The Magic Reality Show (TMRS) – Beast in the East

[Calisson]

<OOC:
@ smiler666, Dalamar, Red...
DON’T CHEAT with the other’s expedition.
Please don’t look yet at this thread as long as you’re involved in the expedition in the West.

@ Kinslayer, Drainial, Khel
This is the ocntinuation of The Magic Reality Show (TMRS) – Third challenge (continued)
Moderation of this thread:
- When all three players have posted once, I post.
- After 36 hours without posts, I post, regardless whether everyone has posted or not.

>IC

Three Candidates were about to go hunting Beast in the East:
Fuelled by Ghur some kind of hearing-impaired, shade outcast: Kairus
Inspired by Ghyran, a naked, lilly smelling, spitting woman: Artemii
Adpet of Dhar, a mother in law tempered, sometimes ringing bells, corsair’s Ark sorceress: Kaladeth

-=-=-

The day had begun already. Even in this season, it would last no more than 15 hours.
The three candidates would better make sure not to forget anything before they departed the village.
And where would they go exactly?
They looked at the mountains in the East. The access seemed uneasy. A creek could be seen, coming from a valley. Would it lead to any harpy nest? Did they nest on peaks? In valleys?
What seemed initially to be a joke could prove to be a challenge indeed.

Carry on!

[Khel]

It seemed that they were destined east, the other group west. Kala glared at the backs of the other mages, hoping they didn’t just stumble across her consecrated place. As far as she knew, it was only herself and the spies of Kaleth who knew where her consecrated altar was. But if she could’ve found the place on her own, anyone else with the basic understanding of the wilderness could also find her altar. She decided to banish such thoughts from her mind then turn back to her own group which she was eternally grateful for being accepted into, but for some strange reason she couldn’t bring herself to admit it and if she tried, it would just come out as a veiled threat laced with bitter anger. Turning to the group, Kaladeth gave her two cents to the other two mages who were still whispering in each other’s ears. She felt the irritation flood over her again and cleared her throat in attention.

”My consecrated place in the mountains is to the west so I’m afraid I’ll be exploring unknown land to the east here. Unless either of you have traversed the land east of here, then I suggest that we follow the river into the mountains before deciding where to venture. From what I’ve seen, sea birds, not harpies, like to roost up in the peaks overlooking the ocean. Whether there is harpies nest up there now or not is complete speculation,” Kaladeth sighed and gloomily cast her gaze over the eastern mountains, “I don’t know... Anyone else have any ideas? Let us walk and talk, it will be some time before we reach the mountains.”

[Drainial]

So the beast mage had chosen the sorceress, that suited Artemii fine and they were soon moving away towards the east. The free living wild elf had misgivings about caging any creature but they were not strong enough to stop her if it meant getting home.

"My time in this place has been in the centre and the camp; I know nothing of these eastern mountains."
Turning to Kairus she said

"You know the ways of beasts, when we are closer could you find them with your magic?"

[Calisson]

STEP 1: The village.

None of the three had a clue to where harpy nests could be found.
Realizing that the task was hardly achievable in so little time with so little knowledge, the three Candidates departed immediately towards the mountains across the plain.
Confident in their magic, they did not bring along any extra material besides their new magic objects and a few components.

As they arrived at the outskirts of the village, the sorceress stopped, showing a worried face. Had they got sun cream? Mufflers? Would there be anyone out there in the mountain, who to ask for their path? Of course, these considerations could have been raised only by a female city dweller.
Eager to proceed on, her comrades looked in the sky but they could not see any sight of a harpy.

Next will come STEP 2: The plain.

Would they just aim at the closest valley? At what pace would they walk across the peat bogs?
The mouth of the valley seemed close, somewhere like half an hour’s walk.


<OOC: If you need to do anything more in the village, fine.
If not, proceed!>IC

[Kinslayer]

Kairus followed the Sorceress' lead, falling into step with Artemii as the trio made their way across the meadow in the direction of the mountains in the East. Their task was to find and kill as many harpies as possible within the day, as well as capturing eggs and harplings. Kairus wasn't sure which of the two teams had the advantage, for it seemed likely that their was a higher concentration of the predatory creatures in one place rather than two. Still, heading for the mountains did seem like the best option at the moment. Even if the mountains themselves didn't reveal any harpy nests, it would give them the best view of the surrounding landscape they could hope for, and that in turn might prove more productive. From what he knew of harpies though, they fed mainly off fish, seals and sailors, and would nest in the crags on the cliffs around the sea.

It was then that Artemii asked him just how far his powers extended when it came to harpy hunting, to which he replied;

"I think Kaladeth has pointed us in the right direction, the harpies will no doubt nest near the cliffs above the sea, or perhaps further inland in caves on the mountainside. Let's get to the valley and climb up onto the outer edge, overlooking the beaches. At least if we don't find any of the creatures there we will have a good view of the area. And yes, I should be able to find them once we get close... perhaps even call them to us if we set up some sort of trap."

With that, Kairus continued to follow the Dark Mages' lead, waiting for a response or just walking on in relative silence, whistling a hunting song to himself.

[Khel]

”Aye, I trap of some sort would be a good start. That is, of course, once the Harpies have led us to their eggs.” Kaladeth replied, thinking to herself momentarily. ”What sort of trap did you have in mind? I have a spell which can summon a storm of magical swords that might just shred the beasts to pieces, unless you want something more subtle, but subtlety isn’t my strong suit.”

Kaladeth picked up the pace, leading the others towards the valley and up onto its outer edge so they could get a lay of the land as well as a nice view of the sea.

Agreeing with Kairus' plan on heading up to the outer edges.

[Drainial]

"The harpies, they must hunt in the poison lake, there is nothing big for them here. I agree we should go to the outer rocks. Beast man can lure them down near to the ground, my power is tied to the earth and there we should have power enough to destroy them. Subtlety is not your role, you are a weapon." Artemii spat out another stream of filth. First though they had to reach the high rocks.

Same, let’s get close first.

[Calisson]

STEP 2: The plain and the valley.

Shortly after leaving the village, the group found a creek, easy to cross whenever they would need to.
Following that creek led them to the entrance of a steep valley. They had walked barely half an hour.
The plain had been easy to cross despite the many peat bogs. Fortunately, the weather had been clement so far.

Despite the canyon’s narrowness, there was enough room to follow the creek upstream, between the two cliffs.
Apparently, the valley’s slope was manageable and could well allow them to reach easily the plateau.
The general direction seemed to be North, penetrating deep into the mountain.

As they were entering the valley, Kairus looked behind one last time, just in time to see a hooded silhouette turning back towards the village.
As the valley had only one path, there was probably no need to follow them anymore. From now on, they would be really alone. Nobody to ask for any information about harpies.

Climbing the valley would probably take them more than an hour, but there seemed not to be any quicker alternative.
They spent actually three hours in the valley. Indeed, the direction was North pretty much all the time. They had made the right choice.

Near the top, the head of canyon was a small cascade, leaving no room to walk. However, the plateau was not much above.
Looking around, they founded a path on their right. Although difficult, it could be climbed with the help of both hands.
Nothing fancy for this time, but this passage would be more problematic when they would return with eggs and harplings.

As they arrived finally on the top, they looked around.
They were seemingly in the exact center of the island.
Behind them was the canyon. The closest peak was South as well, close to the canyon. It had a particular shape, like the head of a donkey.
No more creek to lead them forwards, the creek's spring was the cascade.
All around them, the island seemed to be a large plateau, not really flat but roughly at the same altitude except for a few peaks.
On the East, higher crests were to be seen. On the West, they were probably high mountains too, but they were hidden behind dark clouds.
In front of them, on the North, the plateau seemed narrower and could well lead to cliffs above the sea.
Not a single bird could be seen in the sky. No harpy either.

Would they cross directly the plateau to the North?
Would they first try to escalate the closest peak? It would give them a wider view but it was not on their path and esclalating it would probably take at least one hour.

Next will come STEP 3: The plateau.

<OOC: I speed up the process.
If it's too fast, feel free to come back in time, and specify what you had done in the plains and in the valley.
If it changes the outcome, I'll edit.
I'll try to make next post Tuesday late afternoon. Please indicate your intentions.>IC

[Drainial]

High in the mountains the path ran out, this was of no particular worry for the wild elf but as whatever path they took now would probably be the only one they had time to search thoroughly their next choice mattered.

"Now would be a good time for a searching spell beast mage. We are to work together, perhaps in this spell we might also combine our talents. To sense the living pulse of nature is within my art."

Artemii suggests that this would be a good time for a harpy sat nav spell. Furthermore if Kairus is amenable to casting such a spell she offers to try and combine his efforts with hers (life isn't just plants after all) perhaps with her magic making the spell more effective/easier to cast.

[Kinslayer]

Kairus stopped at the plateau atop the mountains and looked out at the options their new surroundings offered. They could either continue North across the plateau, or attempt to climb to the peak of the steep rockface to the East. Going further into the mountains over the plateau to the North would take them away from the coast, which Kairus assumed to be the harpies hunting ground, but for all he knew there was a lake filled with prey further inland. Not only that, but they hadn't sighted a single harpy yet, not even heard one cry. He assumed a harpies cry would carry for miles over the high mountain air, echoing through the canyons and valleys. Something told the Beast Mage they weren't even close. Either that, or the harpies were just being quiet.

Artemii seemed to have the right idea, to try and track down some of the winged fiends using their three magics combined. If Kairus knew one thing about harpies it was that they were dark creatures, meaning Kaladeth could help them out too. His own talents were obivously suited to this task, and he guessed Artemii and her power, the wind of Life, could help them locate the nests, places of birth and creation. The question was, how would the three of them combine their powers and use it to locate their prey? He wasn't even sure if the others could be trusted yet.

The fact they are targeting beasts should make it easier to cast whatever they decide to cast [lore of beasts attribute] - Kairus is all up for simply searching the winds for the right 'density' of Ghyran/Dhar/Ghur wind that would indicate a Harpy Nest, if such a thing can be achieved. With three Mages combined, they should be able to cover a very large distance with such a spell without risk of miscast.

[Calisson]

<OOC: Llet's see what can be done.

harpy sat nav spell
A.+1 knowledge.
B.-2 new spell.
C.+1 one harpy.
D.-2 place not known.
E.+2 for 6 seconds.
F.-2 level 1.
G.+0. normal ground & time.
H.+0 6 min.
I.-2 no component.
J.+1 Group concentration.
total so far = -3, therefore K=+1.
K.+1 terrible side-effect, but it will last only 7 times the duration of the spell!
Total = -2.
If you write in a fluffy way how you do that, you'll get +1 to cast.
Then it will be cast on a 4+.
Whatever side-effect will last 42 seconds. Just some fun RP, not the slightest risk as there is no threat around to take advantage of those 42 sec.
If you miss, you can cast it again, with now B.-1, will be cast on 3+.
As you cast it together, I'll take the highest I and you can melt the magic wind's fluffs.

The result will indicate the direction of one harpy somewhere in the world (you could wish to specify if you want the closest harpy, or a harpling, or the closest harpling...).
That feeling of a direction will last only 6 seconds. That should be enough.

Oh, there is a remote risk of miscast: a natural double six. But does it ever happen? >IC

[Drainial]

"The sun moves, we should begin," Artemii urged "we three can weave our songs together, for me the indication of all life, for the beast mage those creatures of flesh and blood and for the dark mage those creatures of blackness and evil nature. Between these three only harpies shall be found."

Artemii's plan for the spell is essentially the weaving together of a threefold spell with her providing the 'base' spell, sensing in a general way the life around them but with no particular indication as to type or direction. Kairus acting as a first filter to indicate which of the life forms around are bestial in nature and Kala adding further refinement to exclude anything that isn't a harpy.

OOC: More eloquent background descriptions can be given if I get approval for the plan.

[Kinslayer]

Kairus nodded as Artemii suggested they cast the spell, raising an eyebrow in the direction of Kaladeth incase there was an objection. The Mage ensured he was standing an equal distance away from the two other Mages, so that they formed three points of a equalatoral triangle. The Beast Mage waited for Artemii to begin, ready to cast his mind out into the aether and look upon the winds that were responding to her call. He would then begin to sift through them, moving his arms around as he did so as if pulling on invisible ropes. Once he had distigushed which beams of life were beastial, he would allow Kaladeth to complete the ritual, sifting out those mundane beasts from the dark harpies they desired.

[Khel]

Silently entering and completing the triangle, Kaladeth followed suit, the female ark sorceress not having any objections with the plan. Pushing her fingers to her temple, Kala concentrated on the defining aspects of a Harpy. A tortured, frenzied soul. Leather wings that flapped madly. Sharp fangs that gnashed and plunged into flesh, ripping it limb from limb. Talons that size of daggers which swiped and clawed at eyes and exposed pieces of flesh. Bead like eyes that watched its prey from afar before swooping down low into a whirlwind of flapping wings and scratching talons. A gluttonous, evil soul if any for a beast. Kaladeth focussed on dispelling the thoughts of other beasts from her mind as well as the other mages mind as an ethereal form of themselves glazed over the windswept valleys and high topped peaks, searching, almost hunting for the black skinned hunters of the Dark Elves.

[Calisson]

Three Mage Apprentices united their efforts for a highly experimental spell.
None could tell how working together would result in absolute precision or absolute disater.

They put so much effort into that spell that Artemii started choking and shivering for nearly a minute.
Kairus saw flashy visions of Harpies, coming from all directions, converging towards his frightened new friend the sea raven.
Meanwhile, Kaladeth forgot for once her angry mood and took the wise inspiration of centuries of experience.

<OOC: results of side effects, lasting 42 s.
The spell was failed with natural 1.
Those two who failed a I test with -2 malus would have believe that the spell worked, with a wrong direction provided.
The wisest one of you did realize that the spell has skidded.>IC


The experience had mixed results.
The three Candidates agreed to try another time, fine-tuning the small imperfections that they had noticed during the first try.

This time, the three of them gained an absolute certainty.
The spell had provided them three a very clear vision, much clearer than expected.
Three faces turned towards the same direction. North!
The vision they had was a cave. The ocean could be seen through the entrance. A cliff!
The three Apprencices percieved that it was not very far, a couple of hours further away, on the edge of the island.

A feeling came into their minds. They were now melting with the spirit of the cave inhabitant they had targeted.
The call was a hungy squawk. The call of a harpling to its mother bringing featured food to the brood. Give it to me! To me! Me! Not them!
The mother harpy came closer in their vision. So close that it overwhelmed the whole horizon and everything became black.

The wings of the mother harpy started a whirlwind around the harpling, which extended around the three Candidates, standing close to their own cliff.
They battled against the magic winds. With great efforts, they becalmed progressively the spiritual tornado.

They stood for a while, the eyes full of the vision of their first successful common experiment.
Harplings are sooooo cute! I want one!said Artemii.
Noooo! That bird was my friend! shouted Kairus.
Kaladeth tried for a while to pierce the deep dark. She seemed not to find the end of the tunnel.

<OOC: rolled 6 for the spell, therefore exceptional results.
Still, side effects.
Another 6 initiated a miscast, but the two other Mages managed to regain control of the whirlwind with a highly successful I test.>


They recovered their senses quickly.
Now the three of them had a goal.



STEP 3: The plateau.

Walking northwards was not as easy as they wished.
Sure, the plateau was reasonably flat. However, the faults and rocks slowed them down all the time.

After an hour, they could see flocks of sea birds, far north. That could be the harpies’ main source of food. They adjusted slightly their direction.
One more hour and Bingo! Much larger than the birds, the silhouette they saw was certainly a harpy. It vanished behind a small yellowish elevation which seemed to be at the edge of a cliff.

One last effort and here there were, on top of a cliff, with a gorgeous view to the ocean and the waves breaking furiously on rocks down the cliff.
Crossing the plateau had taken them three hours.

The cliff was 20 m high above the waves.
Right below the yellowish rock was a narrow platform, at mid height.
They understood that the platform led to a cave when a group of harpies appeared from inside the cliff.

The harpies opened their wings, were lifted by the wind upcliff and stabilized just in front of the three Candidates.
There were six of them.
Infuriated by the intruders, they attacked.

One harpy aimed at Artemii, it was not as cute as she wished.
Two charged Kairus, the two that he had seen in his dream killing his sea raven.
Kaladeth had to handle the three remaining harpies, their wings extended darkening the skies.



<OOC: Next will come STEP 4: The cliff and the cave.
But before that, how do you handle the harpies?

When you act, please tell what you do in case of success and in case of failure.
You have time to cast two very quick spells before the harpies can claw and bite you.
You can alternatively use once a shooting weapon.>

[Kinslayer]

Kairus leaped back with a start. He had been so lost in his thoughts whilst whistling his low hunting song that he had barely noticed they had reached the top of the cliff when the harpies rose into the air before them on warm thermal currents. There were six of the winged beasts, and they screeched and clawed at the air as they momentarily rose above the trio, before diving back down to attack. Only one of them hurled itself at the naked elf on his right, but three of them descended on Kaladeth. Kairus wasn't sure if the dark sorceress could handle all three of them, but with the last two harpies coming straight at him there was nothing he could do yet to help her out. Cursing to Kurnous, the hunter took another step back and drew his hunting bow, shouting over their screeching opponents to his allies.

"Artemii, finish that one quickly and then help Kaladeth! I can handle these two."

Drawing two arrows from his quiver to his bow, Kairus prepared to take the blows of the oncoming harpies claws on his newly blessed armour whilst also pulling the wind of Ghur unto himself. He readied his bow, knowing he only had time for one good shot before the creatures were upon him. Still, he chose not to try and hit both of them, and instead loosed both arrows simultaneously at the leftmost harpy. With two arrows hurtling its way, there was less chance the winged fiend could dodge them, and that would leave Kairus to face the other one on one. Before he could even see if his arrows killed the first of the beasts, he prepared a spell to counter the second. Just as the beast reached him, Kairus thrust out his gnarled staff and threw forth his spell. There was no time for error; either the spell worked or the harpy would sink its claws into his enchanted leather breastplate, perhaps even lifting him off the ground.

Spell: The Amber Spear - Kairus will attempt to hurl a magical glowing spear 'out of' his staff (he won't throw his staff over the cliff...) at the harpies chest.

no component, no times to prepare, well known spell, instant effect.

[Calisson]

Kairus shot two arrows in a desperate hurry.
Alas! both arrows missed the harpy.
Actually, they missed so much that another harpy was hit instead: one of the beasts aiming at Kaladeth. That harpy squeaked piercingly and flew far away along the coast, with an awkward flight.

Still eager to kill two birds with a single stone, Kairus summoned the most potent spell, that he knew well enough to cast without preparation: the amber spear.
Was it the amber stone on his armour which suggested that precise spell? But time was not for philosophic considerations.

The staff gathered the energy of Ghur and a giant spear hurled itself from it.
At point blank range, it could not miss its target. The impaled body was projected at impressive distance, the wings jagged.
The view of the dispersed entrails - or was it the heat of the amber spear so quickly summoned? - made Kairus vomit on the spot.
Not the best position as the other harpy was charging him.


Remains one harpy on Artemii, one on Kairus and two on Kaladeth (pending their actions).


<OOC:
Arrows: 2 D test with malus, missed.
However, the harpies fly in flock. A test to see what happened yielded a natural 6. Something had to be done.
The harpy was only slightly wounded, but missed her morale test.

Amber spear.
A.+0 B.+1 C.+0 (deep wound, multiple birds) D.+1 (point blank range) E.+2 lasting for 6 seconds (i.e. healing quickly). F.-2 G.+0 H.-1. I.-2 J.+0. K.+0 detrimental. Total -1 to cast. No fluff bonus, Intelligence 4, that's 4+ to cast.
Rolled 4. Cast.
How many birds? Rolled 1 on d3.
Result: one harpy "killed" for six seconds.
Note: magic kills are only temporary, the "death" magic causes lasts only for the (short) duration of the spell.
To score a real kill requires some physical action against the comatic creature: stabbing, drowning...
After 6 seconds, the "mortal" wound will heal to a severe wound. Six more seconds and the wound will become light. Six more seconds and the harpy will be fully healed.
Here, the harpy is "mortally wounded" (because the spear is potent) for some time and will plunge into the sea. It cannot swim, it will die "naturally" by drawning.
>IC

[Drainial]

So here they were; they had found the harpies, or rather the harpies had found them. In any case they were closer to their objective. Unfortunately as the harpies had spotted them first any carefully planned trap was clearly out of the question. Already the furious bird women were swooping towards their eclectic band though only one was headed for Artemii. She would deal with this one swiftly or so she hoped.

As the harpy was sweeping in quickly and there was precious little in the way of hefty foliage to work with Artemii had to think inventively, she had not fought harpies before but she had often hunted birds. One could take a single bird on the wing with a well placed missile but that was far from the only way.

Reaching out into the boundless power of nature Artemii raised her voice to the heavens and swung her staff around her head. Ignoring the disgusting taste in her mouth Artemii called upon the earth below to throw up a net of thrashing fronds, lancing the tip of her spear into the earth the wild woman released the energy she had quickly built up and prayed to whatever gods may be.

Artemii will try and cast shield of thorns and stab the harpy while it is entangled. If the spell does not come off or the harpy in some way avoids becoming ensnared she will use her spear as a spear and duck down placing its point on the ground so that if the harpy wants to attack her it will hopefully run (or fly) onto the tip

Spell: Shield of thorns
Duration: 6 seconds
Target: the harpy but only when it is close by, close enough to dash forwards and stab.
Component: No component used.

OOC: Sorry for the delay

[Calisson]

<OOC: no reply from Kehl, I will proceed as I can. I will assume that Kaladeth casts soul stealer.>
IC


The harpy attacking Artemii had the surprise to discover that the elve was not protected only by her bare skin, but also by a swarming of thorns sprouting from the rocks. The spiky liana captured the beast's legs and the harpy could not wrestle itself off anymore.

The proud beast master and the fierce flying beast avoided carefully each other's attacks.

Two harpies were attacking Kaladeth. As the wings flapped around the sorceress, a dark cloud rose and the melee became very confusing.
Both harpies managed to bite, one received a staff hit.
When the beasts took off, it appeared that they had bitten each other in the dark.
Meanwhile, Kaladeth was experiencing difficulties in trying to get the dust off her eyes.

The three remaining harpies decided that it was enough and flew away, leaving one of their kin to its fate as prisoner.
Severely wounded, unable to fly correctly, one of the harpies landed shortly after, on top of the cliff, and started to lick its deep wounds.


<OOC
Spell Shield of thorns
A.+1 (protection) B.+1 C.+1 (self) D.+2 E.+2 F.-2 G.+0 H.-1. I.-2. J.+0. K.-1 Total +1 to cast, with fluff, cast on 2+. Cast! Side effect: a drop of sweating.

Spell soul stealer.
A.+0 B.+0 C.+0 (all harpies) D.+1 (point blank range) E.+2 F.-2 G.+0 H.-1 I.-2 J.+0 K.+1 terrible, for 40s. Total -1, i.e. 4+.
Result: 4, cast. Side effect: blindness for 40 seconds.
Effect: 3 harpies are lightly wounded (all except Kairus') for 6 seconds, Kaladeth gains 3 more wounds for the same duration, and blindness for 7 times as long.
When the spell ends, the wounds go back to their former owner, provided they were not consumed and the owner is still alive.

Combat.
Harpies attack first. 2 attacks each.
one harpy @ Artemii => hit, hit => no wounds
one harpy @ Kairus => miss, hit => no wound
two harpies @ Kaladeth => hit, hit, hit, miss => two wounds = severe wound. However, Kaladeth had extra stolen wounds, which are lost first.
When the magic wound transfer ceases (after 6 sec), the harpies will not recover the lost wounds, as they have just been consumed.

Elves strike back.
one harpy @ Artemii (with shield of thorns) => miss, the thorns don't do any damage but manage to entangle the harpy! (rolled a 6 for the harpy to escape with a D test)
one harpy @ Kairus => miss
two harpies @ Kaladeth => hit, wound.

One harpy unharmed, one lightly wounded, one severely wounded, one captured. Two harpies gone previously. No elf received any wound.
The harpy test for morale and fly for their life (11/12 Ld test).


You can act before the harpies are gone: it will take slightly more than one minute.
Kaladeth is still blind for half a minute, but can act nonetheless - with precautions.
Do you cast anything at the 2 fleeing harpies? The harpy on the cliff, at 50 m? The fleeing one with the arrow, now very far away?
What do you do with the entangled harpy franctically trying to escape the thorns?
>IC

[Drainial]

OOC: For later expansion, meantime stab the harpy that's tangled.

[Calisson]

<OOC
Kehl has a fractured wrist. Can't play anymore.
I asked Malus99 to proceed on with Kaladeth.


Situation Report.
- 1 harpy somewhere at the bottom of the sea.
- 1 harpy fleeing with an arrow, now very far away. Will become no longer visible in a few seconds.
- 2 harpies fleeing away. You can cast before the harpies are gone: it will take slightly more than one minute before they are no longer visible.
- 1 harpy severely wounded, unable to fly correctly, licking its deep wounds on top of the cliff, at 50 m.
- 1 harpy prisoner of Artemii's thorns.
- The thorns are fading after 6 seconds, but Artemii now holds the two legs of the harpy, which is not wounded so far and is likely to try to fight for its freedom.
- Kaladeth is experiencing difficulties in trying to get dust off her eyes (blinded for 30 sec).
- Kairus is free.

Nest quest:
There is a small yellowish elevation at the edge of the cliff. The cliff is 20 m high above the waves. Below, the waves break furiously on rocks.

Right below the yellowish rock is a narrow platform, at mid height, i.e. at 10 m above the sea and at 10 m below the cliff edge.
The group of harpies which attacked you came from that platform. You understand that the platform leads to a cave inside the cliff.
You cannot see anything inside the supposed cave.
No other harpy nest seems to exist on the cliff.

Examining carefully the cliff will reveal no easy way down.
The only possibility seems to have a magic-enhanced move.
There is a choice between two small magic jumps at "breath distance" (i.e. 2 or 3 m), using natural stairs and platforms when possible,
or one direct magic journey at "visual distance" to the platform
or growing wings.
Obviously, harpy wings would provide convenient mundane components.

>IC

[Malus99]

Kaladeth clutched vainly at her eyes, trying to claw some light into the darkness, terrified that she had robbed herself of her own eyesight forever. But slowly, in fits and starts, her vision began to recover. Now instead of one big grey blur, the world was one big white blur, and soon, some of those blurs began to resolve themselves into more distinct shapes, lines and angles tracing themselves in and colour slowly leeching back into the world. Now she could make out her companions, thorns, the trapped harpy, and their next destination. Peering out over the edge of the platform, she was briefly siezed by an overwhelming rush of vertigo as her vision snapped fully into focus and jarred her thoughts with alarm bells of 'blimey that's a fair drop' and 'let's move back from the edge, shall we?'. Neverhteless, her brief examination had allowed her to grasp the situation and their next task. Getting into the harpy nest.

Turning to regard her companions with a cold gaze which conveyed faint overtones of superiority and pretension (mother-in-law effect sleeting back into her brain like a drop of oil spreads across water)
"It looks like we need to fly down there," she stated, just to reinforce the obvious point.
"We could all fly down separately, but it occurs to me that then we would have three times the likelihood of a spell failing and someone plummeting to their death. Instead, why doesn't one of us provide the transport, a second act as back up and the third guard our backs in case any more harpies cause us trouble? Then we've all got a much better chance of making it through in one piece."
Without waiting for a reply, the mistress of darkness moved close to the edge of the cliff, and began her incantation. Raising her voice to the heavens, she screamed out the words of an invocation to conjure substance from the darkness, her lithe body twirling in a sinuous, yet energetic dance as the winds of magic swirled around her. She breathed in the intoxicating scent, anarchy, decay, death, lust, light and the power of the wilds all melding together into one heady aroma which could be summed up in a single word:
Chaos.

As she danced, sang, stamped and screamed, a billowing cloud of mist and madness, fog and fugue, smoke and shadow, began to materialise around her, twining around her legs, the inky black colour contrasting deliciously with her pale skin and silvery hair. Buoyed upon a miasmic haze of energy, the sorceress reached towards the sky, ready to step out into the void. She glanced back at her companions, one eyebrow arched questioningly.
"Need a lift?"



Kaladeth will suggest that the group work as a team to all get down to the ledge in one piece, she will provide the transport (although if someone else can cast a better movement spell then she will happily swap jobs) and someone will guard their backs whilst the third provides backup in case the movement spell fails and we all begin to plummet to our doom, my theory being that it isn't all that much more difficult to transport three people than it is to carry one, but it is very difficult to transport yourself whilst fighting angry harpies, and also if your spell fails mid-jump and the others are busy with their casting then it is a very long and painful drop. Quite happy to change this plan though if people don't like it.

Also, just like to say it is a pleasure to be RPing with you all! (again!)
Also, Calisson, could you let me know all of the side effects that currently apply to Kaladeth and for how long they are lasting for cos I slightly lost track after reading something about the annoying mother-in-law attitude slinking away and then coming back and new side-effects coming in. I think I've read over all Khel's posts so I mostly know where the character is at but I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything. Thanks.

Spell cast: Nagaira's mystical smoke levitation spell, so it is a movement spell, known in theory (reference to the sorceress Nagaira in the last Malus darkblade book where she levitates on clouds of smoke in her final battle), affects a group of people (since I want to do the main movement spell and hope the others will back me up in case I screw up, better than us each making our own way down and if a spell fails then that person plummets to their doom, if the others don't trust my mystical staircase of ephemeral smoke and want to use their own spells then it will only be targeted on Kaladeth), I'll have a crack at making it one long hop at visual distance, done in as short a time as possible so 6 seconds if I can and if not then 6 minutes, this character is still a lvl 1 right? currently on hard ground when casting it? 5 minutes preparing and one minute casting since I don't think we have much time to waste, using no components but shouting and whole body etc. moving for a small boost to the casting score (that should wake up any remaining harpies! But it wasn't exactly quiet beforehand)

So that is:
a: +1
b: -1
c: 0/+1 depending on if the others want to catch a lift
d: 0
e: +2/+1 hoping to be able to complete it in 6 seconds
f: -2
g: 0
h: 0
i: -2
j: +1

so I make that a -1 overall

Since it will only take a few minutes and little else to cast Kaladeth will keep trying to cast this spell until it succeeds or someone else comes up with something better. Whilst casting the spell she will make sure that she starts off floating over solid land and then zips down to the intended destination within 6 seconds if possible, my intention being that she won't leap out into mid-air hoping the spell will work only to find out that it doesn't and plummet to her death, instead if she can she will spend a brief moment testing it.

In case this fails mid transport and I end up plummeting down a cliff: If Kaladeth is transporting the other mages then she will ask them to have back-up spells on hand to rescue them if the casting fails mid-jump so that we aren't sent plummeting into the abyss wildly casting spells in a blind panic, only if the other two mages fail to arrest their fall will Kaladeth attempt to re-cast this spell to save us. If Kaladeth is on her own then she will immediately try to re-cast the spell as practically as possible to save herself.

OOC: Eek, roleplaying with Kinslayer and Drainial and taking over from Khel, I is not intimidated much I'll try to do better this time! Perhaps hurling myself off a cliff supported by nothing more than a haze of smoke was not the best thing to do after my last dismal casting attempts in TMRS ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

[Drainial]

A harpy trapped in the thorns and yet still alive, such creatures were more robust than most creatures of the air. As Artemii groped to end the beast the dark mage stirred, they were to move on it seemed and take the fight to the harpies. If they were to be such bold thieves then Artemii thought they had best act as one. Her lore did not lend itself to the bridging of such chasms, certainly when no large trees stood nearby, her role would have to be quite different.

Leaving the trapped harpy Artemii swept up her spear and renewed her chanting, catching the dying end of her spell and taking up the thread, this time though she move a different melody through the song because this time she needed to take her shield with her and have it last.

Thrusting the rose spear into the golden thorns Artemii sang a gentle song of awakening and wrath, as she drew forth her spear and stepped towards the growing cloud of shadow under the dark mage she could but hope her magic proved strong enough.

Artemii is re-establishing and expanding the shield of thorns which I guess means casting it again. This time she needs it to last six minutes and take it onboard the dark magic express.

[Calisson]

Leaving the three harpies fleeing out of sight, Kairus took the life off the one caught in the thorns.
Artemii made another thorn shield, this time much longer lasting.
As soon as Kaladeth recovered her sight, she determined that only magic could bring them down to the platform.
So she did.

The dark whirlwind Kaladeth summoned divided in three branches, obeying her will with grace.
Each branch circled around one of the Candidates and took a firm hold.
The three of them were lifted and transported on the edge of the cliff, to be smoothly sent downwards and gently placed on the platform.
A tiny Ding! was heard just before their lift stopped. The whirlwind was gone.

They were standing at the entrance of the harpy’s cave.
It was a half circle open to the void of the cliff, ten meters in diameter.
At the entrance, the three elves could stand up, but the cave could be penetrated only by crouching.
The floor was covered with sea bird’s skeletons and droppings.
Inside the cave, 3 harpies were threatening the intruders. Heavily handicapped by the narrowness of the cave, they could not fly and barely move, but their claws and fangs were still dangerous.
Behind them could be seen a nest with 3 large bluish eggs and 4 harplings. The harplings would probably not be able to do any serious harm but were nevertheless annoyingly aggressive.





<OOC
@ Kinslayer
I assume that Kairus would have just killed Artemii's harpy while Kaladeth was clearing her eyes.
If you want to act differently, we can rewind the time and do it.

Spell: shield of thorns
Same as before except duration, which makes it +0 to cast. Rolled 3, cast.

Spell: Niagara's falls (or whatever)
A.+1 B.-1 (next time, it will be +0). C.+0 D.+0 E.+2: rush before the spell ends.
F.-2 G.+0 H.+0 I.-2 J.+1: rather than cataplexy, hard concentration will not prevent you to be levitated.
-1 so far, therefore K.+0 detrimental side effect during the 6 seconds.
Total -1, +1 for the very nice fluff.
Rolled 6, spell cast.
Side effect (you don't want another 6...): rolled 4.

@ Malus99
No other side effect currently. Mother-in-law mood was lasting for 1 year IIRC but if you're fed up, we can bargain.
About your RP, you're doing superbly! Keep on!
>IC



How would the Candidates kill the adults?
Capture the harplings alive?
Avoid breaking the eggs?
Bring them all up to the plateau?
Travel without losing any?

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Sorry for missing a turn there, things got pretty hectic this week and my rpg focus will always fall on 22 first. I have time to post now.

IC -

Kairus watched as one of the harpies struggled in the web of vines that Artemii had cast around it, and was quick to bring another arrow to his short hunting bow and silence the creatures shrill cries. One harpy had been slain and cast into the ocean, and others were fleeing from the combat. One fell back with an arrow through its wing, stopping to lick its wounds near the edge of the cliff. Kairus was just about to go after the injured beast when he felt a powerful spell come into existence beside him, and then all around him. A pillar of darkness took hold of him and lifted him up, and he looked left and right to see that Artemii and Kaladeth were moving likewise. The Dark Mage was casting the spell, and so Kairus let himself be bourne aloft by it, eventually coming to rest on the plinth outside the caves entrance on the side of the cliff.

Here there were three more harpies, trapped and constricted but nonetheless dangerous and fighting like any cornered beast would. Behind them lay their prize.


Kairus will cast The Savage Beast of Horros upon Kaladeth, Artmeii and himself for the duration of one combat - embuing them with the strength of the bear so they might tear the harpies apart, each one on one.