Lord of Shadows
Lots of spider themed stuff it seems.
Try to figure out the writing in the picture. After that, check the writing on the wall, then the column in the center.
To be seen, stand up To be heard, speak up To be appreciated, shut up
>fox: Try to reason with the townsfolk and get on their good graces
Turn 4
Lord Herobrine: (4) You call out to the child. It stops singing and continues to stare at you for some time. When you turn your gaze for a moment, the child suddenly appears in front of you. She says, "Have you seen my sister? She went North into the witchlands a few days ago. I don’t know where she is. Can you help me?"
NE Sgamer 190: (6) You dash away from the area as fast as your dwarven legs can take you. You run past a small signpost but in your hurry you don’t take the time to read it. As you go further into the woods, you eventually find a stone fortress up ahead. Although you can’t make out the figures patrolling along the top, you notice several large red banners depicting a two-headed black dragon in the center. While having a look at the fortress, you accidentally collide into a kobold taking a whizz. Five other kobolds nearby turn towards you and ready their weapons. You make out two spearmen with shields, two archers, and one sword-and-shield fighter with a large crescent on his helm. The swordsman points to one of the spearmen and shouts, "You, get back to the encampment and send for backup. Tell them to stand on heightened alert. Get moving!" Said kobold spearman starts heading to the fortress.
Trip: (3) You keep running until you go beyond the edge of the forest and continue going upward. After a few minutes, you become exhausted from the effort. You can still faintly hear the voices of whoever was behind you, but it will take them some time before they reach you. When you look around, you find yourself placed much higher than the rest of the landscape, and the forest seems to go on forever. Additionally, you can see a few mountains towards your right. In fact, you seem to be standing on one of these mountains, and it continues on upward for quite some distance. Before you, there is a large stone doorway with extinguished torches hanging to each side. An engraving spanning the door features a large eagle accompanied by a dwarf and a mushroom with arms and legs. There is something written above the doorway, but at the moment you don’t understand what it says. Based on the shape of the letters, you guess the writing is dwarven or something like it.
Rivux: (3) After having stolen some things from that foolish dwarf, you sneak around and find another point to blend yourself in. You find some random person, who happens to be a kobold, and ask them about the city. The kobold laughs at you and says, "Are you serious? Are you dead serious?" She turns over to her friend nearby and says, "Look at this fellow, he says he doesn’t know anything about the city we’re going to. Can you believe such a thing?" The two kobolds continue laughing at you, and then the one you addressed continues, "You must not be from around here, or anywhere I’d imagine. You’re looking at Harkad, the seat of the Empire. The place speaks for itself."
B Ra Hi An 1: (3) As you lay on the ground, you begin smiling to yourself as you vow that one day, you will have your revenge on the unicorns. First thing you realize is that you’re going to need a lair/base of operations for your jihad against the equestrian menace. Looking for any materials around you, you manage to start setting up a small shelter and campsite. Additionally, you start making some sort of setup for catching a unicorn. You also catch a squirrel to use as unicorn bait for your trap, since unicorns obviously eat squirrels. Using the dead squirrel, you finally finish setting up your trap near your makeshift shelter. The trap looks ridiculously conspicuous and probably won’t be very effective for catching unicorns, but you are too engrossed in your own insanity to realize this. Seeing the results of your success, you laugh triumphantly. After some time, you see someone pass by. After seeing your setup, said person approaches you and says, "Hello, what is someone like you doing in a place like this?"
The Space Phantom: (5) Before you head off on your journey, the high priestess gives you some additional for navigating yourself to the forest. Seeing the quest before you, you cordially make your exit and head in the intended direction with your bike. After some time, the plains give way to more hilly terrain. At one point, as you start descending from one of these hills, you see an elf crouching behind one of the hills with a unicorn standing nearby. Further along the path, you see a bunch of humans carrying along some goods with an ox-driven cart. The elf has a bow aimed at the people along the road.
Makuta 9999: (6) You try studying the writing under the mural but you don’t have information yet to begin deciphering it. Thus, you start translating the stuff on the right wall. It takes you some time, but eventually you figure out the workings of the language.
The wall reads as follows: "We are King Yassari II the Magnificent, who ruled over the lands of Keran in the twelfth age. By Hastar’s blessing, our nation has been granted good fortune. Our reign has been good and just, and our great deeds are many. By our will, we have subdued the great river to our cause, and have curbed the constant fury of Oshun, great serpent of the waters. We have overseen the construction of the temple to Hastar in Keran, the very foundation on which you stand. We have subdued the people of Sakkur, who were fools to worship the lesser god Itanis. We have expanded the scribal art to encompass all the cities across the land. We have spread the magic of the web to all those who use it for the greatness of Keran. The core holds its secrets. Take it, and may the blessings of Hastar be upon you."
As you turn towards the cylinder in the center, you glance over at the writing on the opposite wall, which reads, "King Yassari II’s victory at Ezkel against Sakkur." You begin reading the text on the cylinder, which you quickly realize is a ritual incantation. As you continue reading, you begin saying the ritual aloud, as the writing doesn’t form into coherent sentences. After about a minute, your magical senses pick up another layer of text of some indescribable hue overlaying the original writing. In spite of better wisdom, you find the writing too intriguing to stop, and you start reading the octarine text aloud. You start hearing something from the walls, and the room starts to go black, but you find you cannot stop the incantation. Your arms start twitching and then you start feeling weak all over.
After a minute you feel like your veins are on fire. You feel a searing pain in both the back of your neck and your left ring finger. You no longer hear anything from the walls, but instead you hear a high, constant pitch. When you start focusing yourself from the pain, you find that you’re simultaneously seeing things from both the floor and your original position. There is now a glowing, black ring on your left hand, coursing pain throughout your body, along with a spider-like insignia. There are also spiders crawling all over your body, and you feel their every step. Bits of your right hand start turning into more spiders, which start descending towards the ground along with droplets of blood. Over time, enough of your flesh disintegrates away that you start seeing your own bones, which you can still somehow move. You also hear footsteps coming from one of the hallways.
Fox Mccloud 4387: (3) You plead to the villagers that you mean no harm. One of them says, "No way I’m trusting the likes of him. Look at him! He’s a two-headed ogre!" Another says, "Let’s bludgeon him to death!"
The bowman speaks up, "Let us not be too hasty my friends. If this buffoon really was one of the Empire’s pawns, his death would do nothing but invite those draconic fiends to raze our lands. Let him live; I think we could get a few answers out of him. And don’t leave your sights off him." As the villagers move in to surround you, the bowman tells you, "I suggest you don’t do anything funny. I can ensure you that my next shot won’t miss. Let us bring him to my place." Once the villagers surround you, they start pressuring you towards one of the houses. The bowman mentions, "Perhaps you could make this easier on yourself by stating your reasons for being here."
Also, here's a stats chart for tracking everyone's stuff.
Stats
| Name | Race | Class | Location | Relative Wealth | Items |
| Trip | Humen | Wizard | Mountain entrance | 1 | |
| Makuta 9999 | Human/Spider swarm | Battlemage | Temple of Hastar | 1 | Black Ring |
| Fox Mccloud 4387 | Two-headed Giant | Assassin/Rogue | Farming village | 1 | |
| Omega Shadowcry | Goat-thing | Fighter | Generic Plains | 1 | |
| NE Sgamer 190 | Dorf | Fighter | Outside a Kobold fortress | 2 | Silver Ring |
| The Space Phantom | Human | Cavalier/bicyclist | Hills south of some coastal town | 1 | |
| B Ra Hi An 1 | Human | Scribe | Forest campsite | 4 | |
| Rivux | Centaur | Rogue/thief | Road to Harkad | 2 | Red potion, important scroll |
| Lord Herobrine | Shade | Necromancer | Twilight zone | 1 | Wood amulet |
edited 14th Jun '14 9:24:37 PM by CathariSarad
Jamais vu
>Eh?! What on earth is going on here? I make loud noises, hoping to either get the unicorn's attention or throw the archer's aim off!
UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI
same old me
Oh. Ohhhh.
Well, I'm not about to let these people laugh at me without some sort of snide comeback!
I try to casually walk away back to the mountain path and passive aggressively thank them for giving me insight upon this secular world.
mario is red, i am green, i try my best, but everyone's mean
>I am a part of the Rebel Alliance and (not) a traitor!
Lord of Shadows
Am I turning into some sort of Lich? Drider? The Worm That Walks in spider form?
Eh, I'll figure it out later. Right now I'd like to see who's showing up first.
To be seen, stand up To be heard, speak up To be appreciated, shut up
Hello!
Action: Looks like combat's unavoidable. I knew there'd be a day when kobolds would claim a fortress!
"If you have any beefs with Santa, do remember to SETTLE IT IN SMASH!" Quote by Edveed
The thing with the red gold crown.
Race: Human
Class: Soulsword
It comes. The corrupter comes. Don't let it touch the tower lest all reality crumble.
Maid of Time
>Claim to be here on very, very important research. You know, since I'm a scribe.
i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart
Spooky Scary Boneheaded Man
Odd... this most definite not Pegla. Something must have happened mid-warp to send me... wherever I am. Wait, hold a minute.
What happened to my greatcoat? Well, looks like I've got a sidequest for myself. Now, to find myself an Axe...
>ACTION: Travel to forest, keeping an eye or four out for hints of civilization.
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalous
Turn 5
The Space Phantom: (1) Although you reason that running into the elf or the unicorn would be the best way to get their attention, you realize that doing so would get you an arrow through your head or a horn through your side. Therefore, you try shouting to get the elf’s attention. As much as you try, the elf remains focused on his task. The unicorn happens to glance toward your general direction, but it doesn’t seem particularly interested in your presence. Since you were too busy yelling at the elf, you start to lose control of your bike. You hear something plop to the ground and the people in front of you start panicking. A few seconds later, you run into something and fall from your bike. You find yourself lying on top of some poor sap, who’s now bleeding profusely from the collision. You also see some of the people around you pulling out axes while looking at you.
Rivux: (4) You passive-aggressively thank the two kobolds for enlightening you. As you head back to the place from which you came, you overhear the two talking amongst themselves. The one you spoke with says, "That guy sure has a stick up his ass."
Her friend says, "Maybe you should have treated him more fairly."
"You’re one to talk. You were laughing along with me. Now come to think of it, you don’t see many centaurs in this part of the Empire." Eventually, you manage to return to the site overlooking the city.
Foxmccloud 4387: (5) As you continue walking to the bowman’s house, you try convincing him that you’re part of the rebel alliance. He responds, "So you’re one of Marduk’s men? No, that’s not right. That kingdom’s mostly humans and shrumen. They’re not the kind to take kindly to your stock. Perhaps you’re one of those golden fanatics? It matters not. There’s plenty of people out there who don’t take too kindly to Ahmed Sultani’s expansion. But don’t call us rebels yet, we’re still under the protection of King Xandu. If you seek sanctuary, you ought to go to the southwest, to the city of Sarastil. But if you really are one of the rebels, perhaps you can prove your loyalty. There’s a Harkadi encampment far to the north that regularly raids these lands. I would like for you to go there and bring back the enemy commander’s head. He shouldn’t be too hard to recognize. You’ll know him when you see him. You might as well take some of their supplies and bring them here while you’re at it."
Makuta 9999: (6) You wait for whoever’s coming from the hallway to show up. Though the footsteps are still going, you see a large spider peek over the corner then hide back. You’d go over to check, but you’re still a bit disoriented from the ritual. And the footsteps keep going and going. It’s taking a very long time for this person to come over. Meanwhile, the spiders on the ground start climbing back toward your hand and reattach themselves to your body, returning your hand to its former shape. Pain still sears through your body, but you’re starting to become accustomed to it. You wait and you wait, but you start to wonder if your visitor will ever come. Then the footsteps stop for a second. Three human figures jump from the corner at the end of the hallway and start charging towards you. The one in front is wielding a large shield and mace, both of which are glowing white. The other two appear to be mages, as they both have orb implements. Three large spiders crawl along the walls behind them. The armored warrior shouts, "For Hastar!!!" The mage trailing to the warrior’s right starts preparing a spell.
NE Sgamer 190: (2) After the squad leader gives his orders, the remaining spearman moves in for an attack with the leader following behind. Seeing as you don’t want to run into the spear, you wait for the kobold to approach you. The spearman thrusts at you. Anticipating this, you move such that the spear glances off your armor, and thus you begin your counterattack. You swing your warhammer aiming to flatten the kobold spearman. However, kobolds like shifting a lot. The spearman simply jumps out of the way, towards your left, before you complete your attack. You feel an arrow pierce through your right shoulder while another one wheezes by your head. The squad leader starts moving into a flanking position with the spear kobold.
Philosopher: (Free) You are a human soulsword. You are bonded with some weapon of your choice, so long as it isn’t overpowered, and you do stuff based on that. You can also hide it and do other things that I haven’t fully read about. You have basic provisions like everyone else. You find yourself spawned in a jungle area. To your right, you see the jungle clear out, and farther out you see a small village. You also hear occasional rustling coming from behind you.
B Ra Hi An 1: (5)
Omega Shadowcry: (4) You don't need to look for an axe. Due to the weapon of choice clause, you came with one when you spawned. You head over to the forest. You continue walking and you eventually find a small village. Most of the houses here are two-story abodes made out of wood. The inhabitants here comprise of a roughly equal number of humans and mushroom-shaped people. At the center of the village, you see a small ball of light floating above the ground. You see several of the villagers carrying logs around, swordsmen patrolling about, along with other activities. Some of the inhabitants look at you. One of the mushroom-folks approaches you, "Say, I’ve never seen anyone like you in these parts. What brings you here to Giotto?"
Stats
| Name | Race | Class | Location | Relative Wealth | Items |
| Trip | Humen | Wizard | Mountain entrance | 1 | |
| Makuta 9999 | Human/Spider swarm | Battlemage | Temple of Hastar | 1 | Black Ring |
| Fox Mccloud 4387 | Two-headed Giant | Assassin/Rogue | Farming village | 1 | |
| Omega Shadowcry | Goat-thing | Fighter | Giotto | 1 | |
| NE Sgamer 190 | Dorf | Fighter | Outside a Kobold fortress | 2 | Silver Ring |
| The Space Phantom | Human | Cavalier/bicyclist | Hills south of some coastal town | 1 | |
| B Ra Hi An 1 | Human | | Forest campsite | 4 | Magic Scroll |
| Rivux | Centaur | Rogue/thief | Site overlooking Harkad | 2 | Red potion, important scroll |
| Lord Herobrine | Shade | Necromancer | Twilight zone | 1 | Wood amulet |
| Philosopher | Human | Soulsword | Jungle | 1 |
edited 15th Jun '14 3:03:05 PM by CathariSarad
Jamais vu
>Oh! Oh. This is bad. Quickly, I attempt to explain that this was an accident, and actually you guys were about to be robbed by a unicorn and an elf so technically I'm helping and you should reward me, or at the very least not stab me repeatedly.
UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI
same old me
Alright, now that I'm nice and away from all that shit.
I open up the sack and properly inspect my gains. I look the potion over to see if I can tell what it is, and carefully open the scroll up to read.
mario is red, i am green, i try my best, but everyone's mean
Maid of Time
You had me at "I seek to hunt a unicorn."
>Accept quest.
>And also read the scroll.
i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart
THIS IS MY FINAL FORM
> Accept helping the child.
> Cast spell to augment Zombie Spearman.
edited 15th Jun '14 3:15:46 PM by LordHerobrine
I am the once and future king.
Hello!
Let's prioritize... the spearman's close, but the archer's getting free pot shots...
Action: Move up to the archer and show 'im the hammer heading for his face!
"If you have any beefs with Santa, do remember to SETTLE IT IN SMASH!" Quote by Edveed
>fox: I'll take this mission. The more contracts, the better. I embark on a quest to claim this bandit leader's head.
Lord of Shadows
I suppose that the knight has a holy enchantment on his weapon and shield, so those will hurt.
I'll go with a fireball at the ceiling so it comes down on the knight, and if that doesn't work, then I'll use Sphere of Annihilation as a follow up.
I highly doubt I wold be able to talk to them anyway. Religious fevor does that to people.
To be seen, stand up To be heard, speak up To be appreciated, shut up
Turn 6
The Space Phantom: (4) You try convincing the civilians that this was an accident and that an elf is attacking the convoy. They are quickly convinced, as they turn and see another one of them has fallen to the ground. They start gathering behind the cart around you to take cover. One of them addresses you, "Alright, I’ll accept you’re friendly for now. Never though I’d see an elf in my life. Thought they only existed in stories. Well, aren’t you going to do something about this? You do have something for dealing with whoever’s attacking us, right?" (Note: You do realize that your character came with a free weapon of choice, which you can use while on your bike?)
Rivux: (5) From your knowledge of various liquids, you quickly discern that you have a healing potion in your possession. You also realize that drinking it at this time would be a waste. You undo the scroll and start reading it.
The scroll says, "To the one called Darkfang, We have had great difficulty finding an individual of your expertise. We wish to make use of your services and your connections within the capital. From our networks, we have heard that a general from the North, Jalal Fahim Qarat, has come to the capital. We suspect that the Emperor intends to promote him to General of the Armies. From what we have heard of the northern campaign, we fear his involvement will seriously hamper our progress towards independence. We do not ask something so grand as deposing the Emperor, as you should be well aware of his stature. We simply request that you have an unfortunate accident befall the northern general. To ensure your cooperation, we have paid you up front. Should you complete this task, we shall reward you with a title and a landed estate, and we shall absolve you of all your crimes. With regards, Enil of Riosti, Chancellor of the Nivani Patriarchate."
B Ra Hi An 1: (5) You open up the scroll and begin examining it. You recognize the script as Keranian, though you don’t necessarily know the cultural specifics of the country of origin. The text itself glows red, and you begin reading the scroll aloud. You quickly realize the writing is a ritual of some sort, as it doesn’t seem to form any coherent sentences. Although you are too focused on reading the script, the traveler in front of you looks on in bewilderment. As you continue reading, your vision starts turning white. You have learned cure light wounds, I.e. you have a minor healing spell. Your normal vision returns to you, and the scroll disintegrates into white dust. The adventurer says, "What in the world was that? Never mind, perhaps you can tell me later. I couldn’t get a use out of that thing anyway. Are you coming with or not?" You respond that you wish to accompany her and the two of you set off into the forest. After walking for some time, you find a unicorn drinking out of a pond where the trees clear out. It seems to have no knowledge of your presence.
Lord Herobrine: (6) You readily accept the task set out by the child. When you happen to take your focus off to enhance your zombie, she suddenly appears on a hill in the distance. You move in closer to your zombie to perform your augmentation ritual. As you don’t happen to have a spellbook on hand, you recite the spell from memory. A red tattoo in some arcane script appears on the back of the zombie spearman’s neck. Your spearman now has an aura of fire with a 10 foot radius. Unfortunately, it is not a friendly aura, though it leaves the zombie and its equipment intact. It appears that you are now on fire.
NE Sgamer 190: (5) You see your opportunity and charge in for one of the archers. The spearman lunges his weapon to try and prevent your escape, and the leader tries to attack you with your back turned. However, you’re already beyond their reach when the melee soldiers complete their attack. Seeing your advance, the archers split up and try sprinting to a position where the others can intercept. They try attacking you while maneuvering, but their attacks miss you due to your speed. Unfortunately, the melee combatants aren’t fast enough to prevent you from reaching your target, and you go ahead and make a horizontal swing. The kobold tries to shift out of the way, but you connect with your attack, lobbing the poor lizard’s head straight off. The rest of the body collapses to the ground. The leader says, "Dammit! Soldier, get behind me! Defensive positions!"
Fox Mccloud 4387: (1) You decide to accept the mission the bowman has given you. The townsfolk open up for you to maneuver, and point you in the general direction of the imperial encampment. You head off and begin your journey, looking around at the scenery as you go. You also keep an eye out for any large structures or any other people in the area, but you don’t see anyone about. After traveling for a while, you suddenly lose your footing and fall into a hole. You feel several spikes pierce through your feet. Your arms remain above the surface.
Makuta 9999: (5) You’re not powerful enough to conjure a sphere of annihilation. Despite your status as a spider-swarm, you’re still roughly the equivalent of a low level character. You launch a bolt of fire towards the ceiling, hoping to hit the knight with it. Anticipating a collapse, the knight jumps of the way. You see a large chunk of rock about to fall on the mage casting the spell. Seeing this, the mage panics and jumps out of the way as well, but accidentally unleashes a burst of lightning toward the ceiling closer to you. Seeing the warrior charging in, you fire a second bolt just above you and quickly move out of the way. Aided by both your spell and the mage’s misfire, a much larger block falls down on top of the warrior, rendering him bleeding and unconscious. The mage further back comes up and casts a spell aimed at the crushed warrior while the other one charges another lightning attack. You see a snaking stream of white mist connecting from the second mage’s free hand to the knight. You hear more footsteps running in the opposing hallway.
Stats
| Name | Race | Class | Location | Relative Wealth | Items |
| Trip | Humen | Wizard | Mountain entrance | 1 | |
| Makuta 9999 | Human/Spider swarm | Battlemage | Temple of Hastar | 1 | Black Ring |
| Fox Mccloud 4387 | Two-headed Giant | Assassin/Rogue | Stuck in a hole | 1 | |
| Omega Shadowcry | Goat-thing | Fighter | Giotto | 1 | |
| NE Sgamer 190 | Dorf | Fighter | Outside a Kobold fortress | 2 | Silver Ring |
| The Space Phantom | Human | Cavalier/bicyclist | Hills south of some coastal town | 1 | |
| B Ra Hi An 1 | Human | | Pond in forest | 4 | |
| Rivux | Centaur | Rogue/thief | Site overlooking Harkad | 2 | Red potion, important scroll |
| Lord Herobrine | Shade | Necromancer | Twilight zone | 1 | Burning amulet |
| Philosopher | Human | Soulsword | Jungle | 1 |
Jamais vu
>Yes! I proudly hold up my jousting lance for all to see! Hopefully, I will impress everyone here!
UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI
>fox: Not the stickiest situation I've been in. I try to climb out and continue walking, injuries be damned.
Maid of Time
Now, we have to stealthy about this, or else it'll see us.
>Run towards it, waving my knife around and shouting "LEEROY JENKINS"
>Slowly and quietly sneak closer to it.
i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart
Spooky Scary Boneheaded Man
"Funny you should ask... I don't actually know. My homeland is far from here, but some strange occurrence sent me here instead."
I pause for a moment to look around to at the town.
"Hmm... what can you tell me of this forest?"
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalous
>It can fly! ...Metaphorically. It's really fast. It can't actually fly, though. In any event, I shall accept this quest!
UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI