"Actually, Alaraen, if you listened to what I said, I had not voted for Silas and, following her declaration, had no intention of voting for her. Providing that her words can be proven, she has removed herself from suspicion. Equally, what I said about you was that voting for Haiku removed you from suspicion, although I am beginning to have my doubts again. Finally, as Sleek so kindly pointed out, I voted for Kurlan. Twice. And, unless my memory is completely useless, he was most certainly not loyal."
"Now, I had no intention of voting for either of the two mentioned. In fact, I intended to note that while Alaraen was quiet, he did not seem to be guilty and I merely wanted to learn the opinion of others on the quiet Silas. Would you rather I sat here in silence and said nothing that might help this council? Last, to add something constructive if possible. I will with hold my vote for now and I would urge others to do the same until we have an explanation for Lord of the Night's excursions after dark and equally what Ashnari was doing that brought him there in the night. After all, clearly simply voting for one of the cultists is insufficient proof of innocence as we all have done that at least once, yes?"
SAU XII: Black Ark Down
Moderator: The Makers of Chains
"May I interrupt, but I think that Silas has also clarified that he is male, not female, unlike you are saying, Zenovia?
You are the topmost of my suspicion list. Actually, you are the only one on my suspicion list right now. You have voted here and there the days before this, but now your acting looks like... you're nervous. You are attacked, and perhaps your nervousness is leading from a failure in the night, hmm?
Aha, now there are some amongst you who are now expecting for my vote. But, I have to disappoint you, 'cause I'm not going to vote on Zenovia. As you can see, she voted on a traitor, Beastmaster Kurlan, twice. That can't be bluff anymore or a traitor really wanted to sacrifice her companion.
Nonetheless, I will not vote on her."
You are the topmost of my suspicion list. Actually, you are the only one on my suspicion list right now. You have voted here and there the days before this, but now your acting looks like... you're nervous. You are attacked, and perhaps your nervousness is leading from a failure in the night, hmm?
Aha, now there are some amongst you who are now expecting for my vote. But, I have to disappoint you, 'cause I'm not going to vote on Zenovia. As you can see, she voted on a traitor, Beastmaster Kurlan, twice. That can't be bluff anymore or a traitor really wanted to sacrifice her companion.
Nonetheless, I will not vote on her."
-
Lordofthenight
- Malekith's Personal Guard
- Posts: 803
- Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:57 pm
- Location: Hell
- Contact:
"It seems everyone's waiting to hear what I have to say then. Indeed, I was up and about two nights ago - but I was far from the only one. I was following you Sleek - though I assure you my intentions were entirely honourable. I wasn't even the only one tracking your movements that night - both our departed priests were keeping tabs on you, as was Demendred, which he's already admitted.
I even saw two people doing their best too protect you - I won't divulge their names, as there seems no reason to alert the inflitrators to their presnence. They know who they are know, and can trust me when I say I saw them.
Unfortunately, I know nothing of anyone else, so I cannot help you there. Silas claims to have protected you last night, which we're all grateful for to be sure, if it was truely her. I stated yesterday that I felt Belcar's actions to be slightly suspicious, but no more than any anyone else whose innocence is unconfirmed in my eyes."
I even saw two people doing their best too protect you - I won't divulge their names, as there seems no reason to alert the inflitrators to their presnence. They know who they are know, and can trust me when I say I saw them.
Unfortunately, I know nothing of anyone else, so I cannot help you there. Silas claims to have protected you last night, which we're all grateful for to be sure, if it was truely her. I stated yesterday that I felt Belcar's actions to be slightly suspicious, but no more than any anyone else whose innocence is unconfirmed in my eyes."
Punishment leads to Fear. Fear leads to Obedience. Obedience leads to Freedom. Therefore, Punishment leads to Freedom.
Kuyoz Nightkiller
WS: 4 S:3 T:3 D:4 I:4
Repeater Crossbow, Short Sword, Shade Cloak, Light Armour
5 throwing daggers, 90gc
Kuyoz Nightkiller
WS: 4 S:3 T:3 D:4 I:4
Repeater Crossbow, Short Sword, Shade Cloak, Light Armour
5 throwing daggers, 90gc
"Ahem. I think I just slipped wrong information of our fellow Silas. I claimed her to be male in my last reply, as she actually is she... I had hard time thinking of what she had said in general.
Maybe it is since she has talked so little?"
Belcar wrinkled his forehead in confusion. He let out a soft chuckle after realising what he had said.
"Ah well, just forget what I said about Silas. I just feel a tad tired."
Maybe it is since she has talked so little?"
Belcar wrinkled his forehead in confusion. He let out a soft chuckle after realising what he had said.
"Ah well, just forget what I said about Silas. I just feel a tad tired."
-
Tarbo
- Morathi's Best Friend
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:06 pm
- Location: Flanders, Belgium
“Let me rephrase that: how many worthwhile artifacts have we recovered so far?”
The logisitician fidgetted uncomfortably under Mioralynthia's scrutiny. It was hard to judge exactly which artifacts where worthwhile and which weren't, or even to just separate artifact from random doojigger. And what could really compare to the loss of an entire ark? “Eh...” he stalled, thinking of what he could say to get away with a vague answer that could be misinterpreted in his favour.
“Your enthousiasm speaks volumes,” Mioralynthia finally said. “What can we safely say to have found at all?”
“We have a number of, ah, light guns. Some of those blue helmets. A few of those lunchboxes on wheels—rhinoceroses...”
“That's it? We are in a veritable warehouse and that is all we can recover? We are practically sitting on crates filled with who knows what!”
“Yes, mistress, but we've yet to find a way to open these metal crates. Most containers we have managed to open contained, for instance, oil, some other highly flammable liquids, or were just plain empty. What's worse is that our sorceresses haven't detected a trace of magical essence in anything we've found so far.”
Mioralynthia rubbed her temple with her hands and dismissed the logistician silently. The expedition would need to focus on finding the artifacts more than exploring the complex. It was only a matter of time before their invasion would be reacted to—she couldn't fathom an entire expedition being able to waltz into this structure without someone taking notice or objection.
“Is everything in order, Mistress?” Anleth asked when she approached.
“No, everything is not in order,” she replied, her voice kept down to remove possible sting. “I've just heard we haven't a single magical artifact to account for. For all the strange and peculiar things we have found, we have yet to come across magical artifacts. And I fear we will have to twist fate's arm to find any.”
Anleth thought momentarily; she wasn't sure she was following the sorceress' line of thought correctly. “Are you suggesting we actively scry for those artifacts? Wouldn't the building's wards hamper those attempts and warn occupants?”
“We have always assumed that some manner of ward would be present on the building, but we have never actively tested it.” Mioralynthia took a deep breath, refraining from leaning against nearby objects to keep her clothes from smudging. “But we if we test it, we may set it off, so we must find another way.”
Anleth pressed her lips. While she had a basic understanding of the workings of magic, owing to her intensive training at the Temple of Khaine as the captain of its own guard, anything but the most shallow concepts of magic were lost on her. And while magic did have its own mystique and drew fascination from laymen and -women as her, she knew talent for the art was not spent on her.
“Perhaps...” Mioralynthia raised, pondering the dilemma for a third answer. “Perhaps we can summon a dampening field of our own. If we can create a magical bubble of sorts, and operate solely therein, we may be able to use our magic without triggering any wards.”
“Will this bubble not hamper our own attempts as well?”
“To an extent, yes, but if we are to choose between being hampered in our efforts or being blocked out entirely, we must choose the lesser evil.”
“Mistress, I do not mean to raise the obvious, but is there no way to test for wards without triggering them?”
“That may take more time than we comfortably have. I'll spare you the details, but I will search for wards as soon as we have our own shield to protect us from harm.”
Anleth nodded briefly, accepting the answer at face value, then bowed politely and took her leave.
°°°
Tarbo sits comfortably in the meeting, his presence unnoticeable if it weren't for the swinging of his foot to some imaginary tune playing in his head. His mood is a hard one to throw off; layers of dust, the scent of leaky oil and spent gasoline, the perpetually dry air... it seems to roll off him as if he were sitting in a comfortable couch rather than lying against a metal crate. He marks the occasional vote on his notepad and further keeps very much out of the meeting.
But when Sleek Darrez makes a move for the papers next to him, his attention is drawn. A magical quill seems to be hovering not too far from his head, making notes of its own. He frowns momentarily, aims himself up, and glances curiously at the quill's notes, comparing with his own. His eyebrows jump up briefly before he focuses back on his own work. Neat trick, very neat trick.
________________________
With 10 players, 6 constitute a majority.
The activity deadline has now passed. The final deadline is set for Monday, 20h00 GMT.
The following card is in play: Drain the Winds of Magic. (If the image does not show, ping me and I'll put the text up.)
The logisitician fidgetted uncomfortably under Mioralynthia's scrutiny. It was hard to judge exactly which artifacts where worthwhile and which weren't, or even to just separate artifact from random doojigger. And what could really compare to the loss of an entire ark? “Eh...” he stalled, thinking of what he could say to get away with a vague answer that could be misinterpreted in his favour.
“Your enthousiasm speaks volumes,” Mioralynthia finally said. “What can we safely say to have found at all?”
“We have a number of, ah, light guns. Some of those blue helmets. A few of those lunchboxes on wheels—rhinoceroses...”
“That's it? We are in a veritable warehouse and that is all we can recover? We are practically sitting on crates filled with who knows what!”
“Yes, mistress, but we've yet to find a way to open these metal crates. Most containers we have managed to open contained, for instance, oil, some other highly flammable liquids, or were just plain empty. What's worse is that our sorceresses haven't detected a trace of magical essence in anything we've found so far.”
Mioralynthia rubbed her temple with her hands and dismissed the logistician silently. The expedition would need to focus on finding the artifacts more than exploring the complex. It was only a matter of time before their invasion would be reacted to—she couldn't fathom an entire expedition being able to waltz into this structure without someone taking notice or objection.
“Is everything in order, Mistress?” Anleth asked when she approached.
“No, everything is not in order,” she replied, her voice kept down to remove possible sting. “I've just heard we haven't a single magical artifact to account for. For all the strange and peculiar things we have found, we have yet to come across magical artifacts. And I fear we will have to twist fate's arm to find any.”
Anleth thought momentarily; she wasn't sure she was following the sorceress' line of thought correctly. “Are you suggesting we actively scry for those artifacts? Wouldn't the building's wards hamper those attempts and warn occupants?”
“We have always assumed that some manner of ward would be present on the building, but we have never actively tested it.” Mioralynthia took a deep breath, refraining from leaning against nearby objects to keep her clothes from smudging. “But we if we test it, we may set it off, so we must find another way.”
Anleth pressed her lips. While she had a basic understanding of the workings of magic, owing to her intensive training at the Temple of Khaine as the captain of its own guard, anything but the most shallow concepts of magic were lost on her. And while magic did have its own mystique and drew fascination from laymen and -women as her, she knew talent for the art was not spent on her.
“Perhaps...” Mioralynthia raised, pondering the dilemma for a third answer. “Perhaps we can summon a dampening field of our own. If we can create a magical bubble of sorts, and operate solely therein, we may be able to use our magic without triggering any wards.”
“Will this bubble not hamper our own attempts as well?”
“To an extent, yes, but if we are to choose between being hampered in our efforts or being blocked out entirely, we must choose the lesser evil.”
“Mistress, I do not mean to raise the obvious, but is there no way to test for wards without triggering them?”
“That may take more time than we comfortably have. I'll spare you the details, but I will search for wards as soon as we have our own shield to protect us from harm.”
Anleth nodded briefly, accepting the answer at face value, then bowed politely and took her leave.
°°°
Tarbo sits comfortably in the meeting, his presence unnoticeable if it weren't for the swinging of his foot to some imaginary tune playing in his head. His mood is a hard one to throw off; layers of dust, the scent of leaky oil and spent gasoline, the perpetually dry air... it seems to roll off him as if he were sitting in a comfortable couch rather than lying against a metal crate. He marks the occasional vote on his notepad and further keeps very much out of the meeting.
But when Sleek Darrez makes a move for the papers next to him, his attention is drawn. A magical quill seems to be hovering not too far from his head, making notes of its own. He frowns momentarily, aims himself up, and glances curiously at the quill's notes, comparing with his own. His eyebrows jump up briefly before he focuses back on his own work. Neat trick, very neat trick.
________________________
- Players
- LordAnubis
- lordofthenight
- Ashnari Doomsong
- Demendred
- Draknir Reaverblade
- Aleraen
- Aenarin
- Shadow Dark
- 51la5
- SleekDD
- LordAnubis
- Aleraen
- Aenarin
With 10 players, 6 constitute a majority.
The activity deadline has now passed. The final deadline is set for Monday, 20h00 GMT.
The following card is in play: Drain the Winds of Magic. (If the image does not show, ping me and I'll put the text up.)
-
Sleekdd
- Highborn
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 7:33 am
- Location: Belgium, the only country where surrealism is a way of life.
Papers, more papers, stacks of papers. The floating quill certainly insisted on jotting down any word spoken, crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’. This made for a reliable source but it also meant a lot of work if you wanted to go back to see what you might have missed in the heat of the moment. Finally, after a long while, Sleek finally reached a conclusion, or at least something near enough to speak up…again.
“Well then, I’ve gone through the records of the past days and they have been quite enlightening, although as ever, nothing is certain.”
“Still, based on what was said today and the days before, I feel compelled to make a new list of suspects. I am taking Shadow Dark of the list because of what I said before. I had little to put in against the man and now that I read the records, I find more in favour of him.”
“lordofthenight is off my list as well because of his explanation of his knowledge and his action on the earlier days.”
“That leaves me in the search of new suspects. Although, still at the forefront of my list is Zenovia. I have stated my case against her before: Haiku protected her, much in the same way he protected Beastmaster Kurlan. Since Haiku absolutely refused to vote his colleagues, this speaks strongly against Zenovia. Aside this, she has tried to see me voted off and quickly changed targets when the attack faltered. First she turned on Kurlan, he wasn’t giving any sign of life anyway. And then she turned on Genoreth rather than Haiku. Oddly enough, I was left alone that following night, leaving me free to persecute our priest relentlessly. Once my task was done, I was slated to go down, perhaps because the traitor thought I would retrace my steps and move to the next suspect?”
“On a far second place, I’d place Belcar. His actions on the first day are to his credit and left me to believe he was very much innocent as I had said that day. However, the following days have been mired with ill-fated actions and dubious accusations. A simple example: he declares Zenovia to be suspicious above everyone else, but he refuses to vote for her because she is obviously not a traitor in the very same breath. Quite an achievement but that could just as well mean he speaks first and considers his opinion second. If it wasn’t for the good will he showed on the first day, I had considered him as likely to be a traitor as Zenovia, but for the time being, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Time is starting to run out, gentlemen and a choice needs to be made. I believe we have learned as much as we could from this day and now, we need to act on it, swiftly. Considering Zenovia is my prime suspect, I will place my vote there.”
Vote: Zenovia (LordAnubis)
“Well then, I’ve gone through the records of the past days and they have been quite enlightening, although as ever, nothing is certain.”
“Still, based on what was said today and the days before, I feel compelled to make a new list of suspects. I am taking Shadow Dark of the list because of what I said before. I had little to put in against the man and now that I read the records, I find more in favour of him.”
“lordofthenight is off my list as well because of his explanation of his knowledge and his action on the earlier days.”
“That leaves me in the search of new suspects. Although, still at the forefront of my list is Zenovia. I have stated my case against her before: Haiku protected her, much in the same way he protected Beastmaster Kurlan. Since Haiku absolutely refused to vote his colleagues, this speaks strongly against Zenovia. Aside this, she has tried to see me voted off and quickly changed targets when the attack faltered. First she turned on Kurlan, he wasn’t giving any sign of life anyway. And then she turned on Genoreth rather than Haiku. Oddly enough, I was left alone that following night, leaving me free to persecute our priest relentlessly. Once my task was done, I was slated to go down, perhaps because the traitor thought I would retrace my steps and move to the next suspect?”
“On a far second place, I’d place Belcar. His actions on the first day are to his credit and left me to believe he was very much innocent as I had said that day. However, the following days have been mired with ill-fated actions and dubious accusations. A simple example: he declares Zenovia to be suspicious above everyone else, but he refuses to vote for her because she is obviously not a traitor in the very same breath. Quite an achievement but that could just as well mean he speaks first and considers his opinion second. If it wasn’t for the good will he showed on the first day, I had considered him as likely to be a traitor as Zenovia, but for the time being, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Time is starting to run out, gentlemen and a choice needs to be made. I believe we have learned as much as we could from this day and now, we need to act on it, swiftly. Considering Zenovia is my prime suspect, I will place my vote there.”
Vote: Zenovia (LordAnubis)
Great minds think alike.
So if you want diversity, try morons.
So if you want diversity, try morons.
-
Ashnari doomsong
- Highborn
- Posts: 796
- Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:52 pm
"Aye, ladies, gentlemen. Some of us will no doubt not survive the night if Zenovia is innocent, or if she is not killed. I, too, will vote: Zenovia for good riddance!"
Ashnari had fallen asleep, and was just knocking himself back up after being entangled in his box for some considerable amount of time.
Ashnari had fallen asleep, and was just knocking himself back up after being entangled in his box for some considerable amount of time.
General Kala wrote:...reasons for taking Dark Riders are secondary to their unparallelled ability to rush up and shout "nah na na-naah nah", escape, and do it again...
"I am just not taking unnecessary risks, Sleek. If Zenovia is innocent, the traitors are obviously waiting for everyone to vote, since there have been so many accusations flying around recently.
The first day I voted for Zenovia because of Ashnari's random voting. If I voted now, I would feel to be voting for that same randomness. But, now Ashnari is voting for her again, as if it's now confirmed that she is the topmost on everyone's suspicion list.
I have been avoiding voting last day and today also, since as the infiltrators have lost many of their number - three if my calculations are right - there cannot be many left. Despite our number has reduced to mere ten from the original council, our chances of hitting an infiltrator are small. I would guess that there are two, or perhaps only one of the traitors left. But each innocent member we execute will enhance the traitor's chances.
And Sleek... as none of us wants to look like suspicious, if I vote for Zenovia now, does it lift the curtain of suspicion from me? Actually I believe it would make me look even more suspicious than before, but I vote:Zenovia and see what is to come."
The first day I voted for Zenovia because of Ashnari's random voting. If I voted now, I would feel to be voting for that same randomness. But, now Ashnari is voting for her again, as if it's now confirmed that she is the topmost on everyone's suspicion list.
I have been avoiding voting last day and today also, since as the infiltrators have lost many of their number - three if my calculations are right - there cannot be many left. Despite our number has reduced to mere ten from the original council, our chances of hitting an infiltrator are small. I would guess that there are two, or perhaps only one of the traitors left. But each innocent member we execute will enhance the traitor's chances.
And Sleek... as none of us wants to look like suspicious, if I vote for Zenovia now, does it lift the curtain of suspicion from me? Actually I believe it would make me look even more suspicious than before, but I vote:Zenovia and see what is to come."
-
Lordofthenight
- Malekith's Personal Guard
- Posts: 803
- Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:57 pm
- Location: Hell
- Contact:
"I'm going to follow the same logic as everyone else - I feel Sleek's detective work has proven valid in the past, and if he (and everyone else) suspects Zenovia, I see no option but to follow in their footsteps."
Vote: Zenovia
(OOC - and I think that's six, right? Having the sacred number of Slannesh voting for you can never be good.)
Vote: Zenovia
(OOC - and I think that's six, right? Having the sacred number of Slannesh voting for you can never be good.)
Punishment leads to Fear. Fear leads to Obedience. Obedience leads to Freedom. Therefore, Punishment leads to Freedom.
Kuyoz Nightkiller
WS: 4 S:3 T:3 D:4 I:4
Repeater Crossbow, Short Sword, Shade Cloak, Light Armour
5 throwing daggers, 90gc
Kuyoz Nightkiller
WS: 4 S:3 T:3 D:4 I:4
Repeater Crossbow, Short Sword, Shade Cloak, Light Armour
5 throwing daggers, 90gc
"Sleek you may well be right let us see if you are I will [/b]Vote: Zenovia (LordAnubis)
Silas Group 24
Weapon Skill 3
Strength 2
Dexterity 5
Toughness 2
Intelligence 5
Skills: Basic Stealth.
Equipment:
short sword, repeater crossbow, Light green shade cloak, Fire lighter, Stealth armour, Map, 48 gold.
Weapon Skill 3
Strength 2
Dexterity 5
Toughness 2
Intelligence 5
Skills: Basic Stealth.
Equipment:
short sword, repeater crossbow, Light green shade cloak, Fire lighter, Stealth armour, Map, 48 gold.
-
Sleekdd
- Highborn
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 7:33 am
- Location: Belgium, the only country where surrealism is a way of life.
Sleek nods thoughtfully at Belcar’s words.
“Indeed, our chances of tracking down the last of the murderers are daunting but never let that allow you to become paralysed, officer, for what other choice do we have but to actively search them out? If we wait, we give the traitor nothing more than the opportunity to strike at us without fear of retaliation. Searching out the culprits ourselves and voting are the only ways we can win this, even if we are reduced to voting blindly, even if we make mistakes and this is pretty much a certainty, officers.”
“I realize this isn’t easy, but I see no alternative. We have to move and we have to act without cowardice or the concern of looking suspicious or your own well-being. It is heartless, it is unfair but that’s life, officers. We, above all other nations, should know that life isn’t fair. That’s the reason we are out here is the land of chill instead of on our rightful island. We are Druchii, we will succeed, regardless of the odds, regardless of the cost.”
“Indeed, our chances of tracking down the last of the murderers are daunting but never let that allow you to become paralysed, officer, for what other choice do we have but to actively search them out? If we wait, we give the traitor nothing more than the opportunity to strike at us without fear of retaliation. Searching out the culprits ourselves and voting are the only ways we can win this, even if we are reduced to voting blindly, even if we make mistakes and this is pretty much a certainty, officers.”
“I realize this isn’t easy, but I see no alternative. We have to move and we have to act without cowardice or the concern of looking suspicious or your own well-being. It is heartless, it is unfair but that’s life, officers. We, above all other nations, should know that life isn’t fair. That’s the reason we are out here is the land of chill instead of on our rightful island. We are Druchii, we will succeed, regardless of the odds, regardless of the cost.”
Great minds think alike.
So if you want diversity, try morons.
So if you want diversity, try morons.
"No, Zenovia, you did not vote for Silas or myself. Instead, you started by spreading suspicion, and that you would do it on the two of us -- people I believe very strongly to be innocent, unless I've been stopping by the wrong temple by mistake -- furthers my convictions.
"And yes, you took your vote off of Sleek, but only after you realized that there was no hope in offing him then and there -- he had grown too popular. So instead, you voted along with everyone else, supposedly removing you from suspicion. After all, who would vote for their own knowingly, save someone playing a very, very dangerous game?"
"And yes, you took your vote off of Sleek, but only after you realized that there was no hope in offing him then and there -- he had grown too popular. So instead, you voted along with everyone else, supposedly removing you from suspicion. After all, who would vote for their own knowingly, save someone playing a very, very dangerous game?"
Aleraen Gleamfollower
High-Consort of Army Wide Hatred
<Sirist> So you won't lose me. I'm still around. I'm just in you, and in everyone I've known.
High-Consort of Army Wide Hatred
<Sirist> So you won't lose me. I'm still around. I'm just in you, and in everyone I've known.
-
Lordanubis
- Dark Rider
- Posts: 125
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 6:22 pm
"We have now reached majority. Are we sure? Zenovia will be taken to the interrogation in any minute. If she is innocent, someone of us will die during the night, because we have then failed again to find the murderers.
If that happens, I hope that whoever protected us last night will be vigilant enough again."
Belcar glanced thoughtfully around.
"But as Sleek said, let's not paralyse ourselves with confusion. May Khaine look over your soul, Zenovia."
If that happens, I hope that whoever protected us last night will be vigilant enough again."
Belcar glanced thoughtfully around.
"But as Sleek said, let's not paralyse ourselves with confusion. May Khaine look over your soul, Zenovia."
-
Aenarin
- Shade
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 12:33 am
- Location: In yur panntree eetin yur cheatoes
Aenarin shook his head at Demendred, his foolishness was getting on his nerves.
"Demendred, you do realise of course that Zenovia (Lord Anubis) already has at least six votes? Six is the majority now or have you forgotten? She will already be sent to the interrogator. Now, everyone's vote means something I suppose, but still, be mindful of such things in the future."
"Demendred, you do realise of course that Zenovia (Lord Anubis) already has at least six votes? Six is the majority now or have you forgotten? She will already be sent to the interrogator. Now, everyone's vote means something I suppose, but still, be mindful of such things in the future."
-
Tarbo
- Morathi's Best Friend
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:06 pm
- Location: Flanders, Belgium
Zenovia snorts briefly and shakes her head. “Khaine need not watch over my soul, Belcar, for I intend to keep it attached to myself for the time being. For the intellectually challenged amongst you, that means I do not intend to die in the near future. Captain Anleth is interrogating, not executing, yes?”
Tarbo presses his lips and cocks his head. “She's cutting some corners in the safety regulations. Packed schedule, with double bookings. But don't worry, the captain has assured me she will have timely extracted all useful information, so it shouldn't take long.”
“I see.” Zenovia's eyebrow stands arched, and she takes another look at the trinket caught in her fine fingers, a hint of curiosity set in her eyes.
“What's that you have?” Belcar asks, leaning over to take a look at it, himself.
“I don't rightly know,” she replies, turning it around a few times. “It doesn't seem to give off any magic, though, so it appears very much useless to me. Do you want it?”
“Nah, I'm cool, thanks. Keep it.”
“Alright, then.” She stands up, patting some dust off her clothes, and nods once to the other officers before taking her leave. “My peers.”
A profound silence falls over the meeting while Zenovia makes her way to the interrogation corner. You expected more of a struggle, more intensity, more... sensation somehow. But then again, sorceresses tend to be at least marginally hostile when irked. It's not that they are more easily annoyed or trifled than other people, and it's not that they are pettier or narrow-minded; it's just that 'petty' to a sorceress can be life-threatening to her victims.
So, in hindsight... no complaints.
°°°
“How now?” Shadow Dark turned up his still painful nose and looked at Mioralynthia for new directions. Crossroads were always a menace to face when one hadn't the means to predict a good path, and even more so when skulking around in an unexplored building with no map, no reliable compass, and no way of knowing what manner of death traps awaited beyond any door. All they had were vague directions given to them by the scrying of sorceresses.
Mioralynthia hummed briefly, taking note of their bearing. The building appeared to be built in extraordinarily rigid shapes, with almost only straight corners and rectangular chambers. Of course, this also helped navigating to some extent, as long as one kept track of which turns had been made. Luckily, Mioralynthia's vivid experience with the trappings of bureaucracy and administration left her with the uncanny ability to recall the most minute details fathomable and beyond. She pointed ahead of the group, and the collective moved again.
Doors were wrought from metal, melted and welded into place. They squeaked and cracked when opened, lamenting when forced over their rusting hinges. At some places, the floor was covered with a heavy metal grate, with large pipes and unnatural lighting running underneath, shining greenly from below. Surely, as bizarre a place as this could only spawn from the twisted minds of Chaos. Not that people actually knew anything about the 'minds' of Chaos, or if Chaos even had minds in that sense, but if they did, and if they had, this would fit in with the peculiarity one would ascribe to it.
“Can't this scrying be done more accurately?” Demendred sighed when entering yet another chamber whose contents were to be searched for valuables. “Not that I object to thoroughly searching a place, but we don't seem to be getting anywhere at this rate.”
“Scrying is an involved process,” Aleraen replied. “It's not as easy as simply sensing some magic emanating from an item.”
“It's not?”
“It's not. There's a big difference between hearing a mosquito in your bedchamber, and knowing where it is so you can kill it.”
“That analogy is engulfed with subtle hints of frustration.”
“Suffices to say that having a sorceress along with us is an unestimable advantage. They can help triangulate the location as we progress through the building.”
“Magical or not,” Ashnari raised, chewing slowly on his frog leg now that there were no lizards to harass him for it, “I wished we could take some more our found equipment home with us. But it will be difficult enough as it is simply to return home.”
“What I'm saying is that if you're going to involve nihilism and fatalism, you could make the effort to properly distinguish the two: nihilism is a philosophy that proposes a meaninglessness of life and lack of universal ethics, whereas fatalism is the belief or attitude centering on predestination and the ineffectiveness of human action to change 'fate', that everything is predestined to happen as it will. I don't see how the two are interchangeable, or can even be confused for one another.”
It was deathly quiet in the chamber. The officers froze dead in their tracks, abandoning their search momentarily, and slowly but definitely they rolled their eyes towards the source of the strange, out of context statement.
“soz mistell”
°°°
“Found anything?”
Tarbo was comparing what he had found with a sketch he held in his other hand. It was a close match, looking much like a pineapple with a ring drilled into a metal box enclosing the top. All in all, it didn't look really... Chaos-artifact-like, even if it did resemble their objective. Perhaps that was exactly the intention, Aenarin mused on.
“Well... it looks like what we're looking for.” Tarbo didn't sound too convinced, himself, but appearances did not deceive in this instance. He had expected it to be... bigger somehow.
“There's something written on the side,” lordofthenight suddenly noticed. “...F-R-A-G. Imperial standard issue.”
“The rock is called Frag?” Sleek wondered, some hint of surprise in his voice.
“Magical rock,” Tarbo corrected him.
“Not from where I'm standing, it's not.”
“He's right,” Silas said. “The only tinge of magic it has is because I poked it.”
“You poked the magical rock?” Belcar asked. “Do you have any idea what could have happened?”
“Ah... no.”
“Exactly! Anything could have happened. For all we know, that thing explodes or something.”
“That sounds a little far-fetched,” lordofthenight countered. “It's far too light to have explosives embedded within.”
“Whatever,” Tarbo said when he pocketed the rock. “We have what we were sent to retrieve. Let's look for sources of magic.”
°°°
“That would be about the gist of it, yes.”
Anleth stroked her thumb over her lips while looking at the sorceress, thinking over what she had been told just now. Most of it was written down on the notepad next to her, serving as the memory that might otherwise bend facts along with other thoughts rushing through. The gift of objectivity was a cherished one. But her attention was drawn to a strange trinket that suddenly said the strangest thing: “Beep.”
“What's that?” she asked.
“Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea,” Zenovia replied, setting her eyes on the strange device. It had a number of buttons on one side with a display above showing numbers (strangely akin to the human system), and the strangest appendages with dishes and tiny balls hanging from it. “I found it near a frozen squirrel.”
“A frozen squirrel?”
“A sabretooth squirrel, no less,” Zenovia added. “It was sitting in a cube of ice, arms stretched towards a nut, with a spark of glee in its eyes. And this device was right next to it.”
“Have you pushed any buttons?”
“A few,” she admitted. “I hoped it would release some kind of magical font, but I'm now convinced it's simply some mundane trinket—” Zenovia held mid-breath, looking around in alarm, as if trying to hear or see what might have caused the fainted of sounds. “Have you felt that?”
Anleth frowned at the sudden activity. “No, I haven't. What's the matter?”
“I'm not sure... Perhaps it was nothing. We are in the Wastes, after all.”
“Indeed we are,” Anleth replied, and took a seat in front of Zenovia. “As informative as this conversation has been, I'm afraid I'll have to move on to more insistent techniques. I sense you may be speaking the truth, but not the entire truth.”
“I hadn't expected you to believe me when I said I was the last. I'm confident the others will have told you the same.”
“Lord, no,” Anleth almost laughed. “I hadn't even lifted a finger when one of them passed out and the other started babbling about getting to the others, not wanting to die a virgin, and wanting to go back to his mother. Haiku incinerated, so that hasn't left me much to work with.”
Zenovia sighed deeply. “And yet, somehow, I am strangely lacking surprise.”
°°°
The swords handled surprisingly well for being of human make. The metal from which they were forged appeared of exquisite quality, having undergone a powerful metallurgic crafting sequence. The mere thought of such strength unsettled Mioralynthia... not as much that humans could craft these, but because she was convinced they could not.
“Believe it or not,” Aleraen said with a deep breath, “these swords do feel magical.”
“They very much do, yes,” Mioralynthia agreed. “They seem to serve as some kind of channel for magical manifestation. I imagine that, when wielded by proper mistresses of the art, these could deal an unforeseeable amount of carnage.”
Ashnari rubbed his hands together happily. “Finally, something worth exporting from this hellhole. I'm sure these will fetch a nice price on the market.”
“These artifacts of unestimated power,” Mioralynthia raised her voice, “will be transported to the nearest temple; not sold to the highest bidder.”
“That sounds commendable, Mistress, but let us not forget that we have a crashed ark to amend. If we at least seem convinced that what we've recovered is immensely valuable, perhaps they will not dock our pay for the next five generations, yes?”
“Hm. Point taken. Carry out what we can and have these wrapped up for transport. I want to be able to leave as soon as—” She stopped instantly, her gaze darting about as if she heard something. No-one else had heard even the faintest noise, so it had to be something different.
“Whatever it was,” Aleraen broke the sudden silence, “I felt it too. And it feels bad.”
°°°
“Eh, guys?" Sleek looked about himself with a sense of alarm in his voice. "Is it me or is my armour starting to disappear?”
Confused looks were thrown left and right at the peculiar statement, but Sleek Darrez' new but unpleasantly fluorescent blue armour did appear to have second thoughts about existence. It wavered on itself, gently becoming transparent as if by malfunction, and then reappearing at full strength, for the time being. If this were some kind of hiding device, it was a useless one, since it left Sleek still perfectly visible.
“Same here,” lordofthenight remarked when looking at the 'laser gun' he had procured some time ago. It, too, seemed to become philosophical at this time and place. “Whatever's happening is happening fast. We'd better get out of here.”
“Agreed.” Tarbo nodded shortly and pointed to the way out. “Ten seconds to grab what we can and run like hell. Get to it.”
“It's magical,” Silas remarked. “I fear the magical shell may have blocked out more magic than it intended. If magic is what kept this complex in one piece, we may be seeing a backlash now.”
“Drukh-Eltharin, please,” Aenarin asked while wrapping his arms around... well, he didn't really care what it was, as long as he could take it along, it could only prove to be valuable in the end. “Not all of us graduated from Dhar High.”
“No time,” Tarbo interrupted. “Grab and run.”
°°°
“Can't you just zap us out of here with some magical gamiggick?” Shadow Dark wheezed while running to the exit as fast as he could. “Or whatever other stuff sorceresses do!”
“I'll take that risk when we need to,” Mioralynthia replied. “Now keep moving!”
“lol server lag!”
“I don't know what that means,” Ashnari admitted, “but it sounds bad.”
“Keep running,” Demendred shouted, taking the forefront with a considerable lead on his peers. “I can see the exit ahead of me!”
“Where are the others?” Aleraen wondered, glancing about quickly as he passed corridor after corridor, empty chambers left and right. “The other team?”
“They'll be there,” Mioralynthia assured them. “Keep to it.”
“Aaaah, it's disappearing under our feet!” Ashnari yelled. 'Under' his feet would be the correct term here, since they were barely touching the floor anymore. “I knew I shouldn't have signed up for this expedition!”
“You didn't sign up.”
“Exactly.”
Lightning forks of translucency warped through the building, tearing through walls, floor and ceiling around them. With screams of surprise, effort, and courage, the team leapt out the hangar bay and rolled into the snow, keeping a safe distance. And not a moment too soon.
It was silent, surprisingly silent. One would expect some sort of noise when an entire building disappears into the ether, or wherever it was going, but there was no sound whatsoever. Not even a ping like the ominous deathtrap that was housed therein. Just... vanished.
“How many made it out?” Aleraen wondered when he pulled his head out of the freezing snow.
“Everyone, as far as I can tell,” Tarbo replied, standing calmly next to them. “That was an impressive leap for safety there.”
“In our defense,” Shadow Dark raised, “we are carrying artifacts that may or may not be valuable. That leap for safety can easily be reinterpreted as a courageous attempt to salvage the mission.”
“Indeed it can.”
°°°
It was a long trek, and it would become longer still. The way back to Naggaroth was a cold and perilous one. The expedition no longer had a means of transportation and few ways to direct them. Snow and storm settled on them from above as they marched, leaving a narrow, winding trail of tracks in the snow and frozen earth. As inhospitable as Naggaroth itself was, the Chaos Wastes really knew how to drain the life essence from its denizens. And one could never be sure on how literal to take that.
“Sir, what actually happened?” Anleth asked Tarbo when she walked alongside him.
“Don't ask me,” he replied. “Ask Lynthia. She's the resident magic buff.”
Mioralynthia took a deep breath when indirectly addressed and rearranged the explanation in her head. Explaining to laymen was something she was, although accustomed to, not entirely comfortable with. “It appears that the complex did not belong in this reality at all. You may recall that, in ages past, our people have fought many strange things from the Chaos Wastes, and I refer not only to daemons, but to what the records referred to as 'future men'.
“This structure remained here, in our reality, through a constant flux of magic moving in and out, binding it to the Winds. By creating our magical shell to ward out any attempts at harming us, we inadvertedly slowed the flux and endangered the existence of the structure in our reality. Are you still following?”
“We jinxed it?” Tarbo summarised.
“We 'jinxed' it. But what surprises me is that, despite you not having an early warning as such, Captain, that you managed to leave in time just as much.”
“My chair vanished from underneath me. It brought my attention to the strange going-ons of that place. And I considered it prudent to take some distance, along with the rest of the personnel there.”
“Speaking of personnel,” Tarbo suddenly recalled. “What about Zenovia?”
“That is a bit of a strange thing, sir,” Anleth admitted with a frown. “She had a trinket with her that seemed to take objection to the magical happenings around it and... zapped her.”
“Zapped her?”
“There was a flash and then both her as the device were gone.”
“Well then, one less worry on our mind.”
°°°
Tarbo snapped his neck tiredly when he glid down the stairs towards the others. He left the royal court well behind him, putting as much distance between him and the resident egos as he possibly could on short notice. Snow, molten snow, and dusty snow pervaded his clothes as much as it did with the others, with lineaments of weariness, drought, and hunger written across their faces. But it was over now, and they could retire for a hot meal, a hot bath, and a warm bed.
“Were they pleased?” Mioralynthia asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Rensat was very happy to see the rock we recovered,” Tarbo said with a deft nod. "She almost didn't hear me mention we lost the ark in the meantime. But perhaps that was hard to miss given our... travelled appearance.”
“You told her?”
“She was going to find out at some point, Lynthia. Better break the news early. Besides, I think I put up a pretty good show claiming that full blame of the loss lied with whoever came up with the retarded idea to fly an ark over the Wastes.”
“Those words?”
“More or less.”
“So what happens now?” Anleth asked, wiping some dirt off her face. The three of them were looking sorely out of place in the well-to-do neighbourhood of Naggarond.
“As we speak, a magical hammer is being deployed to rid the world of the existence of the rock we found.”
“Isn't it a magical rock, sir?”
“No, I'm pretty sure it's a mundane one. It either breaks the hammer or breaks egos when the two collide.” He pressed his lips and nodded down the street. “So the smart thing now is to put some distance between us and them. Let's get back to the officers ad interim; I'm buying everyone a hot meal.”
Suddenly, a loud but dull explosion flashed through the royal court's windows, shattering them mercilessly in the process. Gasps of alarm sounded about, and guards ran in as soon as they realised something had happened.
“Keep walking,” Tarbo whispered from his lips. “Don't look back, just keep walking.”
“But sir, shouldn't we...?”
“I haven't seen or heard a thing. Did you hear anything, Lynthia?”
“No, my ears must still be stuffed with snow. And Anleth was singing the national anthem.”
“I was?”
“Yes, you were so thrilled to be in the court's presence that you spontaneously sung the national anthem, and we all listened intently.”
“...I see.”
“Briskly with the pace now,” Tarbo urged.
°°°
Zenovia looked about her when the world had finally settled again. The last thing she recalled was the trinket next to her malfunctioning somehow, and then, a flash... and nothing.
Now she found herself sitting in a comfortable chair. A warm, gentle breeze caressed her skin while torches crackled next to her. The starry night sky lit the ground with a beautiful, blueish hue, and crickets sounded all around her, silently singing their songs. But perhaps that wasn't the most peculiar of all: she was surrounded by hundreds of peopel who stared at her in disbelief... and instantly went to their knees.
“The goddess has arrived! Long live the goddess!”
Zenovia held quiet for a while, scanning over the mass of bodies suddenly prostrating themselves before her presence. “Yes, well, ah...” She wet her lips briefly. “Don't mind me—carry on.”
“Goddess, what is your wish?”
“My wish, ah... I'm feeling a bit peckish at the moment.”
“Bring fruits for our saviour!”
Instantly, servants approached with plates filled with exotic fruits and drinks of the most flamboyant colours and sweet smells.
Zenovia nodded to herself. She could do alright for herself here.
________________________
The loyalists have won the game!
________________________
Roles - Loyalists
Priest - Soupman & Katash
Team Abilities: Scry, Screen
Abilities: Magical Awareness
Scry: Find out which spells were cast on your target. (1 Action)
Screen: Find out which spells were cast this Night. (Free)
Magical Awareness: Know which spells were in effect on you this Night. (Passive)
Paladin - Aenarin & Shadow Dark
Abilities: Cover, Retaliate
Cover: Divert 'kill' from your target on you, if target is not otherwise protected. If target is not protected, but you are, then your protection is activated instead, effectively chaining in. (1 Action)
Retaliate: When killed at Night, use an unstoppable 'kill' on any player of your choosing. (Passive)
Guard - Ashnari Doomsong & SleekDD
Team Abilities: Shield
Abilities: Awareness
Shield: Selected target can not be affected by the 'kill' ability. (1 Action)
Awareness: Know which non-spell abilities were in effect on you. (Passive)
Duelist - Belial.
Abilities: Intercept, Retaliate
Intercept: When a loyalist is the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Retaliate: When killed at Night, use an unorthodox 'kill' on any player of your choosing. (Passive)
Sorceress - Aleraen & Silas
Team Abilities: Call the Winds, Ward
Abilities: Channel, Sanctuary
Ward: Selected target is not affected by the 'kill' ability. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Shade - Draknir Reaverblade, Demendred
Abilities: Stalk, Awareness
Stalk: List which abilities the target has used that Night, and whom on. (2 Actions)
Awareness: Know which non-spell abilities were in effect on you. (Passive)
Erudite - Drainial Shadowheart & lordofthenight
Team abilities: Research
Research: List which abilities have been used on the target that Night, and whom by. (2 Actions)
Roles - Infiltrators
Dimension Stalker - Has Neledak
Team Abilities: Kill, Call the Winds
Abilities: Channel, Intercept, Dimension Gate
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Intercept: When you or your team are the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Dimension Gate: Use one of your allies' abilities as your own. (1 Spell)
Daemon - Khelmor
Team Abilities: Kill
Abilities: Sacrifice, Sacrificial Rites, Retaliate
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Sacrificial Rites: Remove yourself from the game. Remove another target from the game (this is in addition to your Retaliate ability). (Free)
Retaliate: When removed from the game, use an unstoppable 'kill' on any player.
Shadow Hunter - beastmaster kurlan
Abilities: Cloak, Sanctuary, Stalk, Drain
Cloak: Any other spells cast on the target fizzle. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Stalk: List which abilities the target has used that Night, and whom on. (2 Actions)
Drain: Whenever a spell is cast on you, gain 1 Spell.
Magic Weaver - LordAnubis
Team Abilities: Call the Winds
Abilities: Channel, Siphon, Scry
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Siphon: Prevent target's abilities from triggering. (1 Spell)
Scry: Find out which spells were cast on your target. (1 Action)
...later transformed to...
Magic Weaver - LordAnubis
Team Abilities: Call the Winds, Kill
Abilities: Intercept, Empowered Siphon, Mass Siphon, Clairvoyance, Sanctuary, Cloak
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Intercept: When you or your team are the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Empowered Siphon: Prevent target's abilities from triggering and remove 1 Action point. (1 Spell)
Mass Siphon: Prevent target team's abilities from triggering. (1 Spell)
Clairvoyance: Find out the target's identity, abilities, and Action/Spell points left. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Cloak: Any other spells cast on the target fizzle. (1 Spell)
________________________
Thus concluding this game. A hearthy thanks to everyone for playing the game! For those interested, the trivia will be answered in the OOC thread, which remains open for after-game discussion.
Tarbo presses his lips and cocks his head. “She's cutting some corners in the safety regulations. Packed schedule, with double bookings. But don't worry, the captain has assured me she will have timely extracted all useful information, so it shouldn't take long.”
“I see.” Zenovia's eyebrow stands arched, and she takes another look at the trinket caught in her fine fingers, a hint of curiosity set in her eyes.
“What's that you have?” Belcar asks, leaning over to take a look at it, himself.
“I don't rightly know,” she replies, turning it around a few times. “It doesn't seem to give off any magic, though, so it appears very much useless to me. Do you want it?”
“Nah, I'm cool, thanks. Keep it.”
“Alright, then.” She stands up, patting some dust off her clothes, and nods once to the other officers before taking her leave. “My peers.”
A profound silence falls over the meeting while Zenovia makes her way to the interrogation corner. You expected more of a struggle, more intensity, more... sensation somehow. But then again, sorceresses tend to be at least marginally hostile when irked. It's not that they are more easily annoyed or trifled than other people, and it's not that they are pettier or narrow-minded; it's just that 'petty' to a sorceress can be life-threatening to her victims.
So, in hindsight... no complaints.
°°°
“How now?” Shadow Dark turned up his still painful nose and looked at Mioralynthia for new directions. Crossroads were always a menace to face when one hadn't the means to predict a good path, and even more so when skulking around in an unexplored building with no map, no reliable compass, and no way of knowing what manner of death traps awaited beyond any door. All they had were vague directions given to them by the scrying of sorceresses.
Mioralynthia hummed briefly, taking note of their bearing. The building appeared to be built in extraordinarily rigid shapes, with almost only straight corners and rectangular chambers. Of course, this also helped navigating to some extent, as long as one kept track of which turns had been made. Luckily, Mioralynthia's vivid experience with the trappings of bureaucracy and administration left her with the uncanny ability to recall the most minute details fathomable and beyond. She pointed ahead of the group, and the collective moved again.
Doors were wrought from metal, melted and welded into place. They squeaked and cracked when opened, lamenting when forced over their rusting hinges. At some places, the floor was covered with a heavy metal grate, with large pipes and unnatural lighting running underneath, shining greenly from below. Surely, as bizarre a place as this could only spawn from the twisted minds of Chaos. Not that people actually knew anything about the 'minds' of Chaos, or if Chaos even had minds in that sense, but if they did, and if they had, this would fit in with the peculiarity one would ascribe to it.
“Can't this scrying be done more accurately?” Demendred sighed when entering yet another chamber whose contents were to be searched for valuables. “Not that I object to thoroughly searching a place, but we don't seem to be getting anywhere at this rate.”
“Scrying is an involved process,” Aleraen replied. “It's not as easy as simply sensing some magic emanating from an item.”
“It's not?”
“It's not. There's a big difference between hearing a mosquito in your bedchamber, and knowing where it is so you can kill it.”
“That analogy is engulfed with subtle hints of frustration.”
“Suffices to say that having a sorceress along with us is an unestimable advantage. They can help triangulate the location as we progress through the building.”
“Magical or not,” Ashnari raised, chewing slowly on his frog leg now that there were no lizards to harass him for it, “I wished we could take some more our found equipment home with us. But it will be difficult enough as it is simply to return home.”
“What I'm saying is that if you're going to involve nihilism and fatalism, you could make the effort to properly distinguish the two: nihilism is a philosophy that proposes a meaninglessness of life and lack of universal ethics, whereas fatalism is the belief or attitude centering on predestination and the ineffectiveness of human action to change 'fate', that everything is predestined to happen as it will. I don't see how the two are interchangeable, or can even be confused for one another.”
It was deathly quiet in the chamber. The officers froze dead in their tracks, abandoning their search momentarily, and slowly but definitely they rolled their eyes towards the source of the strange, out of context statement.
“soz mistell”
°°°
“Found anything?”
Tarbo was comparing what he had found with a sketch he held in his other hand. It was a close match, looking much like a pineapple with a ring drilled into a metal box enclosing the top. All in all, it didn't look really... Chaos-artifact-like, even if it did resemble their objective. Perhaps that was exactly the intention, Aenarin mused on.
“Well... it looks like what we're looking for.” Tarbo didn't sound too convinced, himself, but appearances did not deceive in this instance. He had expected it to be... bigger somehow.
“There's something written on the side,” lordofthenight suddenly noticed. “...F-R-A-G. Imperial standard issue.”
“The rock is called Frag?” Sleek wondered, some hint of surprise in his voice.
“Magical rock,” Tarbo corrected him.
“Not from where I'm standing, it's not.”
“He's right,” Silas said. “The only tinge of magic it has is because I poked it.”
“You poked the magical rock?” Belcar asked. “Do you have any idea what could have happened?”
“Ah... no.”
“Exactly! Anything could have happened. For all we know, that thing explodes or something.”
“That sounds a little far-fetched,” lordofthenight countered. “It's far too light to have explosives embedded within.”
“Whatever,” Tarbo said when he pocketed the rock. “We have what we were sent to retrieve. Let's look for sources of magic.”
°°°
“That would be about the gist of it, yes.”
Anleth stroked her thumb over her lips while looking at the sorceress, thinking over what she had been told just now. Most of it was written down on the notepad next to her, serving as the memory that might otherwise bend facts along with other thoughts rushing through. The gift of objectivity was a cherished one. But her attention was drawn to a strange trinket that suddenly said the strangest thing: “Beep.”
“What's that?” she asked.
“Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea,” Zenovia replied, setting her eyes on the strange device. It had a number of buttons on one side with a display above showing numbers (strangely akin to the human system), and the strangest appendages with dishes and tiny balls hanging from it. “I found it near a frozen squirrel.”
“A frozen squirrel?”
“A sabretooth squirrel, no less,” Zenovia added. “It was sitting in a cube of ice, arms stretched towards a nut, with a spark of glee in its eyes. And this device was right next to it.”
“Have you pushed any buttons?”
“A few,” she admitted. “I hoped it would release some kind of magical font, but I'm now convinced it's simply some mundane trinket—” Zenovia held mid-breath, looking around in alarm, as if trying to hear or see what might have caused the fainted of sounds. “Have you felt that?”
Anleth frowned at the sudden activity. “No, I haven't. What's the matter?”
“I'm not sure... Perhaps it was nothing. We are in the Wastes, after all.”
“Indeed we are,” Anleth replied, and took a seat in front of Zenovia. “As informative as this conversation has been, I'm afraid I'll have to move on to more insistent techniques. I sense you may be speaking the truth, but not the entire truth.”
“I hadn't expected you to believe me when I said I was the last. I'm confident the others will have told you the same.”
“Lord, no,” Anleth almost laughed. “I hadn't even lifted a finger when one of them passed out and the other started babbling about getting to the others, not wanting to die a virgin, and wanting to go back to his mother. Haiku incinerated, so that hasn't left me much to work with.”
Zenovia sighed deeply. “And yet, somehow, I am strangely lacking surprise.”
°°°
The swords handled surprisingly well for being of human make. The metal from which they were forged appeared of exquisite quality, having undergone a powerful metallurgic crafting sequence. The mere thought of such strength unsettled Mioralynthia... not as much that humans could craft these, but because she was convinced they could not.
“Believe it or not,” Aleraen said with a deep breath, “these swords do feel magical.”
“They very much do, yes,” Mioralynthia agreed. “They seem to serve as some kind of channel for magical manifestation. I imagine that, when wielded by proper mistresses of the art, these could deal an unforeseeable amount of carnage.”
Ashnari rubbed his hands together happily. “Finally, something worth exporting from this hellhole. I'm sure these will fetch a nice price on the market.”
“These artifacts of unestimated power,” Mioralynthia raised her voice, “will be transported to the nearest temple; not sold to the highest bidder.”
“That sounds commendable, Mistress, but let us not forget that we have a crashed ark to amend. If we at least seem convinced that what we've recovered is immensely valuable, perhaps they will not dock our pay for the next five generations, yes?”
“Hm. Point taken. Carry out what we can and have these wrapped up for transport. I want to be able to leave as soon as—” She stopped instantly, her gaze darting about as if she heard something. No-one else had heard even the faintest noise, so it had to be something different.
“Whatever it was,” Aleraen broke the sudden silence, “I felt it too. And it feels bad.”
°°°
“Eh, guys?" Sleek looked about himself with a sense of alarm in his voice. "Is it me or is my armour starting to disappear?”
Confused looks were thrown left and right at the peculiar statement, but Sleek Darrez' new but unpleasantly fluorescent blue armour did appear to have second thoughts about existence. It wavered on itself, gently becoming transparent as if by malfunction, and then reappearing at full strength, for the time being. If this were some kind of hiding device, it was a useless one, since it left Sleek still perfectly visible.
“Same here,” lordofthenight remarked when looking at the 'laser gun' he had procured some time ago. It, too, seemed to become philosophical at this time and place. “Whatever's happening is happening fast. We'd better get out of here.”
“Agreed.” Tarbo nodded shortly and pointed to the way out. “Ten seconds to grab what we can and run like hell. Get to it.”
“It's magical,” Silas remarked. “I fear the magical shell may have blocked out more magic than it intended. If magic is what kept this complex in one piece, we may be seeing a backlash now.”
“Drukh-Eltharin, please,” Aenarin asked while wrapping his arms around... well, he didn't really care what it was, as long as he could take it along, it could only prove to be valuable in the end. “Not all of us graduated from Dhar High.”
“No time,” Tarbo interrupted. “Grab and run.”
°°°
“Can't you just zap us out of here with some magical gamiggick?” Shadow Dark wheezed while running to the exit as fast as he could. “Or whatever other stuff sorceresses do!”
“I'll take that risk when we need to,” Mioralynthia replied. “Now keep moving!”
“lol server lag!”
“I don't know what that means,” Ashnari admitted, “but it sounds bad.”
“Keep running,” Demendred shouted, taking the forefront with a considerable lead on his peers. “I can see the exit ahead of me!”
“Where are the others?” Aleraen wondered, glancing about quickly as he passed corridor after corridor, empty chambers left and right. “The other team?”
“They'll be there,” Mioralynthia assured them. “Keep to it.”
“Aaaah, it's disappearing under our feet!” Ashnari yelled. 'Under' his feet would be the correct term here, since they were barely touching the floor anymore. “I knew I shouldn't have signed up for this expedition!”
“You didn't sign up.”
“Exactly.”
Lightning forks of translucency warped through the building, tearing through walls, floor and ceiling around them. With screams of surprise, effort, and courage, the team leapt out the hangar bay and rolled into the snow, keeping a safe distance. And not a moment too soon.
It was silent, surprisingly silent. One would expect some sort of noise when an entire building disappears into the ether, or wherever it was going, but there was no sound whatsoever. Not even a ping like the ominous deathtrap that was housed therein. Just... vanished.
“How many made it out?” Aleraen wondered when he pulled his head out of the freezing snow.
“Everyone, as far as I can tell,” Tarbo replied, standing calmly next to them. “That was an impressive leap for safety there.”
“In our defense,” Shadow Dark raised, “we are carrying artifacts that may or may not be valuable. That leap for safety can easily be reinterpreted as a courageous attempt to salvage the mission.”
“Indeed it can.”
°°°
It was a long trek, and it would become longer still. The way back to Naggaroth was a cold and perilous one. The expedition no longer had a means of transportation and few ways to direct them. Snow and storm settled on them from above as they marched, leaving a narrow, winding trail of tracks in the snow and frozen earth. As inhospitable as Naggaroth itself was, the Chaos Wastes really knew how to drain the life essence from its denizens. And one could never be sure on how literal to take that.
“Sir, what actually happened?” Anleth asked Tarbo when she walked alongside him.
“Don't ask me,” he replied. “Ask Lynthia. She's the resident magic buff.”
Mioralynthia took a deep breath when indirectly addressed and rearranged the explanation in her head. Explaining to laymen was something she was, although accustomed to, not entirely comfortable with. “It appears that the complex did not belong in this reality at all. You may recall that, in ages past, our people have fought many strange things from the Chaos Wastes, and I refer not only to daemons, but to what the records referred to as 'future men'.
“This structure remained here, in our reality, through a constant flux of magic moving in and out, binding it to the Winds. By creating our magical shell to ward out any attempts at harming us, we inadvertedly slowed the flux and endangered the existence of the structure in our reality. Are you still following?”
“We jinxed it?” Tarbo summarised.
“We 'jinxed' it. But what surprises me is that, despite you not having an early warning as such, Captain, that you managed to leave in time just as much.”
“My chair vanished from underneath me. It brought my attention to the strange going-ons of that place. And I considered it prudent to take some distance, along with the rest of the personnel there.”
“Speaking of personnel,” Tarbo suddenly recalled. “What about Zenovia?”
“That is a bit of a strange thing, sir,” Anleth admitted with a frown. “She had a trinket with her that seemed to take objection to the magical happenings around it and... zapped her.”
“Zapped her?”
“There was a flash and then both her as the device were gone.”
“Well then, one less worry on our mind.”
°°°
Tarbo snapped his neck tiredly when he glid down the stairs towards the others. He left the royal court well behind him, putting as much distance between him and the resident egos as he possibly could on short notice. Snow, molten snow, and dusty snow pervaded his clothes as much as it did with the others, with lineaments of weariness, drought, and hunger written across their faces. But it was over now, and they could retire for a hot meal, a hot bath, and a warm bed.
“Were they pleased?” Mioralynthia asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Rensat was very happy to see the rock we recovered,” Tarbo said with a deft nod. "She almost didn't hear me mention we lost the ark in the meantime. But perhaps that was hard to miss given our... travelled appearance.”
“You told her?”
“She was going to find out at some point, Lynthia. Better break the news early. Besides, I think I put up a pretty good show claiming that full blame of the loss lied with whoever came up with the retarded idea to fly an ark over the Wastes.”
“Those words?”
“More or less.”
“So what happens now?” Anleth asked, wiping some dirt off her face. The three of them were looking sorely out of place in the well-to-do neighbourhood of Naggarond.
“As we speak, a magical hammer is being deployed to rid the world of the existence of the rock we found.”
“Isn't it a magical rock, sir?”
“No, I'm pretty sure it's a mundane one. It either breaks the hammer or breaks egos when the two collide.” He pressed his lips and nodded down the street. “So the smart thing now is to put some distance between us and them. Let's get back to the officers ad interim; I'm buying everyone a hot meal.”
Suddenly, a loud but dull explosion flashed through the royal court's windows, shattering them mercilessly in the process. Gasps of alarm sounded about, and guards ran in as soon as they realised something had happened.
“Keep walking,” Tarbo whispered from his lips. “Don't look back, just keep walking.”
“But sir, shouldn't we...?”
“I haven't seen or heard a thing. Did you hear anything, Lynthia?”
“No, my ears must still be stuffed with snow. And Anleth was singing the national anthem.”
“I was?”
“Yes, you were so thrilled to be in the court's presence that you spontaneously sung the national anthem, and we all listened intently.”
“...I see.”
“Briskly with the pace now,” Tarbo urged.
°°°
Zenovia looked about her when the world had finally settled again. The last thing she recalled was the trinket next to her malfunctioning somehow, and then, a flash... and nothing.
Now she found herself sitting in a comfortable chair. A warm, gentle breeze caressed her skin while torches crackled next to her. The starry night sky lit the ground with a beautiful, blueish hue, and crickets sounded all around her, silently singing their songs. But perhaps that wasn't the most peculiar of all: she was surrounded by hundreds of peopel who stared at her in disbelief... and instantly went to their knees.
“The goddess has arrived! Long live the goddess!”
Zenovia held quiet for a while, scanning over the mass of bodies suddenly prostrating themselves before her presence. “Yes, well, ah...” She wet her lips briefly. “Don't mind me—carry on.”
“Goddess, what is your wish?”
“My wish, ah... I'm feeling a bit peckish at the moment.”
“Bring fruits for our saviour!”
Instantly, servants approached with plates filled with exotic fruits and drinks of the most flamboyant colours and sweet smells.
Zenovia nodded to herself. She could do alright for herself here.
________________________
The loyalists have won the game!
- Deaths
- Drainial Shadowheart — Erudite (Night 1)
- Has Neledak - Dimension Stalker (Day 2 - inactivity)
- beastmaster kurlan - Shadow Hunter (Day 2 - inactivity)
- Khelmor - Daemon (Day 2)
- Belial. - Duelist (Night 2)
- Katash - Priest (Day 3 - inactivity)
- Soupman - Priest (Day 3)
- LordAnubis - Magic Weaver (Day 4)
________________________
Roles - Loyalists
Priest - Soupman & Katash
Team Abilities: Scry, Screen
Abilities: Magical Awareness
Scry: Find out which spells were cast on your target. (1 Action)
Screen: Find out which spells were cast this Night. (Free)
Magical Awareness: Know which spells were in effect on you this Night. (Passive)
Paladin - Aenarin & Shadow Dark
Abilities: Cover, Retaliate
Cover: Divert 'kill' from your target on you, if target is not otherwise protected. If target is not protected, but you are, then your protection is activated instead, effectively chaining in. (1 Action)
Retaliate: When killed at Night, use an unstoppable 'kill' on any player of your choosing. (Passive)
Guard - Ashnari Doomsong & SleekDD
Team Abilities: Shield
Abilities: Awareness
Shield: Selected target can not be affected by the 'kill' ability. (1 Action)
Awareness: Know which non-spell abilities were in effect on you. (Passive)
Duelist - Belial.
Abilities: Intercept, Retaliate
Intercept: When a loyalist is the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Retaliate: When killed at Night, use an unorthodox 'kill' on any player of your choosing. (Passive)
Sorceress - Aleraen & Silas
Team Abilities: Call the Winds, Ward
Abilities: Channel, Sanctuary
Ward: Selected target is not affected by the 'kill' ability. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Shade - Draknir Reaverblade, Demendred
Abilities: Stalk, Awareness
Stalk: List which abilities the target has used that Night, and whom on. (2 Actions)
Awareness: Know which non-spell abilities were in effect on you. (Passive)
Erudite - Drainial Shadowheart & lordofthenight
Team abilities: Research
Research: List which abilities have been used on the target that Night, and whom by. (2 Actions)
Roles - Infiltrators
Dimension Stalker - Has Neledak
Team Abilities: Kill, Call the Winds
Abilities: Channel, Intercept, Dimension Gate
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Intercept: When you or your team are the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Dimension Gate: Use one of your allies' abilities as your own. (1 Spell)
Daemon - Khelmor
Team Abilities: Kill
Abilities: Sacrifice, Sacrificial Rites, Retaliate
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Sacrificial Rites: Remove yourself from the game. Remove another target from the game (this is in addition to your Retaliate ability). (Free)
Retaliate: When removed from the game, use an unstoppable 'kill' on any player.
Shadow Hunter - beastmaster kurlan
Abilities: Cloak, Sanctuary, Stalk, Drain
Cloak: Any other spells cast on the target fizzle. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Stalk: List which abilities the target has used that Night, and whom on. (2 Actions)
Drain: Whenever a spell is cast on you, gain 1 Spell.
Magic Weaver - LordAnubis
Team Abilities: Call the Winds
Abilities: Channel, Siphon, Scry
Channel: Pass up to 3 spell points to another player. (1 Action)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Siphon: Prevent target's abilities from triggering. (1 Spell)
Scry: Find out which spells were cast on your target. (1 Action)
...later transformed to...
Magic Weaver - LordAnubis
Team Abilities: Call the Winds, Kill
Abilities: Intercept, Empowered Siphon, Mass Siphon, Clairvoyance, Sanctuary, Cloak
Kill: Remove your target from the game. (Free)
Call the Winds: Every player in the game, including yourself, gains up to 3 spell points. (1 Action)
Intercept: When you or your team are the target of the Retaliate ability, fizzle that ability. (Passive)
Empowered Siphon: Prevent target's abilities from triggering and remove 1 Action point. (1 Spell)
Mass Siphon: Prevent target team's abilities from triggering. (1 Spell)
Clairvoyance: Find out the target's identity, abilities, and Action/Spell points left. (1 Spell)
Sanctuary: Target can not be affected by non-spell abilities other than 'kill'. (1 Spell)
Cloak: Any other spells cast on the target fizzle. (1 Spell)
________________________
Thus concluding this game. A hearthy thanks to everyone for playing the game! For those interested, the trivia will be answered in the OOC thread, which remains open for after-game discussion.