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Gamislore: Here it comes again
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<blockquote data-quote="SnowleopardVK" data-source="post: 5632768" data-attributes="member: 6677945"><p>Episode 5: Into the dark again</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Slaal stumbled through the door not into the hallway where Yaros and Maka were as he’d expected, but onto the deck of the ship. The wrong deck. He realized quickly that he’d somehow been brought to the other side of the main cavern, and was on the back half of the ship, which was stuck among the rocks on the far wall, across the water from the tunnel where they’d entered the cavern the first time. There was a tunnel on his right that led into the cave, it looked as though the ship had been jammed against the wall at the perfect height to enter it easily. There were also stairs leading down from the poop deck where Slaal stood to the deck itself, although the ship was torn in half just five or ten feet beyond the bottom of those stairs.</p><p></p><p>Slaal stepped forwards and then turned to look behind him. It seemed he had come through some sort of magic portal in the rock, although now it had the look of glass, and it didn’t seem as though he could go back through it to where he came. He moved further forwards to the rail of the poop deck and looked down below. There seemed to be a door that led into the cabin and below decks, but Slaal was more concerned about the skeleton. </p><p></p><p>An undead lizardfolk with a dagger in each bony hand stood in front of the door below him, although it hadn’t noticed Slaal yet. As silently as he could, the wizard made the necessary hand signs to unleash a spell, and then whispered “Acid Splash” before quickly ducking, trying to get out of sight as his acidic missile fell towards the undead below.</p><p></p><p>There it was coming up the stairs to see what had dropped acid from it above. The skeleton was silent, showing no pain, but Slaal could now see that his attack had been successful. Unfortunately the skeleton could now see him too, but hiding had given Slaal an extra few seconds to prepare his next move.</p><p></p><p>“Acid Splash” he exclaimed, flinging his claw in the monster’s direction and unleashing another blast of acidic goop. The skeleton was coated and began breaking apart at the joints before Slaal’s very eyes! Within moments it was a smoking pile of bones at the top of the stairs.</p><p></p><p>Slaal sighed with relief and glanced back towards the tunnel behind him. It was too dark in there, he wouldn’t be able to see. Turning back towards the rest of the cavern Slaal noticed two other skeletons, barely visible at the bow on the ship’s front half, which floated out of reach across the water. He knew they were much too far for him to aim a magical attack at though.</p><p></p><p>“Let’s see what’s below deck then” he muttered, descending the stairs and casting a spell of Mage Armor on himself as he went. Slaal reached the door to the cabin and pulled at the handle, but found it wouldn’t budge.</p><p></p><p>He paused for a moment before remembering the key he’d found on the other half of the ship. Slaal retrieved it from his robes and tried it on the door. There was a click as the door unlocked and swung outwards, but Slaal was surprised to find his way blocked by another door. There seemed to be a wooden plaque mounted on this one with writing carved into it.</p><p></p><p><em>Shipwrecked we are, once a proud crew,</em></p><p><em>Evening finds us, stranded and few;</em></p><p><em>Victory was ours, but now has its cost,</em></p><p><em>Even so, we must count the lost.</em></p><p><em>Now we see, only several have survived,</em></p><p><em>To think our crew, at thirty arrived,</em></p><p><em>Everyone at rest, we must ask you,</em></p><p><em>Engage in the counting, how many are the few?</em></p><p><em>Now I have given the clue, it's all up to you.</em></p><p></p><p>The strange rhyming passage itself was in Common, but below that was a small bit of Draconic text; it almost looked like a signature, but Slaal saw no name. It simply said “Captain of the Black Fury”.</p><p></p><p>Slaal paused to consider the text for a moment before trying the door. It refused to budge. “Is that how it’s going to be?” he muttered. “All right then…” He spent several minutes staring at the writing, rereading it for hints at the riddle, and muttering to himself. He was in the middle of grumbling that all he could tell was that the number was less than thirty for the fourth time when he stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened.</p><p></p><p>“Oh I see” Slaal said with a smirk. “Not bad.” He traced a claw along the first letter of each line of the riddle, spelling out the hidden answer as he did. “It’s seventeen” he said aloud, sure of himself.</p><p></p><p>He was rewarded with a small click, and the door swung gently open. Slaal stepped slowly into the cabin, dimly lit by covered lamps of pale blue fire.</p><p></p><p>“Hello.”</p><p></p><p>To be continued...</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Just to avoid confusion, it wasn't Slaal who said hello at the end. It was someone inside the cabin. Darn cliffhangers, but this isn't just a convenient spot I chose to end the episode, it's actually where Electric chose to move the spotlight over to Yaros and Maka. Also, unlike me, Slaal was awesome. Touch attacks that ignore damage reduction on flat-footed enemies are pure gold. Plus he solved a riddle. Go Slaal go!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SnowleopardVK, post: 5632768, member: 6677945"] Episode 5: Into the dark again *** Slaal stumbled through the door not into the hallway where Yaros and Maka were as he’d expected, but onto the deck of the ship. The wrong deck. He realized quickly that he’d somehow been brought to the other side of the main cavern, and was on the back half of the ship, which was stuck among the rocks on the far wall, across the water from the tunnel where they’d entered the cavern the first time. There was a tunnel on his right that led into the cave, it looked as though the ship had been jammed against the wall at the perfect height to enter it easily. There were also stairs leading down from the poop deck where Slaal stood to the deck itself, although the ship was torn in half just five or ten feet beyond the bottom of those stairs. Slaal stepped forwards and then turned to look behind him. It seemed he had come through some sort of magic portal in the rock, although now it had the look of glass, and it didn’t seem as though he could go back through it to where he came. He moved further forwards to the rail of the poop deck and looked down below. There seemed to be a door that led into the cabin and below decks, but Slaal was more concerned about the skeleton. An undead lizardfolk with a dagger in each bony hand stood in front of the door below him, although it hadn’t noticed Slaal yet. As silently as he could, the wizard made the necessary hand signs to unleash a spell, and then whispered “Acid Splash” before quickly ducking, trying to get out of sight as his acidic missile fell towards the undead below. There it was coming up the stairs to see what had dropped acid from it above. The skeleton was silent, showing no pain, but Slaal could now see that his attack had been successful. Unfortunately the skeleton could now see him too, but hiding had given Slaal an extra few seconds to prepare his next move. “Acid Splash” he exclaimed, flinging his claw in the monster’s direction and unleashing another blast of acidic goop. The skeleton was coated and began breaking apart at the joints before Slaal’s very eyes! Within moments it was a smoking pile of bones at the top of the stairs. Slaal sighed with relief and glanced back towards the tunnel behind him. It was too dark in there, he wouldn’t be able to see. Turning back towards the rest of the cavern Slaal noticed two other skeletons, barely visible at the bow on the ship’s front half, which floated out of reach across the water. He knew they were much too far for him to aim a magical attack at though. “Let’s see what’s below deck then” he muttered, descending the stairs and casting a spell of Mage Armor on himself as he went. Slaal reached the door to the cabin and pulled at the handle, but found it wouldn’t budge. He paused for a moment before remembering the key he’d found on the other half of the ship. Slaal retrieved it from his robes and tried it on the door. There was a click as the door unlocked and swung outwards, but Slaal was surprised to find his way blocked by another door. There seemed to be a wooden plaque mounted on this one with writing carved into it. [I]Shipwrecked we are, once a proud crew, Evening finds us, stranded and few; Victory was ours, but now has its cost, Even so, we must count the lost. Now we see, only several have survived, To think our crew, at thirty arrived, Everyone at rest, we must ask you, Engage in the counting, how many are the few? Now I have given the clue, it's all up to you.[/I] The strange rhyming passage itself was in Common, but below that was a small bit of Draconic text; it almost looked like a signature, but Slaal saw no name. It simply said “Captain of the Black Fury”. Slaal paused to consider the text for a moment before trying the door. It refused to budge. “Is that how it’s going to be?” he muttered. “All right then…” He spent several minutes staring at the writing, rereading it for hints at the riddle, and muttering to himself. He was in the middle of grumbling that all he could tell was that the number was less than thirty for the fourth time when he stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened. “Oh I see” Slaal said with a smirk. “Not bad.” He traced a claw along the first letter of each line of the riddle, spelling out the hidden answer as he did. “It’s seventeen” he said aloud, sure of himself. He was rewarded with a small click, and the door swung gently open. Slaal stepped slowly into the cabin, dimly lit by covered lamps of pale blue fire. “Hello.” To be continued... *** Just to avoid confusion, it wasn't Slaal who said hello at the end. It was someone inside the cabin. Darn cliffhangers, but this isn't just a convenient spot I chose to end the episode, it's actually where Electric chose to move the spotlight over to Yaros and Maka. Also, unlike me, Slaal was awesome. Touch attacks that ignore damage reduction on flat-footed enemies are pure gold. Plus he solved a riddle. Go Slaal go! [/QUOTE]
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