hands. "These constructs are mechanical in nature. I can see the gears turning inside them like one of Ariake's little creations." * Will follows Sey's directions and backs off slowly. * Alcinoe clanks in reverse! Cautiously. * Ariake backs off. * Patrick backs up slowly too. He has three arrows readied on his bow. How are they sensing us? Magic? I mean, maybe if they can't see us... * Istvan backs off. "Magic, of course. Wizards lair." It didn't *sound* like magic, though... Are they following us? * Istvan mutters in dwarves, and his war pick's head is basked in flames. [ Two of the spheres advance on you, rolling along. With identical pronouncements, two more rise behind them and follow, then another two. ] Eep! * Seylin ducks behind a pillar. Ariake, strike now, please. Right! * Istvan gets the fsck outta Ariake's firing path. * HKenji backs up out of Ari's firing path. "Lightning, Ariake." * Patrick is out of it too. "Let loose the thunder." [ With a blast of lightning, Ariake's bolt does some serious badness to the spheres. They're still going, but it looks like they're having serious difficulty doing much of anything. One actually says, and then rambles for a bit. ] * Ariake waves to the spheres. "Sorry, guys. Nothing personal." ... yowza. *moves back into position* [ Init! ] [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji steps forward again to cut down these mechanical monstrosities. * HKenji sends a shower of sparks flying as he steps up to the first golem and slices into its armor and then finally into its essential inner components. [ Kenji cuts a sphere apart! And he gets a static zot from it, too. ] [ Patrick, go! ] Good job, Ariake. * Patrick changes his plans quickly and loads 4 arrows, firing them in quick succession, but pausing slightly after each shot to see if he took down his target. * Ariake nods. "Thanks." [ Patrick drops three more! Two left. ] [ The remaining two advance and attack Kenji and Istvan! ] [ One of them cuts into Kenji, but the one attacking Istvan falls over forward and begins twitching on the floor. ] * Istvan eyes the one in front of him, eyebrow raised. [ Seylin, go! Or not. ] * Seylin jumps out from behind her pillar and hacks at the one that hit Kenji. * Rod is now known as NeremWorld [ Seylin hacks it to nonfunctionality! She should victorypose now. ] * Seylin twirls her halberd and victoryposes. "All right!" * Ariake grins. "Well done!" * Alcinoe relaxes a bit and eyes Seylin. "Uh, nice pose?" * Patrick high-fives Seylin. "Nice!" * Will cheers. "Good job, Sey." I hit something! And I stopped it! * Seylin high-fives Patrick back. [ The one in front of Istvan is still trying to hit him. It's just not able to stand up at the moment. ] * Patrick looks at the one on the ground. "Maybe you should put it out of its misery." * Alcinoe snickers. She can't help it. "Ariake, ya wanna have a look at that thing?" Hmm, absolutely. This could prove useful. * Istvan rears his pick back to do so... then stops. "Smash it? Don't smash it?" * Ariake walks carefully over to the other side of the confused robot, and looks for an access panel. "Wait a sec, Istvan." Don't smash it. Gotcha. * Patrick shrugs. * Istvan takes a step back, but holds his pick ready in case it starts flailing or something. [ Ariake finds an access panel on it's back. ] * Ariake prises open the panel and looks for a control wire. [ Ariake finds something just as good! ] * Istvan relaxes once he sees Ariake has things in hand. "Wanna go take a look at those pressure plates, Sey?" Sure! * Seylin goes over to get a better look. Not stepping on them. Not putting pressure on them at all. * Ariake flips a few tools out of her pockets and begins making some quick adjustments to the robot. * Patrick walks along and looks over Sey's shoulder as she does her thing. [ Seylin hears more centurions starting up once she gets to the intersection! Uh-oh. ] Guys! More! Back here! Mmm? * Seylin hurries back. Possibly in the air. That's quite a lot of constructs. Definitely can't be the necromancer. * Patrick hurries back too! * Istvan gets back into a ready position... * HKenji drops in right beside Istvan. * Ariake finishes dealing with the robot, and hurries over. * Alcinoe checks her sword, bringing it to her side. [ The constructs approach! Same init order, picking up where we left off. ] [ Istvan, go! ] * Istvan steps foward into the path of one of the constructs and proceeds to dismantle it with three swings of his war pic. Finishing it off, he spins around and punching a hole in the side of a second construct. [ Will, go! ] * Will takes a defensive stance and eyes every now and then into the hallway behind him. He's a rearguard alright. [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe glances at Will, then points forward with her sword. She lets out a shout, and a large, faintly glowing circle of flames appears beneath the constructs. [ BOOM. Four constructs are engulfed in cleansing flame, and are left near-wrecked for it! ] Yeek. [ Ariake, go! ] That works! * Ariake fires off some Magic Missiles! [ Two weakened constructs go down! Seven left! ] [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji steps forward, just head of Istvan, to take down the one that he's partially destroyed. * HKenji disappears in a whirl of flashing steel and the golem just sorta falls apart when the sparks stop, bits randomly dropping to the ground. [ Patrick, go! ] * Patrick starts shooting! When he stops, nobody knows. [ Two of the weakened constructs drop! Another takes an arrow somewhere seemingly unimportant. ] [ The spheres attack! ] [ One attacks Istvan, and another tries to hit Kenji. ] [ Kenji takes another two hits, while Istvan is safe behind his armor. ] [ Seylin, go! ] * Istvan lets one corner of his mouth crook up in a small grin as his armor easily resists the blows. * Seylin swings at one of the damaged constructs (and if there aren't any, then an undamaged one!) [ The damaged construct drops! ] Yeah! I got another one! [ Four more! ] [ Istvan, go! ] [ Screw that, it's one AM. Istvan takes two of 'em down! ] [ Two to go! Will, kill them quickly! ] * Will chants a short prayer and a pillar of flame emerges to engulf the constructs. [ The constructs are wrecked! And then Our Heroes realise they've been walking all day and are tired. ] Well that was fun. Let's not forget to disarm those pressure pads, hmm? [ So they went and rested. Session End. z.z ]