SAU IX: Lost Raiders of the Ark

Where the RPGs take place

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Sleekdd
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Post by Sleekdd »

Sleek Darla sighed mutely when her eyes shifted from the one to the other councillor. The time to decide was creeping inexorably closer and the longer she deliberated, the more complex the situation began to get.

“This certainly makes things interesting”, she said while tapping her index finger on her cheek.
Getwisteerd, your action confuses me. First you shield White and now you vote for him? I don’t understand why you changed your mind.”

“Both White as Sbod attracted my attention in a negative manner. I can’t say who I find more likely to be an infiltrant, the one who spoke up only after a vote was placed or the one who jumped at the opportunity to vote when someone else took a risk.”

“Given this situation, I will add my vote to accompany those people who have given the indication that they are trustworthy. Should a deadlock ensue, I might be persuaded to change my vote.”

“Now, if someone could do something about this awful draft”, she says while sliding her hands over her arms.
“Next time anyone wants to prove their namesake we’ll take your word for it.”

Vote: SBOD
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Tarbo
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Post by Tarbo »

    Players
  1. Moridin Nae'blis
  2. Telrunya
  3. Ashnari Doomsong
  4. SleekDD
  5. XtremeNL
  6. The Liger (warned)
  7. Morvai
  8. WhiteBoyPolka
  9. Stickman
  10. SBOD
  11. getwisteerd
  12. Malevion
  13. Spire
  14. DarQ`Zar
  15. Drakhan
  16. The Golden Arrow
    WhiteBoyPolka
  1. Moridin Neyar (Moridin_Nae'blis)
  2. getwisteerd
  3. XtremeNL
    Moridin Neyar (Moridin_Nae'blis)
  1. SBOD
  2. Malevion
    SBOD
  1. Drakhan
  2. Spire
  3. Sleek Darla (SleekDD)
    Extend Deadline
  1. Drakhan
  2. Spire
  3. XtremeNL
With 16 players, 9 constitute a majority.
Getwisteerd
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Post by Getwisteerd »

"I think you all misunderstood me earlier, I did not go to White's defence, I merely said that Moridin's attack on him didn't have any reason. But now, as is undoubtly what Moridin intended, unles he is a cultist, more people have said what they thought about White, and I would find it interesting to know whether he is a Khainst or not
Getwisteerd
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Post by Getwisteerd »

What XtremeNL said about my actions is fairly accurate." getwisteerd continued (after hitting 'submit' instead of 'preview') "White himself does not really interest me in this matter"

OOC: sorry, hit the wrong button
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Morvai
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Post by Morvai »

Morvai got up from his chair and said: “Sleek’s reasoning on SBOD attacking anyone who looks weak only to back down when someone jumps to the defence, is enough to give my suspicion to SBOD. There for I will vote SBOD!”

Vote:SBOD
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Post by The liger »

A female elf turned from the window as Mioralynthia went through the names. It was clear that this elf had never been to sea before, and wasn't enjoying it one bit. Her face was extremely pallid, even for a Druchii, with a greenish tint. Her eyes were a stark contrast however, a dark marroon, and they stood out in the pale face. Her black hair was tied back into a tight knot at the back of her head. She wore robes of purple and red, which covered almost all of her body, save a flash of pale skin at the legs.

Her voice was raspy, though it seemed that she would usually have a far stronger voice, had she been more at ease with the conditions. "Well, I should introduce myself, I suppose - I am Ligressa. I suppose any more than the name is relevant?

"Now, onto the action. SBOD, am I right in thinking that you believe Moridin voted for White, just to make White seem innocent? I highly doubt this, as by doing this he would have still put pressure on either himself or White. I believe that it may have been either a random vote, but he may well be a Slaaneshi trying to put the focus on a Khainate. However, I slightly doubt this also, since by voting randomly, he puts focus on himself as well, and if he were a Slaaneshi, surely he would attempt to put as little focus upon himself as possible.

As for you, SBOD, I will give you the benefit of the doubt here, as I believe that though your logic is flawed, you aren't a Slaaneshi trying to accuse two innocent Khainates. Then again, it may be just that you are attempting to do just that - but you may have forgotten that if one is found to be innocent, the other will be assumed to be innocent also.

However, I would like to see something done today. Since I believe SBOD's foolish decision was nonetheless innocent, my focus is on either White, or Moridin. I notice that White didn't attempt to argue against Moridin's vote - perhaps this was through wisdom, as it was indeed a random vote, and there was nothing to prove his guilt, nor any evidence to robut. Meanwhile, Moridin's vote was random, and this could mean anything, because if he is a Slaaneshi then he may use the premise of a random vote, to just vote against an innocent, whereas if he is Khainate then this may be a truely random vote to get some action started. Either way, I don't want to vote for him as the possibilities are rather balanced.

So, it seems to me that the possibilities are balanced, and I am unsure of what to do. It is likely that all three of the so far accused are innocent, but there is also a chance that one or more may be guilty. I will vote: White, for the sole reason that I believe something should be done today, and I think a random vote is as good as any."

By now, Ligressa's voice had become rather clearer, and less croaky - perhaps so much speaking was doing her throat some good. Then the Ark rocked to the side, and she swung back to the window again.
"Purrrrr...."

Venkh wrote:I wish i had been told about the "A-Team effect" that druchii experience with their shooting.

i.e. move into position, huge ammounts of shooting, nobody gets killed.
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Spire
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Post by Spire »

The dark rider sighed.
"No one is being executed, White." he pronounced, "At least not until the interogations are over. This has been made clear several times now, so I'm surprised that you still assume that such is your fate; could it have been a slip of the tongue on your part? Or a slip of the mind?"

Turning to Ligress, Spire continued, "I must ask you, can we afford to be giving the benefit of the doubt when our lives are potentially at risk? Moreoever, you destroy Sbod's reasoning, are content to agree that Mordin's vote was random, and yet you vote for White anyway? That stirkes me as an odd decision on your part, if action is to be taken then let it be against one who has already cast grave suspicions upon themselves, and there is one here who has done that far better than White."
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Repeat after me, children:
Druchii are not Drow
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Moridin_nae'blis
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Post by Moridin_nae'blis »

"First off Mavlevion, I asked no one to reveal where their locations were in the battle. The one who mentioned where he was in the battle was DarQ`Zar
and then Sbod decided to say where she was. I brought nothing of the sort up!" Moridin told the foolish elf. "Also Navelon, how would anyone slip during their introduction? The action I took had to have been made sooner or later, and I decided to make it sooner. How is that wasting time? If anything I speeded things along."

Again Moridin looked over to Sbod, but this time, he gave her no cold look.
"Now that someone has provided reason for them to be guilty, I will retract my vote for White, and instead... I will vote for you Sbod...."

Vote: Sbod
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Post by The liger »

Your logic is true, Spire, and I fear I was not thinking straight. Indeed, perhaps I should not vote for someone who was voted for randomly, or who made a random vote, but someone who actually seems to be guilty. For that reason, I now vote: SBOD.
"Purrrrr...."

Venkh wrote:I wish i had been told about the "A-Team effect" that druchii experience with their shooting.

i.e. move into position, huge ammounts of shooting, nobody gets killed.
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Stickman
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Post by Stickman »

"The best proof, and I use the word proof lightly here, I've seen here against anyone is the accusation of SBOD backing down as thought he didn't want to attract attention after Spire went to his defence, as you elves have already mentioned. But to that, he could just simply have no backbone or even want to make amends. That being said, I believe we need more time."

Vote: Extended Deadline
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Malevion
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Post by Malevion »

OOC- oops sorry Moridin

Malevion's eyes flashed with anger as Moridin corrected him but he quickly got himself under control.

"By Khaine I believe you are right. Drops from my damp clothing seem to have smudged the transcipt I was reading. Or perhaps I was just having difficulty telling minor lordlings like you and this Darq' zar fellow apart. By the way you mangled the pronounciation of my name I can see you are having the same trouble. Anyway I suppose I cannot hold onto a vote if it was made on mistaken grounds. In order that the council get something done today I suppose I'll vote sbod instead.

unvote- Moridin_Nae'blis

vote- Sbod
He is a pimp and pimps don't commit suicide.

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Drakhan
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Post by Drakhan »

"Sbod has seven votes against his name. I suggst ending this quickly."
Drakhan who was once Shaadan who was once Drow sorcerer who was once Tangas who was once Drow Sorcerer.

Damn you SAU!
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Post by Ashnari doomsong »

"Indeed. I Vote: Sbod. The day has been useful and informative, but it should end now with one of our number taken away. I aslo Vote: Extended Deadline, by the way.
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...

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Darq`zar
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Post by Darq`zar »

" If we start accusing each others this fast, then so it shall be. I`ve would`ve liked to take this with as strong investigation as possible, so that unnessecery deaths could have been avoided.
But, I must to admid, that its not nesecery because of the situation what we are in and also where we are."
DarQ`Zar sat deeper into his pench.
" I see that there are three who are under the most suspicious: White, Sbod and Moridin. Well I don`t see any reasons why White is under such pressure, but what comes to Sbod and Moridin..
He looked at Sbod and Moridin and then his fellow officers.
" I understand why the two others are. Their both act has been quite suspicious. Moridin tooked my attention almost right away. I don`t know that is hes behaviour from quilty or from low selfcontrol, but in the end in my opinion hes behaviour was too aggressive too fast, if we think what at that point we knew about this case."
DarQ`Zar turns he`s eyes on Moridin.
" So I must say that I vote for Moridin."
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Whiteboypolka
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Post by Whiteboypolka »

White sighed at the continued mention of his apparent silence, and decided to make a reply to it.

"Sleek Darla I fail to see what is so odd about not speaking up until a vote had been cast in my direction. Indeed, I am very far from the last person to speak. I must admit to some curiosity on my part about your spreading of the blame - on very spurious grounds, I might add - as on anyone else's erratic behaviour. If you must know, however, I was recalling a camping trip I had taken one weekend in September (hint hint). As for Spire, I fully understand that interrogations are to be carried out. If cultists are concerned, however, th eonly appropriate interogations leave nothing more than a husk, leaving little choice but to put them to death."

White lened back slightly more in his chair. "Apparently, I am under grave suspicion because I was randomly selected, and then defended myself. Suspicious actions indeed. If only I had done something that makes me seem innocent, like placing accusations and suspicions left right and centre - such as Darla. Oh well, it can't be helped now, so I shall add my vote to what appears to be the only way to get things done. I shall Vote: SBOD, and then sit back as everyone casts more false aspersions on me. Clearly, I must have some ulterior motive, or there is something suspicious about being the fourth vote. Please, do with my actions as you will, and don't spoil your fun by allowing logic to enter in."
Stop me if you've heard this one...

hyetemplar wrote:i mean its pretty clear at least in my eyes khaine is a 2 timing wh0r3


(Starts running away from Naggaroth)
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Drakhan
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Post by Drakhan »

"If I were to cut off your ears," Drakhan mutterd. "You would loose nothing of use to you."
Drakhan who was once Shaadan who was once Drow sorcerer who was once Tangas who was once Drow Sorcerer.

Damn you SAU!
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Whiteboypolka
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Post by Whiteboypolka »

"My apologies. Ninth, not fourth. Thank you for your needlessly threatening rebuff. A simple 'you have miscounted' would do well, in the future."
Stop me if you've heard this one...

hyetemplar wrote:i mean its pretty clear at least in my eyes khaine is a 2 timing wh0r3


(Starts running away from Naggaroth)
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Sbod
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Post by Sbod »

Sbod looked out across the room.

"Well, while this appears to be a usless effort as you all have already condemed me but so be it. It is funny what a few words can mean to someone's future or life, however I am prepared to face my destiny in the name of Khaine and only wish that I shall one day meet my master."

She slowly rose to her feet.

"I hope that when your time comes my master is able to show you the mercy that you have spared me of. And for those of you that came to my defence, I thank you."

With her final words she drew her two swords and placed them upon the table, looking about the room a final time she slowly walked towards the door to await her fate.
A Day Without Sbod Is Like A Day Without Sunshine.
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Tarbo
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Post by Tarbo »

With the prospect of the coming raid creeping onto the officers, a sudden move for action is made. In a flurry of reasoning and action, a majority decides to have the witch elf SBOD—pronounced Sabbath or Spot by most—jailed for interrogation. She remains fairly calm under the accusations.

Then again, so does everyone else.

Mioralynthia has the guards fetch “someone in authority” over them. You take it the recent shakedown of hierarchy has thrown quite a few caltrops down the road to law and order.

The rest of you are dismissed and encouraged to brief your troops. You wonder what to brief them on, since noone has bothered to fill you in. So you, too, go out on a quest to find whoever's in charge. Your guesses go with anyone higher in rank than yourself, but as you ask around, everyone directs you to somebody else. It's not getting any easier now that you're out again.

A few redirections later, you almost bump headfirst into Tarbo, who is holding an improvised map. “Just the people I'm looking for,” he mentions. “We haven't much time, let's get this—”

He is rudely interrupted by a wheezing shade running at you. The cloaked figure stammers something inaudible between the breath he's trying to catch.

“Come on, man, spit it out!” Drakhan finally shouts at him. “You can recover later.”

“Lizards,” the shade pants. “They're inside the perimeter. They'll find our base in a matter of hours.”

Tarbo opens the map on Darla's back, to some protest of the owner, and has the shade point the location of the enemy forces. Close, too close to risk passing it undetected.

“We can't just pack up and leave,” Ashnari adds. “We just made shore. It would be a logistical nightmare.”

“Are you proposing a counterattack?” the voice under the map asks. “On such short notice?”

“We still have a few hours,” Telrunya nods confidently. “We'll get the job done.”

Tarbo nods in agreement and starts pointing people to their positions on the map...

°°°

Silence. In the distance, a few troops hastily make it to their commanders but, in the council chamber, everything remains deathly calm.

“So,” SBOD finally breaks the silence, leaning against the doorpost, “where are you from?”

Arms crossed, Mioralynthia snaps out of her concentration. “Oh, the north. Actually, the south, but I moved north a while ago. You?”

“No kidding. It's the other way around with me. Had a brother up north, though. Beastmaster.”

“A beastmaster?” Lynthia sounds politely interested, then turns to the witch elf. “Say, I hear our dragon has a nasty cough, Anleth thinks he may have a cold. You wouldn't happen to know any tricks?”

“Actually, eucalyptus helps a lot. My brother used to put steaming eucalyptus under the grates in the pen.”

“Used to?”

“He got eaten once the dragon got better.”

“Oh,” Lynthia mentions with a hint of surprise in her voice. “There's gratitude for you.” Finally, some guards arrive to take SBOD to the holding cells. “I'll tell Anleth to be careful. Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem.”

____________________________

Trivia Questions

What happened to the original general, Sohnerin?
  1. he was riddled with bolts;
  2. he was trampled by a giant lizard;
  3. he died because of a miscast;
  4. he was poisoned.
Why was Anleth sent to Lustria?
  1. to protect Mioralynthia;
  2. to learn from Tarbo;
  3. to look after the dragon;
  4. because she fouled up.
Why doesn't Mioralynthia use any magic until late into the ambush?
  1. she is caught off guard;
  2. she is fending off attackers;
  3. she has no clear targets;
  4. she is wearing armour.
Anleth is hallucinating because...
  1. she took a serious blow to the head;
  2. she was hit by poisoned darts;
  3. Lynthia's magic backfired on her;
  4. the jungle heat got the better of her.
The goal of the expedition is to...
  1. steal gold and riches from the locals;
  2. perform archeological research;
  3. retrieve magical artifacts;
  4. gain a permanent foothold on Lustria.


Minigame for the Night

I'm the song without a melody,
the text with few or single tone.

Code: Select all

_ _ _ N _

____________________________
    Players
  1. Moridin Nae'blis
  2. Telrunya
  3. Ashnari Doomsong
  4. SleekDD
  5. XtremeNL
  6. The Liger
  7. Morvai
  8. WhiteBoyPolka
  9. Stickman
  10. getwisteerd
  11. Malevion
  12. Spire
  13. DarQ`Zar
  14. Drakhan
  15. The Golden Arrow
    WhiteBoyPolka
  1. getwisteerd
  2. XtremeNL
    Moridin Neyar (Moridin_Nae'blis)
  1. SBOD
  2. DarQ`Zar
    SBOD
  1. Drakhan
  2. Spire
  3. Sleek Darla (SleekDD)
  4. Morvai
  5. Moridin Neyar (Moridin_Nae'blis)
  6. Ligressa (The Liger)
  7. Malevion
  8. Ashnari Doomsong
  9. WhiteBoyPolka
    Extend Deadline
  1. Drakhan
  2. Spire
  3. XtremeNL
  4. Stickman
  5. Ashnari Doomsong
____________________________
    "Deaths"
  1. SBOD (Witch Elf) - Day 1

It is now "Night" (but note that you are actually out for defense, not sleep). People with special abilities should PM me, even if they choose not to use it. Note that allies/teams should deliberate with eachother over how to use their abilities.

The deadline for the Night is Friday, 12h00 GMT (noon). There are no deadline extensions for the Night.

Minigames will be explained in the OOC thread.
Last edited by Tarbo on Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
Darq`zar
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Post by Darq`zar »

DarQ`Zar didn`t look after Sbod, while speaking to her.
"In the end those few words what you say are everything.
Everyones thoughts and opinions about you are mostly from those words, so it is wise to think twice what you say and to who you say it."
DarQ`Zar quetly continued he`s sentence in hes own mind:
And I wish when my time comes I can take it with such a understanding and clmness as you, Sbod, do. You earn my respect. But now I`m more convinced about my desicion.

Vote: <Moridin>
Malevion
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Post by Malevion »

OOC- its night now so you cannot make anymore votes. save it for tommorrow :P

Malevion got his feet and strode out of the room without a word.
He is a pimp and pimps don't commit suicide.

Dead men don't strike first
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Drakhan
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Post by Drakhan »

"Actuly White I was refering to DarQ' Zar's aim to avoid unnecasary deaths." Drakhan began to walk away. "Heres hoping we dont get any bloody assasins."
Drakhan who was once Shaadan who was once Drow sorcerer who was once Tangas who was once Drow Sorcerer.

Damn you SAU!
Darq`zar
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Post by Darq`zar »

OOC- Malevion, I was writing when tarbos message came. And point of my message was to make my vote in a real way.

DarQ`Zar watched at leaving officers. He rose and went after them.
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Tarbo
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Day 2 starts

Post by Tarbo »

The shades gave the signal for total silence. The entire army stopped marching and quietly made themselves scarce over the limited cover they had. Officers took their positions with their troops or stations, ready to unleash hell and turn the tables on the enemy.

A profound silence fell over the jungle. If the enemy were aware of their presence, this would be a test of nerve and skill; otherwise, it would mean the downfall of an entire army of bipedal lizards. But it was quiet... too quiet...

Ashnari shared a cautious look with Moridin. What if the lizards were aware of them and had instead surrounded them? After all, this was their turf, and the battles were played by their rules. Moridin shook his head mildly, wordlessly urging Ashnari to have faith. Then again, Ashnari felt he had every reason to worry; after all, he was perfectly aware of the poor accuracy of their maps.

The wait was long, but then Stickman pointed dead ahead of them. The first lizards cautiously made their way through the open space in front of them, surveying the jungle with lidless eyes. It was if they were aware danger lurked. They had no idea how right they were, Malevion thought with a rising smirk.

Silently, Tarbo rose from his cover in the undergrowth, raised his arm... and signaled the attack.

°°°

“hax!”

“It's busy!” XtremeNL yelled while swinging his two-handed sword widely. He didn't exactly understand what Haksor was saying; then again, who did?

The battle was messy, bloody, and utterly chaotic. While the lizardmen had been caught by surprise, it was still their terrain, and they quickly adapted to the new situation, which was why the Druchii kept pressing against them, aiming to break ranks before they could be fully formed. The result was that soldiers could not count on either side of battle being theirs, and could find themselves in the middle of either army in a matter of mere minutes.

Ligressa found herself in such a bind, and hastily retreated to the most visible heap of Druchii warriors. She would be no use to the expedition dead, poisoned, or captured. She caught a skink shaman just ahead of her, reading off a plaque with its rasping voice, probably performing some incantation. Frowning, she scanned the battlefield and noticed more of these creatures with similar artifacts... perhaps these could be used to locate the rest? After all, if the coveted artifacts were so powerful, surely they could be detected by throwing enough magical affinity into the fray? And a specimen would be very useful to tune into the proper “wavelength.” With a flick of her wrist and a burst of telekinesis, she knocked the plaque from the closest shaman's claws. The shaman protested, of course but, as they say, might makes right, and Ligressa went out of her way to show she was very, very right.

Morvai's eyes shot about as he searched for an enemy worthy of receiving the business end of his mace. He maneuvered through the ranks, holding his shield up to block the arrows and darts fired at him. He smiled when spotting the sorceresses Ligressa and now also Golden Arrow busying themselves with disarming the skink shamans. Not bad, he whispered to himself, not bad at all. A quick knock with the shaft of his mace floored an unfortunate shaman that survived the blast of dark magic. “And stay down!”

Suddenly, a Saurus warrior blew Morvai's shield away with a thrust of pure, brutish strength. Morvai quickly grabbed his mace with both hands and swung it against the back of the lizards head. A loud crack followed, adding to Morvai's wicked grin. He loved his mace.

Chocolate pieces of all sizes scattered over both combattants in unlikely angles and trajectories. The spiked ball on his mace had shattered into tiny, chocolate shards, releasing a note that whirled gracefully to the floor: “Think quick, officer.”

Morvai looked up sharply when he heard the Saurus warrior growl and saw it turn to him.

“Crud.”

°°°

DarQ`Zar swung his blades high to block off an attempt on his live with a razorsharp sickle. He questioned the effectiveness of such a weapon, but this was not the time for a debate on preferred weaponry. With a quick jab from his offhand sword, DarQ`Zar thrust past the lizard's defense and incapacitated it. He didn't bother to finish it off; it couldn't fight anymore, and that was all he needed to do. Killing was a perk.

With a sudden snatch, he pulled an arrow out of his mail shirt. The chain had prevented the injury from being worse. He was happy to wear at least some protection from the crude weaponry these cunning animals furnished. That was more than he could say for some of the witch elves out there.

Sleek Darla hissed when she felt the slices on her arms starting to weigh on her already considerable battle fatigue. The battle drugs were starting to wear out, and the sharp pain of cuts and lacerations made their point clear. But then, she stopped fighting and peered through the battlefield at a very singular occurance, and she momentarily stopped Getwisteerd from relentlessy pushing on to the lines, leaving it to their subordinates to mop up the corners. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing?”

Getwisteerd squinted her eyes and replied in some surprise: “He can't be serious. Is he wrestling?”

“The Saurus looks pretty serious about it.”

“...Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy.” Getwisteerd held one blade high, swinging it to draw attention from any other officers, then pointed the other blade to the Saurus gleefully jumping up and down on Morvai. Hopefully, someone else would be close enough to help the poor paladin out.

Drakhan caught the signal and appeared disturbed when seeing what was happening to Morvai. Immediately, he beckoned for Telrunya to follow him into the fray. “What on earth is going on there?”

“I'm not sure about Morvai,” Telrunya replied while hasting himself alongside Drakhan, “but the Saurus is having a ball.”

°°°

Silence again. Troops were collecting their wounded and sending them back to the Ark and its encampment, while the rest gathered to continue the raid originally planned. It would be tricky, but still possible.

“pwned.”

Haksor, along with many others, stared at the piece of flattened armour that was pounded on by a 200 pound lizard. Loose parts still stuck out of the floor, including a tongue from what seemed to have once been a helmet.

“Looks like Khaine called this one home,” White mentioned.

“G...” A faint gurgle sounded from the squashed helmet. The bystanders stared at eachother witlessly. Did everybody just hear that? “Gluck...”

“...No,” Tarbo said in utterly startled disbelief.

°°°

“They look legit,” Spire shared his first impression with the sorceresses that showed him the plaques recovered from the shamans. “But I didn't get a good look. Were these shamans each using these plaques on their own, or were they somehow combining their spells?” It was a difficult question, all in all; Ligressa and Golden Arrow were the magical experts, and Spire the archeological one, with cross-knowledge being very sparse.

“I doubt they form a global whole of some sort.” Golden Arrow pulled her chin thoughtfully, tilting her head while observing the golden plaques. “I can't make out all the symbols, but they're either not connected or not complete.”

Ligressa nodded in agreement and looked over the symbols while Spire copied them into his journal. But then, she frowned, looking at a single plaque in particular. “Aren't you holding them upside down?”

Spire looked up from his journal, but shook his head soon enough. “These glyphs are correct.” He smiled gently, then tapped the one Ligressa was observing. “This one means 'melody' or 'tone'.”

“Or 'song',” Golden Arrow backed Ligressa, remembering an obscure dialect from her education of the arcane at the Temple. “Held upside down, in a different dialect, it could mean 'song'.”

Ligressa scratched her neck, pouting her lips. “That's just semantics, isn't it?”

“I'm not sure,” Spire muttered, his focus entirely on the new meaning of these plaques. Turned upside down, they each had a different but slightly related meaning. But, taken together, what did it actually mean, what were they trying to tell him?

“Spire,” Ashnari interrupted his thoughts, “we need to move on. Tarbo wants the plaques with the convoy home.”

Spire jotted down a few more notes and a question mark in his journal, then snapped it shut and secured it under his armour. “Tell him I have what I need.”

°°°

The garrison had spotted the caravan headed back to the Ark, carrying most of the loot and the wounded with them. Instead of loudly sounding the clarons, they raised a brightly yellow flag on the towers of the Ark, the signal that supposedly friendly troops were inbound, but that the garrison should be on alert regardless. After all, one could need to cover they retreat, or it could be enemies in disguise. But in practice, the yellow flag just meant to tuck in your shirt, suck up your belly, and look sharp.

Mioralynthia showed definite interest in the idea to track the other artifacts through a sort of magical channel, seeing much promise in it, although she did tell the messengers to warn for the likely event that these recovered artifacts would lack the magical resonance to be of much worth. She was told to continue regardless, and research as much as she could.

The idea was essentially simple. The locations supposedly marked on Sohnerin's map were home to many powerful artifacts of great magical significance. Any use of them would normally attract the attention of anyone with enough magical affinity to notice... But it wasn't feasible for even the powerful sorceresses to do this over more than a few dozen miles, let alone the entirety of the continent.

That was where the recovered artifacts came in. Each type of magic, even each spell, had a distinct feel, a unique resonance, a frequency, so to speak. With enough artifacts, a sorceress coven could attempt to locate the others of its kind by searching out these specific resonances with their magical intuition. It wouldn't be accurate, but it would still be enough to warrant sending the expedition; the artifacts were likely to be held in pyramids or temples of some sort, structures that would surely be found by scouting the immediate surroundings.

Provided they could actually detect the resonance in the first place, which wouldn't be easy given the low magical affinity of the loot. After all, if shamans were allowed to brandish them, they wouldn't exactly be able to split continents.

°°°

“How did our paladin like his new mace?” The leader had his arms crossed, looking over his accomplices as they trickled to the secret meeting place.

“He's still breaking it in,” one replied with a wicked grin. “I'm not sure what the problem is; it simply doesn't seem to handle as well.”

He chuckled amusedly. It had worked as planned, and of course it had; he expected nothing less from them. “Did all the plaques make it back?”

“Not really,” someone else replied. “One of the carts fell behind, wheels got stuck in the mud. They had to lighten the load a little. Golden plaques weigh a lot.” A threesome of the recovered artifacts was presented to the leader. “They never quite made it back.”

“Copy the glyphs, and stay sharp,” the brief meeting was ended succinctly. “I have a few maps to 'correct' before we move on.”

°°°

Morning. You've had only little reprise, having returned from the raid in the middle of the night. The maps were inaccurate, but at least some artifacts have been recovered. Luck has finally smiled on you again, but you're convinced the next steps will not be as fortuitous for as low a toll you've paid.

You're back on the Ark. The thought of the recovered artifacts still lingers with you; is there some greater plot connecting them? Why are you wasting your time in this room, gathered with your fellow officers, people you've fought shoulder to shoulder with? The answer is ominous: sabotage. There is no other acceptable explanation for Morvai's demise. A dedication warrior, he always kept his mace in mint condition.

In front of you, Mioralynthia is studiously reading through book after book, scroll after scroll of arcane writings, ancient recollections, and antique journals. Notes about the recovered plaques are next to her, and she is constantly surveying them, adding comments and possible angles to the solution. When you query her progress, she replies curtly that she is busy and will be for some time; she does insist on sharing that the plaques are either an ingenious riddle, a fool's task, or “the biggest nothing in the history of the arcane.” Still, she must be assigned to oversee the council.

The new day begins, with no introductions or grand opening. The discussion is opened ad hoc by the first to speak up.
____________________________
    Players
  1. Moridin Nae'blis
  2. Telrunya
  3. Ashnari Doomsong
  4. SleekDD
  5. XtremeNL
  6. The Liger
  7. WhiteBoyPolka
  8. Stickman
  9. getwisteerd
  10. Malevion
  11. Spire
  12. DarQ`Zar
  13. Drakhan
  14. The Golden Arrow
    "Deaths"
  1. SBOD (Witch Elf) - Day 1
  2. Morvai (Paladin) - Night 1

With 14 players, 8 constitute a majority.

The Khainites and Slaaneshi tie in the quest for artifacts!

It is now Day. You may no longer communicate with any team members you have. The trivia answers can be found in the OOC thread. The minigame remains in play and will not be answered publicly.

The Day is set to end between Monday 18h00 GMT and Tuesday (not Thursday) 18h00 GMT.
Last edited by Tarbo on Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Telrunya
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Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:58 pm
Location: California, United States

Post by Telrunya »

Telrunya looked around the convened gathering of officers and saw a lot of fatigue; the nightly battle had taken its toll.

"I suggest we open this day by reflecting on the previous one. In particular, I would like to pose the council --or perhaps even more in particular, Drakhan--a question."

"After interrogation has shown Sbod to be a loyal Khainite, yesterday suddenly doesn't teach us all that much. It is now clear he acted solely against the notion of a random vote, regardless of White's true allegiance. Although Sbod's guilt would clear Moridin's name and slander White's, his innocence teaches us next to nothing."

"On the other hand, White's guilt would have been a rather strong indication of Sbod's apparant allegiance and Moridin's and XTreme's faithfulness to Khaine and this mission. Even White's devotion to Khaine would have shown Sbod's true intention."

"Thus it is as Getwisteerd mentioned yesterday; White's true allegiance would have been the most interesting to know. And indeed, interrogating Sbod turned out to be a rather short-sighted decision. Or did I miss something crucial in all of this?"
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