Under a Dark Sun(2nd Ed. AD&D)

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath spun around at Ulik's shout. Since he was still normal, but saw the Other coming. He let the sword drop out of his shield hand, the sound of it clattering on the stone floor breaking the silence before the newcomer spoke. The elf suppressed a laugh of disdain when it did, though. "You honestly think we'll just give this to you?" he asked. "Based on what? Your vague promises that you won't hurt us if you do have it? You seem so intent on it now... no, I don't think that would be a good idea." With that he cast Mirror Image and charged.

[Caleb808]

Ulik's breathes a sigh of relief when Lorath remains normal and isn't surprised when The Other shows up. Ulik scratches his chin as if he was contemplating the offer then flicks his fingers at The Other, sending out drops of blood that homed in on it's eyes as they flew through the air.

"He doesn't have a mind! He has SIX! I can't do anything to him!"

"Then take out the weakest one and work from there or at least do something to help Lorath!"

[PurpleXVI]

Lorath, Ulik, Evon

(Ulik loses 3 HP worth of blood, 12 HP remain.)

Ulik's spell struck true, and as the blood spattered unto the Other's face, his dark eyes began to swell and redden, small rivers of his own blood coursed from the edges of his eyesockets and he screamed, stumbling backwards while clutching his face and over the edge of the tall stairs, striking one of the bottom steps with a loud, crunchy thump before splashing into the water and making no further noise.

Before Ulik could celebrate their apparent victory, however, he heard a loud crash behind him, mixed with the sound of something crystalline shattering.

Lorath's charge had gone straight through the pedestals and he had accidentially knocked over several, even as Ulik and Evon turned around to look, more of the things were wobbling uncertainly, and the elf was standing right in the middle of them. In the ruins of the broken spheres, dark, amorphous things with no apparent structure to them were starting to stir.

They moved sluggishly at first, as though waking from a long sleep, but soon became swifter. The first that appeared to have reached full wakefulness slithered across the floor and latched on to the base of a nearby, still-standing, pedestal, then began to rock it, as though attempting to tip it over. The other blobs were heading straight for it.

"What," said Evon slowly, clicking his tongue and backing away towards the stairs, "Happens if one of these symbiote things... Attaches itself to another symbiote?"


Tamora, Bas, Anne, Balth

Anne felt the pressure cease as soon as she resisted it, while the others heard a voice in their heads, it was clear and sounded surprisingly human, as well as feminine, "It is good to see you returned safely from your journey into the wilderness," said the voice, "Not all do, though I see you appear to have lost one, and gained another... You have returned at an unfortunate time, though, or possibly a fortunate one: The tribes have gathered here to determine what must be done about your kin, those who come from your world. Outsiders and those of other races have never brought us anything but problems, and most of the tribes from the deep wild are saying we should drive you out with spear and axe."

The lizardman, or possibly woman, inclined it's head and seemed to study them, "But for the time, colder minds prevail, there are those of us that argue that if we fight you, your entire world will come for us, and we cannot fight an entire world." Then the creature indicated Anne with one of it's fingers, "Your friend seems unwilling to commune with the rest of us, you can assure her that I do not intend to pry into the depths of your minds."

Everyone found that they could make their thoughts heard by all of the others simply by speaking them, but it was an odd way of communication, for all members of it heard the others as they heard their own voices, making it initially a bit disorienting.

"Politics and war are not my forte," said Balth to the three others, speaking normally rather than using the mental link, "But unless you plan to commit suicide somehow, you can count me in on whatever you end up doing."

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath cursed himself for his rashness. How could he have been so unaware of this surroundings? This was something he would have to work on later, keeping a cooler head during battle. However, for the moment he would have to try to save himself and the others from his own mistake.

He went back the way he came, to stand on the stone tub's rim, to hopefully get away from the blob that was forming and avoid knocking over any more. When he was up on his new perch, he casts Magic Missile on the form - what he should have done in the first place.

[Armen]

Tamora

The shaman’s words troubled Tamora greatly – she could understand how the lizardmen felt and she was sorry for the disruption they had brought to their territory. She repeated the shaman’s assurances to Anne then added, “I would never press you but I would like to help our hosts but I know little of wider Achen – your knowledge could be helpful.” She smiled as if to reassure Anne that the decision remained entirely hers. She took a moment to arrange her thoughts before continuing – thinking for the others and speaking out loud for Anne’s benefit.

“I understand the fears of your tribes from the deep wild. My people too are few in number. We live in a beautiful but dangerous forest and avoid enemies through stealth and movement - we have no permanent settlements. Occasionally we fight and kill outsiders but, as you said, we could not fight a war.” She paused for a moment to consider her next words carefully. “I would be willing to help you in this but first, have the newcomers done anything to make you fear them? Has there been contact other than with us?”

[Kazilan]

Bas waited for Tamora to finish speaking before adding his own concerns.

"I understand your worries over interference from outsiders. It is my desire to cause as little disruption to this land as possible. I was also hoping to meet other druids like myself, to establish a relationship that might benefit both our worlds."

Bas frowned as he thought of the problems that could arise from less eco-friendly travelers than himself.

"I would be happy to help you in dealing with the outsiders, and would be grateful for any assistance you could offer on my own mission."

[dplax]

Anne

Anne listened to Tamora's words. Her companion's reassurances helped, but she still felt sceptical. Very sceptical. An alien presence inside of her mind troubled her, but she decided to trust Tamora's judgement.

"Tell it...her...him? That I'll communicate." Her tone carried all the misgivings she had.

OOC: if things seem to be going strangely enough, Anne shall withdraw from the communication and try to shield her mind.

[Caleb808]

Ulik had expected The Other to provide more of a challenge, but was glad that fight was apparently over since a new one was about to begin.

"What," said Evon slowly, clicking his tongue and backing away towards the stairs, "Happens if one of these symbiote things... Attaches itself to another symbiote?"

"I don't want to find out. Take this..." He told Evon, handing him his throwing dagger "...and make sure The Other is finished."

Ulik begins walking towards the pedestal where all the symbiotes were gathering, cutting runes and symbols in to his skin with his main dagger as he went. As he got closer, he began chanting, which made the runes on his skin smolder. He stuttered and shook nervously on some of the words as if he was afraid of completing the spell. Finally, he reached the pedestal and warned Lorath to get out of the room before speaking the final words "Flamma In!" and bursting in to flames.

Ulik was now sheathed in yellow fire, lighting the room up and blurring his features in to a dark red form with white hot flames spouting out of the eyes and mouth. He screamed as though in agony, but he maintained enough control to grab on to the pedestal, igniting it and anything nearby. Once Lorath was safely out of the way, he concentrated on increasing his inner flame's intensity so that anything within a ten foot radius felt the burn from the Flames of the Heart.

[PurpleXVI]

Lorath, Evon, Ulik

(Ulik loses 3 HP, 9 HP remain.)

Lorath's spell caused no apparent damage to the gathering blobs, the bright missiles of force simply struck the oily matter and disappeared.

Just as the things were going to topple the pedestal, Ulik was there, grabbing a hold of it and keeping it up right as flames began to boil from the runes in his skin and even from his orifices.

Evon did not need any encouraging to get the hell out of the room, he was already down in the water at the bottom of the stairs by the time Lorath got there, apparently searching the deep water for the Other, of whom there was no sign. "Damnation," he muttered, as he knelt down, his head barely above the murky water, to search the floor with his hands, "Mind helping me, Lorath?"

Meanwhile, back in the chamber of the spheres, Ulik's flames were spreading and half of the room was a veritable firestorm. Most of the pedestals were smoldering and the symbiotes on the floor were swiftly shrivelling up, like slugs covered in salt. They shrank so fast that the few pieces of bone and cartilage within them literally burst through the thick membrane which formed their outer layer.

From somewhere in the room there came a sound like someone stepping on crushed glass, then something cut Ulik's right ear, sticking in the lobe. As he reflexively reached up to remove it, he found that it was a tiny, needle-sized shard of crystal like what the spheres in the room were made of.

All around him, the searing heat of his flames was boiling the contents of the spheres, causing them to start cracking from the internal pressure. The shard which had struck him had come from a sphere behind him, which had already broken open, literally exploding. It's contents appeared to be another one of the dagger-beetles that he'd met twice before, and the carapace of which was already starting to char and blacken as it writhed in it's death throes.


Tamora, Bas, Anne, Balth

The group's host waited to respond until Anne was part of the "conversation," apparently not wanting to leave her out.

"We have met no others from your world," the shaman told Tamora, "But I am sure you realize that does not matter, sooner or later some fool from your lands will meddle in our affairs or a hotheaded Il-drim from the deep jungle will decide to jump some of your kind on a dark path." It shrugged, "There will be a reason to fight sooner or later. Some of us will fight to the bitter end for our ancestral lands, others of us will find new places to hunt."

Then it looked towards Bas, "I cannot speak for my tribe, or for the other tribes, or even for the Sage, but I can speak for myself, and I will assist you as long as it does not harm my people. You joined the fight against Old Mushtu when you owed us nothing, and for that I feel we owe you."

Balth remained silent, looking lost in thought, or perhaps daydreaming.

[Armen]

Tamora

“I understand”, Tamora answered the shaman. She stared into the embers of the lizardwoman’s fire, full of confusion. She knew that had the situation been reversed and she was at home she would in all likelihood have been part of the patrols that would have hunted the intruders and possibly killed them. But her position now gave her a different perspective. Her fellow off-worlders hadn’t chosen where they arrived and didn’t necessarily mean harm to the jungle-dwellers. She could hardly support killing them on that basis. Indeed, who’s side would she be on in such a conflict? She felt more in common with these people than with those that had hacked the portal clearing out of the forest but to fight them? She looked over to Anne. Not all outsiders were bad people . . .

Tamora continued staring into the glowing coals, unsure of what to say, unaware of how much of her thoughts will have been accessible to the shaman or her companions.

[ 04-04-2007, 08:35 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]