Dungeon Raiders: The Wolf's Den

[sblock]"Single use you say... that might be the case. If you say you can turn into a centipede by your own powers, then the scroll did not affect you even after reading it. That's how the curse stroke us in the first place. Derrek just read the scroll but Jules and I were also almost instantly transformed. We've been trapped here for... I can't remember how long, but it must be years by now! We're almost going insane, and I think my pals panicked when they saw you were leaving. We've tried anything including destroying the scroll, but in this shape we're not strong enough to tear it apart."[/sblock]

[OOC: Just sitting back and enjoying the RP here.]

Skitter. Click click. Hiss. Skitter.

[sblock="more conversation"]"I pity your plight, and am sorry for this curse. It seems unimaginable, and speaks to the power for this room, and this place. Is there anything else that you can tell me that might help in the breaking of the curse? If I revert to my natural form, I don't know that this is something we can repeat. Believe me, we want to help you."[/sblock]

[sblock]"You seem to be a powerful bunch of people capable of magic... but I guess you don't have any spells to directly break a curse, or you would have used it already. Then the only thing I can think about, is to try and destroy the scroll, as it is the source of such curse. We tried it so many times, but our combined centipede strength is not enough, and even these horrible mandibles can't chew it... perhaps it's not just ordinary parchment. But please try that, try everything you can to destroy it... that's our only hope!"[/sblock]

Skitch. Hiss hiss.

[sblock="centipedal force"]"Thank you. That's what I need to know. Let us hope it works. I'll leave you now, but I hope that We can meet properly soon. My name is Bartleby. I hope to shake your hand, and those of your friends, very soon indeed."[/sblock]

Bartleby twists and the chitin cracks, but what looks like a moulting, shedding one part of the exoskeleton for the softer shell beneath, instead serves as a kind of hatching, as beneath the casing that defines the centipede's form there emerges a full sized dwarf! He stands, having returned to his former self, but has difficulties working his jaw to begin with.

Bartleby stretches his mouth surprised to feeling it only able to operate along one plane. He pulls a piece of chitin from his beard.

"I've spoken to one of them. We may have a plan." he announces. Then he goes back, and starts again. "Er. What I mean is. It seems I turned into one of them for a brief moment, and we had a conversation. They are human, and they are cursed by the scroll. If I'm wrong I apologize. I suggest you all leave the room while I try this, in case there are unforeseen effects."

He doesn't say what his plan is while he takes the time to do this, really because he doesn't went to be told not to try it, or not to interfere.

Once those who plan on leaving have done so, he approaches the body with the armour. "I'm going to try to tear this parchment," he says. "Perhaps that will break the curse. Perhaps it will transform me into one of them. If so, I do so knowingly, and none of you are to blame."

Bartleby then does his best to tear the parchment in two, without reading or looking at it.

To her credit, Sulannus doesn't immediately flee or back down, but she does say, "I could burn it instead," as Bartleby reaches for it. She doesn't otherwise interfere though, and if he rips it, so be it. Otherwise she torches the thing.

Bartleby tries to rip the scroll apart by sheer strength, but encounters an unsual resistance from it. The scroll looks and feels like regular heavy paper, but responds with uncanny elasticity to physical exertion. The druid pulls as strong as he can, but still falls short of ripping it.

After a short time, Sulannus walks up to his side and the dwarf gently let her take the scroll. She carefully raises the flame of the torch to ignite it, and the fire slowly and silently catches. The scroll begins to burn at an edge, first slowly, then suddenly it bursts in a flash of light and disintegrates into a small cloud of sulphur. Nobody is harmed by the small conflagration, except for the uneasy feeling given by the sudden flash, which for a fraction of second illuminates the wall paintings in all their horrid glory.

A few seconds later, the three giant centipedes swell into a larger size, and are finally transformed back into their original forms. The curse is broken!

You can now see that one of them, the one who's been speaking with Bartleby recently is actually a halfling. The other two are humans, one is a short stocky bearded lad that could almost be mistaken for a tall dwarf, the second is a skinny youngster with spiky hair and noticeably protruding teeth. And they are still fighting. In fact, they are grappling on the floor, pulling each other's hair or beard and biting, as if they hadn't even noticed they aren't centipedes anymore.

Bartleby turns to Sulanus, and says "Well done. you broke the curse."

He then turns to the three newcomers to the room, and speaks in a slow deliberate voice. "Hello there. You're bipeds again."

Tock watches on on disbelief at the somewhat surreal display in front of him - Bartleby turning into a centipede and back, a cursed scroll that cannot be torn, and now the remaining insects transformed back into their original forms... he was aware of the existence of magic, of course, but had no idea it could be so powerful.

"Such magic... how wondrous." he says to no-one in particular. Suddenly, he noticed the two brawling figures, and moves in to try and separate them.

"My friends! Stop! You are restored to your true forms!"

[OOC: Tock will attempt to grab one of the fighting characters, whichever one he can get ahold of first, and attempt to pull them apart. Grapple check if required

STR (Athletics) 1d20 + 5 = 13

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4681455/

"Well done, High-Born One," Aeiyan says to Sulannus.

He makes no movement to stop the two scrappers on the floor from fighting each other, but he does offer to take the torch off Sulannus' hands.

He then walks toward the skeleton and begins to reach for the shield. "A magical Shield, though," he continues; "'Oo wants it? I'm not proficient."