Paths of Legend: Paths of Madness (IC)

[RelentlessImp]

Steise hung limply against the bars of his cell, staring lifelessly off into space. Or so it seemed. The young-seeming man was clad in little more than tattered rags, which had to have been white robes and pantaloons at some point. His face was a study in lifelessness; if his chest did not rise and fall with slow, steady breaths, one would think him dead.

In truth, Steise was attempting to make contact with something - anything - that could assist him and get him out of this situation. Extending his conciousness beyond the walls, mentally resonating a call outward to try and attract assistance.

The gnome's babbling had slowly grown to the point of distraction over the past few days, and finally he blinked, drawing himself out of the trance to stare at the gnome.

"...Is it really possible to escape?" Steise finally asked, a note of hope making his voice tremble.

 

[Voda Vosa]

"It is, it is really possible. I know it." replied the duergar. But he wasn't speaking, not at all. Steise heard his voice in his head, telepathically. The dwarf is looking at him intently.

 

[pneumatik]

Xoan - human-looking male Psychic Warrior

Like his fellow death-row inmates, the mad gnome's rantings caught Xoan's attention. He heard the other inmate's desperate shouting or, in the case of the minotaur, straining to rip the door open. As he listened, he focused on his inner energy, moving it outward from himself.
[sblock=psionic powers used]First, Vigor: cost=1pp; +5 temp hp.
Then, an overchanneled Inertial Armor. Overchannel damage = 6, so I spend 1 pp on Resilience (racial power) to reduce the damage to 4, leaving me with 1 temp hp. I augment Inertial Armor up to 7 pp (thanks to overchannel), making its AC bonus +7.
Total cost: 9 pp
Results: 1 temp hp, +7 armor bonus to AC for 7 hours.[/sblock]
As he listened, Xoan was glad to see so much activity. He had planned on using the other inmates to help him escape, but had no idea how he was going to motivate them. The gnome seemed to have done that for him.

"Yes, we can escape!" Xoan shouts out of his cell. "The gnome speaks the truth, I know it. Shadows must be the trick. Anyone with abilities involving shadows, use them to get out of your cell. Find a guard and take his key, then get us out. Then we head down - up is Thay, and wizards. Down is freedom!

"My name is Xoan. We can survive this if we work together!"

Having spoken his piece, Xoan works on refocusing himself and waits for more activity. With so many inmates, something was bound to happen soon.
[sblock=regaining psionic focus]Regaining psionic focus is a DC 20 concentration check. I'm +11, so I will just take 10 if that's possible and do it in one round. If not, I make it in: (1d20+11=17, 1d20+11=25, ... ) two full rounds.[/sblock]

[sblock=Xoan's state]Initial Armor: +7 armor bonus to AC for 7 hours.
Remaining PP: 24
Reamining HP: +1 temp[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

Shard - Human female psion (Shaper)

With increasing bemusement, Shard watched the other prisoners rouse themselves from their hopelessness and start talking to one another; assembling the barest rudiment of a plan to escape...all based on the rambling of the gnome. None of it mattered, of course. None of it was real. But it was still kind of inspiring, like reading the lyrics of an anthem.

When she woke up she could tell...she could tell...there was someone she could tell all this to. Like everything else about her 'awake self,' it was obscured in a thick grey fog that was cool and comforting, though kind of scary too. Like most dreams, it felt perfectly normal that this was the case.

On the other hand, even though it couldn't be real, it still felt real. Pain and aches and cramps and hunger and the chill...had she always dreamed in such detail? Shard didn't know. She did know that things had been better once though, and thought maybe helping them would make that happen again. As for how to help...part of how she knew what this was because of what she could do here.

"No," Shard replied to the man who'd called himself Xoan. "He said 'the shadow below.' I don't think he meant just any shadow. He said the shadow can get the key...but where is the key? With the guard?"

 

[RelentlessImp]

Steise stares at the duergar, shaking his head slightly. He'd been around telepathic creatures before - briefly - and the experience always left him a little disturbed. Intrusions into his mind always disturbed him, though the same was not true when he intruded into another's.

A low sigh escaped his lips, handsome, angled face drawn into an expression of sorrow. "I'm willing to believe you, but it seems kind of hopeless."

 

[Ambrus]

Prisoner in oubliette

"H-help... m-me. please..."

 

[pneumatik]

Xoan - human-looking Psychic Warrior

"Who are you?" Xoan asks. "It's not hopeless. We can get out. If there's a ... a living shadow out there, then it can get us out. If it can grab the key, it can unlock all the doors. Then we kill the guards, and sneak out below.

"Okay, wait. Is anyone here in a condition to fight? Or a dwarf, or someone else good at stonework? Once the shadow lets us out, we'll have to find that way down fast, or we'll get caught again."

After the voice in the oubliette moans out its plea, Xoan says, "Hang on! We'll get you out. Who are you?"

 

[Voda Vosa]

"You can't help that thing. After starving for 3 weeks, and after that putrid smell that came from the oubliette, there is no doubt about his death. Maybe there's a shadow after all" The dwarf says with a maleficent grin

 

[Myth and Legend]

Dace - Minotaur

While attempting to tear off the gate barring off his cell, the Minotaur's keen hearing caught some of the banter coming from the nearby cells. He was good at navigating in such environments, as his home in the Abjurer's Labyrinth had taught him the necessary skills plus he could rip the puny human guards apart easily. However, his verbal skills allowed him to only state the obvious at the moment: "DACE FIGHT! *snort* FREE DACE! HE BREAK GUARDS NECK! BREAK THEM GOOD!" Dace snarled with anger and frustration, the putrid smell of decaying flesh tormenting his keen sense of smell.

It was becoming painfully apparent that he would not be able to escape on his own. "Wizards smart! Use magic, hard to escape! Others help, and help others! Leave before bell!"

 

[Ambrus]

"I-I'm not... d-dead.
B-but... can't m-move my l-legs.
Please...
T-the light... so strange.
Dear g-gods..."
*gasp*