You're in a room, stone all around. The first feeling you get is that of being trapped. Nowhere to go. Torches light the room, nailed to the stone walls. It's cold, too. Why are you here, you wonder. When this question pops into your head, you realize there are hundreds more questions you have too. Where are you? Not only that, but who are you? It dawns on you that you have no idea who you are! You look around the room and realize there are several others there too. They look just as confused as you are. You look at them, and at yourself, trying to find an identity you are familiar with.
A noble eladrin man, of fair height, garbed in the hides of a woolen beast. A long quarterstaff is attached to his belt, along with a dusty book with yellowing pages. Even in this dark dungeon room, nature still finds its way to the eladrin in the form of moss or insects.
A young githyanki, a teenage girl barely fifteen, but with the hardened look of an elder who has been through much. An enormous greataxe is strapped to her shoulders, but at the same time a lute, with soft and pleasant features, is hanging at her side.
A tiefling woman, with the face of a devil and the eyes of a dragon, garbed in leather, holding a threatening longspear. She seems somewhat distracted, but really she is merely aware of more presence in the room than you would expect.
An elf, muscular not only for an elf, but for a girl, yet she still retains the aura of an elven agility. She has two scourges sheathed at her sides, and wears hide like the eladrin's. She, too, is young, but looks more childlike and feminine than the githyanki. She has a large backpack and a heavy coin sack.
A massive minotaur, nearly seven and a half feet tall, wielding two brutish battleaxes that barely fit in his hands. He wears hide, but less of it, showing his enormous muscles. He seems sturdy, but also manuverable.
You look at these others, and you look at yourself, without the slightest hint of who you or they are. But you know, somewhere, that you are all in this together, and that you must find a way out.
Then you notice the door.
An ominous wooden door, very simple, yet brimming with mystery. The only way out, it could lead to freedom, or certain doom. The handle seems to mock you, "Open me and you die a quick and painful death, keep me closed and you die a slow and empty one." But maybe not, you think. Maybe you can fight your way out, sneak your way out, shove your way out, blast your way out, guide to the way out, wile your way out. It all depends on how you go about it. What do you do?
Take a look at Althai, my D&D 4e campaign setting, and The_Heroes of Althai, the dramedy of the heroes who did and will affect Althai. (Both on the backburner for now.)
The tiefling looks about from one face to another in rapid succession. Her glowing violet eyes glisten softly in the torchlight as she keeps her spear clutched to the ready in case anyone or any'thing' made even the slightest move to her. For some reason she felt some primal pull the guided her to the heightened perception something was very wrong here. Everything was a haze and she has all she could do not to shiver from the dank cold of the underground cavern that left a moist and frigid cold sensation up ones spine. She tried to calm her breathing as not to alarm those about her that she was definitely very jumpy, and worse yet, cornered and scared.
__________________ Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust....... ok who casted disintegrate!? You Bastard! Has Returned! Check Us Out! Players Wanted!!!
The eladrin doesn't stand, but instead sits up, cross-legged, with his staff across his lap. His stern eyes fall over the rest of those in the room, almost glaring. He feels a beast inside of him, urging him to either leap at their throats or prowl away, but he curiosity overcomes him for the moment. So, he sits. And watches. Waiting.
The elven girl looks around, fearful at first from her loss of memory and the close proximity of some other very dangerous looking beings. Her fear begins to fade as she notices that the others appear to be suffering from the same mental malady. The scourges at her side provide added comfort.
"Is... is this a test?" she asks. "What... what are we doing here?" She stands up quickly, and then takes a slow step backwards to make sure no one mistakes her motion as a threat. Standing up seems to give her some comfort.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" She looks at each face in turn, but suspects the answer will be no.
The tiefling despite having a demonic appeal to her features actually was rather good looking... or at least good looking as one got in a prison she shot her head in the direction of the elven woman speaking and for the first time sense waking actually focused on one thing for more the a mere moment... the elven woman's voice.
I have no clue where we are.... where we were.. even who you are let alone who *I* am.... but I DO know where I WANT to be and that is NOT here.. lets find a way out and quick something inside of me pulls to the feral nature of the spirits and it's tearing my insides apart.. I feel as if there is a bear within me trying to rip it's way to the surface and... the tiefling stops taking a moment as if in deep thought and shakes her horned head softly.. I just need to escape.. who's with me? she asks....
__________________ Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust....... ok who casted disintegrate!? You Bastard! Has Returned! Check Us Out! Players Wanted!!!
The minotaur grunts loudly as he stands up, and does a series of stretches to unkink his muscles after sleeping on the floor. After that he snorts and picks up the matched pair of battle axes, giving them a few test swings as if testing thier wieght and balance. Finally he turns his attention to the others. His scarred face is set in something of a distaineful sneer and he says, I don't know what is happening here, but the Tiefling is right. We should move. Even if we can't remeber anything, there is one thing i know, we all want to live. That means working together.
Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, the Githyanki girl vaults to her feet, energy and agitation evident in her every movement. Pacing like a caged jungle cat she covers the perimeter of the room in mere seconds, prowling, as if searching for another exit. Eyes full of suspicion and distress size up the other inhabitants of the room, yet something stronger and desperate for a reason to trust them seems to hide underneath. The astute among them might even notice her careful protection of the stringed instrument at her hip. Clearly there is more to the girl than she wants to let on.
do we have a master of traps and locks among us?... someone who knows of their workings at least that could check the door?... I.... I don't really feel like dying today... if the door is in fact trapped that is... it's such an obvious exit.. something must be.... the tiefling stopped talking as if to stop ginxing herself in uttering foolish words of 'what if's'...
__________________ Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust....... ok who casted disintegrate!? You Bastard! Has Returned! Check Us Out! Players Wanted!!!
The eladrin man plants the end of his staff on the ground, and then pulls himself up by it. Standing, he nods slightly, once, the stern glare still on his face. "Very well. We shall work together." Taking a few short, fluid strides he is next to the door. He throws the door a cursory glance, not even deigning to stoop to inspect it with his full attention, then declares, "I do not see any traps. What are we waiting for, then?"
The minotaur stalks over to were the eladrin is standing, Feh! I know nothing of traps and locks, but if you need something dead, or hunted... he flashs that sneering grin again as he raises one of his axes. These are things I know.
The githyanki lass looks the minotaur over, carefully finding the weak points in his blustery defenses. With a smirk she winks at the eladrin. In order to kill or hunt, one must stay alive, she purrs. I will trust you, fey-blood, she says. If you didn't see anything, it likely isn't there.
ooc
Don't forget, you never get below your passive score on perception or insight checks, so you have your passive of 18 for that check.
The minotaur looks at the strange little girl, and erupts in a short fit of laughter. Still grinning, Ah, but you have backwards little girl, you must hunt and kill to live. It's the nature of things.
"Well, minotaur, are you just going to talk about opening the door, or are you going to open the door?" The eladrin raises an eyebrow, but otherwise doesn't move, remaining as static and unchanging as an oak through the little debate.
"Don't be silly," the elf interrupts in a surprisingly playful tone. "It looks like I've got the best armor here - I should open it." Taking a couple of quick breaths and finishing with one long, calming exhalation, she opens the door, scourges at the ready.
OOC: Hope this is ok with everyone - I'm eager to get started!
You open the door into an even smaller dungeon room. Except for the size, though, it is just like the one you just came from. Except this one is not completely empty.
A figure wrapped in a hide blanket stands up, apparently awakened by the door opening. He seems speechless at first, but finally speaks. "I can't believe I've finally found someone!" he shouts. You now can tell that this figure is a male deva, wearing leather, with five silvery shurikens dangling from his belt. He continues talking in frantic glee. "I've been wandering these dungeon corridors for days. You see, I found myself in this dungeon along with five others who, like me, and like you I assume, could not remember their own identities. We ventured through these rooms and stumbled across a horde of monsters, mismatched from each other, but they were still too much for us. I was the only survivor of our group, and I still don't know what's going on here. The only clue I have is my tag." He takes a silver pendant from beneath his shirt that hangs on a beaded string around his neck. "It says 'Sekoqa,' so I took that as my name." He notices your confused expressions. "You have them too, do you not?" You look down and realize that you all have similar tags around your necks, each with letters written in Common, that you assume to be your name. Sekoqa looks at you after you figure out that bit of your identity. "Please, you must let me join you. I have to find a way out of this dungeon."
OOC
Sekoqa is the proper spelling of his name. I think I might've spelled it wrong elsewhere. Now you all know your own names, too. There is another door across the room from you, by the way.
Take a look at Althai, my D&D 4e campaign setting, and The_Heroes of Althai, the dramedy of the heroes who did and will affect Althai. (Both on the backburner for now.)
Sek looks down at her nametag... then over at Sekoqa's tag and glowers at him a bit... filthy captors couldn't have given me a name NOT already used or at least in part used by someone else down here, and even leave him alive to mock me with it?" she grumbles as she moves to the door to inspect it... if nothing stands out in her slightly 'miffed' mood, she'll fling it open in huff and move to the next room.... alone if need be....
The githyanki girl looks at her own name-gift. Nyjry? That means nothing to me, she says angrily. It's all I have, however, so it will have to do. As her gaze takes in the others she notices the tiefling's movement. Don't do anything foolish, fiend-touched, she cautions. We must work together if we are to survive whatever is out there. They left us our weapons for a reason.
Sek flings the door wide. Even if you hadn't had amnesia, this sight would probably be the oddest you've ever laid eyes upon. The door opened up into an octagonal room, about 15 feet on each side, scattered with rubble. On the opposite side of the room are two green lizards on four legs, a green lizard-like humanoid, two purple scorpions whose claws are crackling with electricity, and four disembodied hands. Immediately, these monstrosities assume combat positions. They are going to attack you, and the only option is to fight back!
Initiative
To save time, I'm rolling initiative for all of you.
Sekoqa gets to go first, so I'll post his move in a second. We're still waiting for a player for the poor guy. Good luck! PS: I can't make a map (I'm using a mac) so we'll see how we can get by with our imaginations. =) Sorry to all the visual thinkers. The monsters are in a row 7 squares from the door, and the octagon is 8 squares from wall to wall.
Take a look at Althai, my D&D 4e campaign setting, and The_Heroes of Althai, the dramedy of the heroes who did and will affect Althai. (Both on the backburner for now.)
Last edited by Camelot; 2nd April 2009 at 10:56 PM..
"No!" Sekoqa gasps. "This is just like last time!"
The monsters, save for the lizard humanoid, creep closer to you, waiting for you to enter the room, as if they can't attack you when you are in the room. If you try to attack while still outside of the room, you realize you can't will yourself to make the attack.
Sekoqa steps into the room, where he's surrounded by undead hands and a four-legged lizard. "Not this time!" he shouts, and taking a shuriken out of his pouch, stabs at the lizard.
Piercing Strike
8+4=12 vs. Reflex. 2+1=3 damage.
Sekoqa's shuriken nicks the lizard's skin, but doesn't seem to do anything except make it prepare a retaliation.
Take a look at Althai, my D&D 4e campaign setting, and The_Heroes of Althai, the dramedy of the heroes who did and will affect Althai. (Both on the backburner for now.)
Sek feels something within her leap from her body with a ghostly bears roar... a good sized hazy figure materializes in front of her in the doorway.. the figures hair seems slightly matted in places over a large and muscular body.... it's head is massive and broad and it's eyes glow an eerily pale white. The beast seems to be protecting her as she turns back to the rest of those with her...
Minor Action
Call Spirit Companion in a square next to Sekoqa if there is one open
uh oh.... ummm.. little help please!" she barks as she sees the deva wisk past her something in her tells her to send the beast before her with him before moving into position next to her bear companion and attacks one of the hands accosting Sekoqa!
Move Action:
Moving to a square aginst my bear.
Standard Action
Attacking one of the disembodied hands with: Protecting Strike (Implement, Primal, Spirit)
Standard Action Melee spirit 1
Target: One creature
Attack: +4 (Wis+Feat) vs. Will
Hit: 1d8+3 damage, and each ally adjacent to your spirit companion gains temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier.
Linear Mode
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